iPhone users are experiencing significant battery drain issues following recent iOS 26 updates, with many reporting their devices losing charge at an alarming rate. Despite mounting complaints on Apple's official support forums and social media platforms, the tech giant maintains that the problem is temporary and part of the normal update process.
iOS 26 battery drain: Growing user complaints
The battery drain complaints have been flooding Apple's Community forums since the iOS 26 rollout began earlier this week. One user reported on Apple's official support forum that after upgrading to iOS 26, "my battery drained out very quickly" the following morning.
Another frustrated iPhone user documented on the Apple Community forum, "This is the worst update yet. My battery is near zero and I need to at least power this usage down as the IOS is sucking the life out of my phone. Does anyone have any ideas to help here? If I back everything up and do a factory reset will that work?"
The complaints have persisted through multiple iOS 18 versions, with users reporting on Apple's Community forum in February 2025 that "battery drain issue on my iPhone 15 Pro as well after updated to ios 18.3.1.. Battery health also seen dropped from 99% to 97% within only few days after the update."
Another user noted, "Significant battery drain in iPhone 15 Pro Max and I felt charging is also slow." even an iPhone 14 Pro Max user reported of the same thing. "Battery draining too fast after update iOS 26. My device is iPhone 14 Pro Max and my battery health is at 91 percent."
iOS 26 battery drain: Apple's official response
Apple has consistently maintained that battery drain following iOS updates is normal behavior. On Apple's official Community forum, company representatives explain: "After an iOS update, it's common to experience an increased battery drain as certain tasks related to the update continue in the background including indexing, you should only experience this increased battery drain for a few days before it goes back to normal."
Apple's official support documentation states that when iOS update activities finish in the background, "battery life will return to normal," noting that users might see insights about "Ongoing iOS Update: A recent software update is finishing in the background."
iOS 26 battery drain: Temporary workarounds
The tech giant says that it usually takes a couple of days before things go back to normal. Untill then, desperate iPhone users can try saving battery by turning off ProMotion, disabling the Always On display, turning off background app refresh, removing widgets, turning off cellular, or even entirely resetting their iPhones.
One user suggested on Apple's Community forum that "Battery drain can be prevented by resetting the settings of the iPhone (Settings - General - Transfer or Reset iPhone - Reset - Reset all settings)."
Some users found temporary relief by disabling Apple Intelligence features, with one forum user noting: "Disabled the Apple Intelligence option in Settings and the battery drain has stopped."
