If you’ve just updated to iOS 17 and your iPhone’s battery is draining faster, don’t fret. It is a common issue, especially after updating to a major iOS release. Here are some tips to fix battery drain issues on your iPhone running iOS 17.
If you recently updated your iPhone to the latest iOS 17 version, it isn’t uncommon to experience poor battery life for the first few days. The reason behind this is simple.
You might simply be spending more time than usual on your iPhone trying out new iOS 17 features.
But most importantly, iOS 17 might still be indexing the content of your phone or reorganizing files in the background.
While it can be nerve-racking to see your battery level depletes before your eyes, please be patient, as this indexing process can take a few days. If you’re still experiencing bad battery life 3-4 days later, then read on to find out ways you can improve that.
It’s worth noting that iOS 17 battery life problems can be caused by issues that Apple needs to address in the software, or when excessively using GPS, system-intensive apps and games, and more. A battery life issue caused by a bug can’t be helped until Apple provides an update to address it, but there are steps you can take to maximize your battery life and cut down on hidden sources that might be causing excess drainage.
In this article, we’ve discussed over forty tips to fix iOS 17 battery drain issue. These work for all iPhones, including the latest iPhone 14 and 14 Pro. Make sure you go through all and use only the suggestions you’re comfortable with. Several tips mentioned here also work for iPad.
Once again, we want to stress that we aren’t recommending you implement all of these iOS 17 battery saving tips. Pick and choose the ones that work best for you based on your needs and your daily iPhone usage.
1. Limit When and How Often Apps Access Your Location
It’s a good idea to check your location settings to limit apps accessing your location for privacy reasons, but it can also be beneficial to your battery life. Here’s how to get to your Location Services settings:
- Launch the Settings app.
- Choose Privacy & Security.
- Tap Location Services.
- Review the list and edit settings by tapping on the name of each app in the list.
You have four possible choices for location settings for each app, though not all four choices will always be available for every app depending on what it does. You can select the following: Never, Ask Next Time or When i Share, While Using the App, and Always.
Never will prevent an app from ever accessing your location, and unless there’s a specific need for an app to know where you are, such as a mapping app, setting location access to Never is the best choice.
Ask Next Time will prompt an app to ask you with a popup the next time that it wants your location, so you can temporarily approve it. With this setting, location access is off until expressly allowed via the popup.
While Using the App, as the name suggests, allows the app to detect your location only when the app is open and being actively used. If you close the app or switch over to another app, location access ends.
Always allows an app to have access to your location at all times, regardless of whether it’s open or closed. This will result in the most battery drain and should be limited to only the apps that you need the most.
A lot of apps will ask for location information that don’t really need it to function (for example, a banking app might want location access to show nearby ATMs, which is also available through entering a zip code), so clearing the cruft here will ensure no apps are accessing your location without express permission.
You can also turn off Location Services all together, but this isn’t recommended as it stops your ability to use weather, delivery services, Maps, and similar apps.
2. Limit Apps Using Bluetooth
iOS includes a feature that lets you know when apps have requested Bluetooth access, and there are a surprising number of apps that want to use Bluetooth for things like location tracking with Bluetooth beacons or scanning for Chromecast devices.
This is a good list to review to make sure you don’t have a sneaky app in the background connecting to Bluetooth sources without your permission as that can drain battery. It’s totally fine to allow Bluetooth access to apps that need it for Bluetooth-enabled accessories, but nixing access for retail stores is probably a good idea. Here’s how to access Bluetooth settings:
- Launch the Settings app.
- Tap Privacy & Security.
- Tap Bluetooth.
From this list, toggle off any app that doesn’t need a Bluetooth connection to function. It’s best to be liberal with the toggling off — if you disable access and then a feature within an app stops functioning properly, you can just turn Bluetooth back on.
Bluetooth can also be turned off entirely, which can perhaps save a bit of battery life, but it’s not a great idea for most people because Bluetooth is used for AirPods, Apple Watches, and other accessories.
3. Turn on Low Power Mode
Low Power Mode has been around for a few years now, and it’s the number one best setting to enable if you’re experiencing unexpected battery drain problem after updating your iPhone to iOS 17. Low Power Mode reduces the brightness of the display, minimizes system animations, optimizes device performance (so the components aren’t worked too hard), and limits a lot of the activity that happens in the background on your phone.
You’ll automatically get prompted to enable this when the battery level hits 20 percent and 10 percent, but you can actually enable it whenever you like, and it makes a considerable difference in terms of how quickly your iPhone battery drains. To start it manually, follow the steps below:
- Open Settings.
- Scroll down and tap Battery.
- Tap the Low Power Mode toggle.
