Like clockwork, the iPhone 16 is reportedly suffering battery life issues

Key Takeaways

Users are reporting excessive battery drain on the iPhone 16, mostly when idle or doing basic tasks.
Some have tried fixes like turning off Always on Display or ProMotion, but there is no concrete solution.
Switching to iOS 18.0.1 or 18.1 beta may resolve the issue; iOS 18.1 could release fully on October 28.

Are you using an iPhone 16 and feel like your battery is draining faster than usual? Or have you upgraded to iOS 18 on an older iPhone and noticed your battery draining more? Well, don’t worry, you’re not alone.

As first reported by MacRumors, users have been posting complaints on Reddit, the Apple Support community forums, and MacRumors own forum, about excessive battery drain on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro. No official fix has been reported yet and Apple has not commented on the issue.

The iPhone 16 lineup hit store shelves almost a month ago. Our Pocket-lint review of the iPhone 16 viewed it as a “solid upgrade over the iPhone 13 and 14” but not much of an improvement over the iPhone 15. The iPhone 16 Pro was also reviewed favorably, with our Pocket-lint review saying it’s “the gold standard for phone photography.”

The news of the iPhone 16 having battery life problems comes as a report from Canalys researchers shows that the iPhone 16 has achieved record sales figures in Q3 2024.

This isn’t the first time a new iPhone and iOS update has experienced battery drain problems, and it most likely won’t be the last. Issues like this seem to happen almost every year despite Apple’s best efforts. It’s important to note this issue doesn’t seem to affect all iPhone 16 users.

iPhone 16 launch leads Apple to record sales figures

Apple has achieved its best-ever Q3 sales thanks to the iPhone 16 and older iPhones.

There doesn’t seem to be an exact answer or solution yet

It seems some users are experiencing excessive battery drain on the iPhone 16 when the device is idle or doing simple tasks like playing music.

One user on Reddit remarked: “I have the 16 pro and the battery is terrible — lasts about 5-6 hours of on screen time before hitting 20%. It’s been a week of use and nothing changed.” Another iPhone user on Reddit said: “Listened to music for the first 2.5 hours of my day (with less than 45 minutes screen time) and realized my battery was at 68 percent.”

A user on the Apple Support community forum with an iPhone 16 was reportedly able to fix the issue by closing their calendar app. The user said: “my calendar app was using more power than the entire phone and all the other apps combined. After I deleted the calendar app, my phone started working without overheating and lasted for almost 2 days with one full charge.”

Battery drain issues are difficult to pinpoint due to each iPhone user’s different usage habits. Some users have tried turning off Always on Display, ProMotion, and even entirely resetting their iPhones to attempt to fix the issue. It’s been reported that switching to iOS 18.0.1 and iOS 18.1 beta might help the problem. It’s most likely that this is a software issue and that Apple will fix it in a future iOS 18 update.

iOS 18.1 could be arriving on October 28th. The update will have the long-awaited Apple Intelligence features for the iPhone 16 lineup and the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max.