Why Is My iPhone Battery Draining So Fast? 13 Easy Fixes!

Why is your iPhone battery draining so fast all of a sudden? If your iPhone loses battery faster than you'd like it to or faster than you think is normal, we can help. We'll answer common battery questions, and walk you through some simple solutions to stop your iPhone battery from dying fast.

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Why Is My iPhone Battery Draining So Fast? iOS 17 Battery Drain

If your iPhone battery is draining fast after an update, this should stop after a day or two! Software updates add new features and change operations, which can create temporary iOS battery drain as your device adjusts. This is especially true for larger fall updates, like the iOS 17 update, which can affect your battery more than the smaller updates we see throughout the year.

If your haven't recently updated your software, the most likely causes of your battery drain are high screen brightness (one of the biggest culprits of battery drain) and apps tracking your location and refreshing content in the background. While some of this is unavoidable, there are some simple ways to cut back on unnecessary iPhone battery drain. 

Stop Your iPhone Battery from Draining Quickly

You'll want to start by checking your battery health in Settings. Odds are, your iPhone battery is fighting fit, but is being drained by unneeded processes running in the background. Also, if you enjoy learning about your iPhone, sign up for our free Tip of the Day. 

1. Check Your iPhone Battery Health Suggestions

This is a good first step whether you're worried that the iPhone update is draining the battery or not. Your iPhone will recommend specific changes in Settings to preserve iPhone battery life. To see why your iPhone battery is draining faster than it should be, use these steps to check Battery Health suggestions:

1. Open the Settings app, then scroll down and tap Battery.
2. Tap Battery Health & Charging.
   
   

On the next screen, your iPhone will suggest changes to settings that will improve battery life. You can tap on each suggestion to jump to the setting that needs changing. If you don't want to make the change, at least you understand what's contributing to your battery drain. 

However, we'll have to disagree—there's almost always a way to fix iPhone battery drain. Continue reading down the list to find more ways to help fix an iPhone battery dying faster than it should.

2. Dim Your iPhone Screen If Your iPhone Keeps Losing Charge

Keeping your iPhone's screen at full brightness is a likely culprit when your iPhone battery drains fast, but it's easily remedied. This is actually one of the main causes of battery drain and consumes more power than you might think! Here's how to dim the screen brightness on your iPhone:

1. Open the Control Center by swiping down from the top-right corner of the screen. If your iPhone has a Home button, swipe up from the bottom of the screen instead.
2. Tap and drag the Brightness slider toward the bottom to lower your screen brightness.
   
   

3. Turn on Auto-Brightness to Stop iPhone Battery Drain

Auto-Brightness settings adjust your screen lighting automatically based on ambient light levels. This keeps your iPhone from losing battery too quickly by wasting it on unnecessary screen brightness. To enable Auto-Brightness:

1. Open the Settings app, then scroll down and tap Accessibility. 
2. Tap Display & Text Size.
3. Scroll to the bottom and toggle on Auto-Brightness.
   
   

4. Turn Off Raise to Wake

All iPhone models have the Raise to Wake function enabled by default. Your iPhone screen constantly turning on might be part of your problem, especially if you pick up your iPhone a lot or walk with it swinging in your hand. Once you've disabled this feature, you just have to tap your iPhone to wake it. To turn off Raise to Wake:

1. Open the Settings app, then scroll down and tap Display & Brightness.
2. Scroll down to Raise to Wake and toggle it off. A gray toggle means Raise to Wake is disabled.
   
   

5. Turn Off the Always-On Display 

If you have an iPhone 14 or iPhone 15, your device has the Always-On Display that keeps your Lock Screen at a certain level of brightness, regardless of whether you're currently looking at your iPhone. But does the Always-On Display feature drain your battery? Reducing screen brightness in any way will help to preserve your iPhone battery life, so if your iPhone battery is draining faster than you'd like, you should disable the Always-On Display: 

1. Open the Settings app, then scroll down and tap Display & Brightness. 
2. Tap Always-on Display.
3. Tap the Always-On Display toggle to turn it off (the toggle will be gray when disabled). 
   
   

6. Update Apps to Keep Your iPhone Battery from Dying Fast

When new software is released, such as the iOS 17 update, developers have to play catch-up too. Apps that need updates may run inefficiently on current iOS software. If you don't have apps set to automatically update, you should update all apps on your iPhone to help avoid battery drain. 

7. Remove Unnecessary Widgets

If you have a lot of app widgets set to display on your iPhone Home Screen or Today View, this might be causing some of your battery drain. If your iPhone battery is dying too quickly, remove iPhone widgets that aren't necessary and see how this affects your battery life.

8. Try Restarting If Your iPhone Is Dying Really Fast

If you ever have any issue with a device, Apple-made or otherwise, a simple restart almost always helps. Restarting your iPhone may not completely solve your battery drain issue, but it's likely to give it a bit of a boost. If you run into trouble trying to turn your iPhone off and on, here's how to properly shut down your iPhone. 

9. Turn Off Background App Refresh to Save iPhone Battery Life

Background App Refresh allows your apps to check for new content and update even when you're not using them. This is intended to save you loading time when opening up apps, as the latest information should be ready and waiting after being refreshed in the background. However, allowing all your open apps to continually update and refresh in the background is a sure-fire way to drain your iPhone battery. Here's how to turn off Background App Refresh to keep your iPhone from losing charge:

1. Open the Settings app, then scroll down and tap General.
2. Select Background App Refresh, then tap Background App Refresh again.
   
   
3. Select Off.

10. Adjust Location Services to Keep Your iPhone Battery from Draining Too Fast

Location Services is another sneaky feature that could explain why your iPhone is losing charge. Lots of different apps want to know and use your location for various legitimately useful reasons. However, for most apps, it makes the most sense to allow Location Services only while using the app. To do this:

1. Open the Settings app, then scroll down and tap Privacy& Security.
2. Tap Location Services.
3. Select individual apps to choose when Location Services can be used.
   
   
4. If the app never needs to know your location to be fully functional, go ahead and select Never.
5. You can also choose to toggle off Precise Location if the app does not need to know exactly where you are.
   
   

11. Turn On Low Power Mode

Not everyone is aware of the iPhone battery-saving powers of Low Power Mode, which cuts unnecessary background processes when your iPhone battery is at 20 percent or lower. To enable Low Power Mode in the Control Center:

1. Open the Control Center by swiping down from the upper-right corner of your screen. If your iPhone has a Home button, swipe up from the bottom of the screen instead.
2. Tap the battery icon to enable Low Power Mode. When the icon is white, Low Power Mode is enabled.
   
   

12. Turn On Reduce Motion to Stop iPhone Battery Drain

Another issue that can be the cause of iOS update battery drain is an increase in animations that come with new software features. Your iPhone has animations for everything. Simply switching from an app to the Home screen has its own animation. Each animation may not use much battery life, but the little bit each transition uses adds up quickly. To turn on Reduce Motion and stop these small animations:

1. Open the Settings app, then scroll down and tap Accessibility.
2. Tap Motion, then toggle on Reduce Motion.
   
   
3. Toggle on Prefer Cross-Fade Transitions. 
   
   
4. While you're on this page, you can also toggle off Auto-Play Message Effects and Auto-Play Video Previews to save even more battery life. 

13. Use Airplane Mode or Wi-Fi to Stop Battery Drain in Low Reception Areas

If a secure Wi-Fi network is available, log into it rather than using your cellular data plan. If you're in a location with poor cellular reception and no available Wi-Fi, your best option is to enable Airplane Mode on your iPhone. This will prevent your iPhone from wasting battery by constantly searching for a Wi-Fi or cellular signal.