With Low Power Mode turned on, your battery icon at the top of your iPhone will be yellow, which lets you know when it’s active. Some people like to keep Low Power Mode on at all times, but know that it does need to be enabled regularly because it automatically turns off when the iPhone is charged.
4. Use WiFi Whenever Possible
WiFi uses less power than a cellular connection, so to resolve iPhone battery drain after iOS 17 update issue, it’s a good idea to connect to WiFi whenever possible. At home or work, for example, WiFi should be activated, saving cellular data and battery life.
5. Activate Airplane Mode in Low Signal Areas
Another factor that can affect your iPhone’s battery levels is cell signal quality. When your iPhone is on a patchy link, it has to work harder to stay connected, so if you know you’re going to be in an area with weak cellular coverage for a while, it’s a good idea to put your phone into airplane mode until you actually need to get online.
6. Make Sure Your Battery is Healthy
Battery drain on iOS 17 device can be due to a battery that’s old and no longer functioning in optimal condition. You can check the health of your battery by following these steps:
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap Battery.
- Tap on Battery Health & Charging.
In the Battery Health section, there’s a listing for “Maximum Capacity,” which is a measurement of battery capacity relative to when it was new.
If the capacity is under 80 percent, it may be worth seeking out a battery replacement. Apple will replace a battery that is below 80 percent capacity under the one-year warranty plan or under AppleCare for free.
Otherwise, replacing the battery will cost between $49 and $69 depending on which iPhone you have.
To make sure your iPhone battery stays healthy longer, you might want to turn on Optimized Battery Charging under the Battery Health & Charging section in the Settings app. Over time, your iPhone learns your daily charging routine. Your iPhone will activate Optimized Charging when your phone is plugged in for a long time to keep it under 100 percent until you need it.
For example, if you put your phone on the charger at night, the Optimized Battery Charging setting might hold the iPhone at an 80 percent charge, filling it up close to when you wake up to reduce battery aging.
Apple also recommends avoiding extreme temperatures to prevent permanent battery damage due to heat or cold, as well as removing certain cases when charging. If your iPhone gets warm while charging, it’s best to take off the case to keep your battery healthy for a longer period of time.
7. Manage Apps That Are Draining Battery
There could be a good many apps that may not have not been updated yet. Those incompatible apps could be creating chaos, draining your iPhone Battery. So, how do you nab the ill-functioning apps? Well, iOS offers you the tools you need to track down misbehaving apps.
Head over to Setting > Battery, and here you will see a lot of data, including Battery Usage By App. Tapping also allows you to switch to Activity By App, which shows a breakdown of how much power the app is using while on the screen and how much it is using when in the background.
You can use this information to diagnose battery drain issues. Here are some other things you can use this information for:
An app going berserk in the background will show lots of activity in the background compared with screen activity (try disabling background activity for that app and see if that helps).
You can spot charging problems (Was the battery actually charging when you thought it was?).
You can also spot poor battery performance (look for battery charge falling rapidly).
If there’s any app that you don’t need that seems to be draining an excessive amount of battery, you can delete it.
For apps you do need, you can moderate how often you’re using the app to cut down on battery drain.
8. Limit Background Activity
Apps, both first and third-party, use background app refreshing features to update even when they’re not open to do things like load mail messages and download updates so they’re ready to use at all times.
Background App Refresh can impact battery life, so turning it off can help your iOS 17 device battery last longer. You can turn off Background App Refresh all together or choose which apps can refresh in the background.
- Open the Settings app.
- Select General.
- Choose Background App Refresh.
From here, you can tap the Background App Refresh option again to turn Background App Refresh off all together or choose to have it activate only when connected to WiFi, which doesn’t drain battery as much as downloading over cellular.
You can also choose to turn Background App Refresh on just for your most used apps by tapping on the toggle next to each app in the list.
9. Adjust Mail Fetch Settings
In addition to turning off Background Refresh, adjusting when and how often the Mail app checks for new emails can save some battery life.
- Open up the Settings app.
- Select Mail
- Choose Accounts
- Tap “Fetch New Data” at the bottom.
From here, you can turn off Push (which lets you know right away when a new email message is available) and adjust Fetch settings on a per account basis for accounts that don’t support Push (like Gmail accounts).
Adjusting the Fetch settings to have longer intervals before checking for new messages can help save battery life, as can turning off Fetch all together in favor of manual checks that will download new messages only when the Mail app is opened.
You can choose the following settings: Automatically, Manually, Hourly, Every 30 Minutes, and Every 15 Minutes.
10. Limit Notifications
Cutting down on the number of notifications that apps are sending is a good trick to resolve iOS 17 battery drain issue. If you have apps inundating you with notifications, it’s going to drain battery every time your screen lights up and your phone makes a connection, plus a glut of notifications is just plain annoying.
Adjust your notification settings in the Settings app by following these instructions:
- Open the Settings app.
- Select Notifications.
- Go through each app and adjust whether or not an app can send you notifications by tapping on the toggle.
If you do allow notifications, you can choose to allow apps to show on the Lock screen, in the Notification Center, as banners, or all three.
Apple also has this handy feature that lets you modify your notification settings right from the notification itself on the Lock screen. Just long press on a notification and then tap the three dots (…) to get to options that include Deliver Quietly or Turn Off.
Deliver Quietly allows notifications to appear in Notification Center but not the Lock screen, while Turn Off lets you turn off notifications for that app entirely.
You can also opt to turn on a Focus Mode to prevent notifications from alerting you for most of the day, and the Notification Summary which is super handy for cutting down on notification spam. It aggregates all of your notifications and delivers them at a set time of the day. It’s still best to turn off as many notifications as you can, but for those you need to keep, Notification Summary can make sure they’re provided all at once.
11. Disable Automatic Downloads and App Updates
If your iPhone battery is draining faster after iOS 17 update, you may not want your device doing things that you’re not explicitly initiating, such as automatically downloading apps downloaded on other devices and downloading software and app updates.
Apple has a feature that is designed to sync apps between all of your devices by downloading apps that were downloaded on one device on the other devices as well. So if you download an app on an iPad, for example, Automatic Download will also download the app on your iPhone.
If that’s a feature you want, leave that enabled, but if it’s not, you can turn it off by following these steps:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap on App Store.
- Toggle off App Downloads and App Updates.
You can also turn off automatic iOS updates if desired by following these steps:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap General.
- Tap Software Update.
- Tap Automatic Updates.
- Tap the toggle to turn updates off.
12. Activate Dark Mode
Since iOS 13, Apple has included a Dark Mode feature, which is available across the operating system, including Apple’s built-in apps and third-party apps as most have implemented support.
On devices with an OLED display like the iPhone XS, XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and iPhone 14 series, Dark Mode can save a bit of battery life, so it’s worth enabling. Here’s how:
- Open the Settings app.
- Choose Display & Brightness.
- Tap the “Dark” option.
If you tap on the toggle for “Automatic,” Dark Mode will turn on or off with the sunset and the sunrise each day, allowing you to toggle between dark and light mode.
Dark Mode can be toggled on through the Control Center too, which is a convenient way to activate it if your device isn’t in automatic mode.
13. Turn Down Device Brightness
Higher brightness levels play an enormous role in draining a phone’s battery. Adjusting to a lower brightness may be difficult at first, but it will definitely help your phone last longer over time and is thus one of the common ways to save iPhone battery.
Try to increase your brightness only when necessary.
Brightness can be controlled through the Control Center on the iPhone using the brightness toggle or through the Display & Brightness section of the Settings app. It’s a good idea to turn on the auto-brightness setting to make sure your screen isn’t overly bright in darker rooms by default, but some manual adjustment may be necessary in brighter rooms and in the sun.
14. Adjust Auto-Lock
It’s a good idea to set the Auto-Lock on the display as low as you can tolerate, which will cause the iPhone’s display to turn off after a short period of inactivity.
You can choose ranges from 30 seconds to never, but the lower end of the spectrum will help preserve battery life by cutting the display when it’s not needed.
15. Turn Off Raise to Wake
As soon as you raise your iPhone from a table or similar, the screen wakes to let you see your Lock screen. However, there are often times when the screen wakes unintentionally, even if you aren’t trying to use it.
When your screen constantly wakes and sleeps, your iPhone’s battery drains faster. To avoid this, follow these simple steps:
- Open Settings, then go to Display & Brightness.
- Toggle off Raise to Wake.
16. Make Sure iOS Up to Date
To fix battery drain on iPhone after iOS 17 update issue, make sure you have the latest version of iOS installed because Apple has been making improvements and refinements to the operating system since it was released. Here’s how to check:
- Open Settings.
- Tap General.
- Tap Software Update.
From here, the iPhone will let you know if your software is up to date or if there’s a new version available.
17. Update All Apps
Outdated apps have the habit of eating more battery than usual. If there is a bunch of apps that haven’t been updated for a while, they might be the reason behind the rapid battery consumption on your iPhone after the iOS 17 software update.
- Open up the App Store.
- Tap on your profile in the upper right.
- Swipe downwards to refresh everything.
- Tap on Update All.
The update section of the App Store is also a great way to cull apps. If you see an update for an app you don’t use often, swipe to the left on it and you can delete it right then and there.
18. Don’t Close Apps
Many battery life guides will suggest manually closing apps by using the App Switcher to prevent them from running in the background, but this doesn’t save battery life and can in fact drain more battery.
Apps in the background are paused when not in active use and aren’t using battery life. Closing out an app purges it from the iPhone’s RAM, requiring a reload when it reopens, which can have a bigger impact on battery.
19. Limit Use of Widgets
If you have a lot of widgets on your Home Screen or in the Today View, they could well be a iOS 17 battery drain culprit. Widgets that need to regularly update to be useful — weather or geo-location widgets, for example — then you might want to consider deleting them.
To delete a widget from your Home screen or the Today view, long press on it, then choose Remove Widget or Remove Stack from the dropdown menu. You can also long press on any space on the screen to enter jiggle mode, and then tap the minus button that appears in the top-left corner of the widget.
20. Avoid Google Chrome
Google Chrome has a reputation among some circles for a being a battery hog, and depending on who you talk to, not much has changed in iOS 17. If you tend to do a lot of browsing in Google Chrome and you’re having battery drain issues, it’s worth giving Safari a shot instead. The latest version of Apple’s browser has been streamlined for better performance, so you may find you’re able to browse faster and spend less time doing so in the process.
It’s better to stick with native Apple apps over third-party alternatives as a general rule. Typically Apple’s code will be optimized to run more efficiency on its own hardware, although exceptions are possible if there’s a specific conflict or issue at fault.
21. Reset Your Apple Watch
If you have an Apple Watch paired to your iPhone, it could be the cause of your battery drain problems. Some watch apps or services may be communicating with your iPhone more often than usual, either for a legitimate reason or due to a bug. The easiest way to reduce this possibility is to remove any Apple Watch apps you don’t use. The nuclear option is to reset your Apple Watch to its factory default settings.
To do this on your Apple Watch, open Settings and select General -> Reset -> Erase All Content and Settings. (The same option lies at the bottom of the iOS Watch app’s General menu.)
This action erases everything off your watch, including any media, data, settings, messages, and so on. You’ll also need to re-pair the watch with your iPhone after the process is complete, so treat it as a last resort.
Note that after a new pairing or update, your watch may take a few days to learn and adapt to your usage, before smoothing out into a more consistent balance between battery life and performance, which will hopefully transfer to your iPhone.
22. Erase Network Settings
Some users have reported that resetting their iPhone’s network settings can resolve iOS 17 battery drain issues, so this may be worth a try. Go to network settings under Settings -> General -> Transfer or Reset iPhone -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings. No data will be lost, but you’ll be asked to re-enter your Wi-Fi passwords.
23. Place iPhone Face Down
Your iPhone has detectors that are capable of detecting your phone’s orientation. When your phone is placed face-down, your iPhone won’t turn on its screen when a notification arrives. If you receive notifications regularly, this tip will help you save a good amount of battery life.
Make it a habit to keep your iPhone face-down whenever you are not using it, in order to maximize battery. However, an important point to know is that this method doesn’t work if you turn off Fitness Tracking on your iPhone.
This option is what allows your iPhone to detect motion in this way. To ensure that Fitness Tracking is enabled, follow these steps:
- In Settings, select Privacy & Security.
- Scroll down and tap on Motion & Fitness.
- Check if the toggle next to Fitness Tracking is turned on. If it’s off, enable it to allow this function to work.
24. Disable Vibrations and Haptic Feedback
When your iPhone vibrates or provides haptic feedback to an interaction, Apple’s Taptic Engine chip engages its physical motor. This uses additional energy, so it might be worth disabling these features if you can live without them.
There are two main vibration settings in Settings -> Sound & Haptics. Try turning off Play Haptics in Ring Mode, Play Haptics in Silent Mode or both to save power.
Scroll down to the bottom of this menu and you’ll see System Haptics. Disabling this will eliminate system-wide haptic feedback.
25. Turn Off Screen Time
Some users have reported success saving battery by turning off Screen Time, Apple’s personal usage monitoring feature. It’s not clear why this appears to affect battery life for some people, but if you don’t use Screen Time then there’s no harm in disabling it.
To do so, go into Settings -> Screen Time, scroll down to the bottom of the screen, then select Turn Off Screen Time.
26. Disable iPhone StandBy Mode
Even though the StandBy mode gets into action only when your iPhone is charging, you should turn it off; especially when the device is faced with a battery drain issue.
Launch the Settings app on your iPhone -> StandBy and then turn off the toggle.
27. Remove Case During Charging
Charging your iPhone when it’s inside certain styles of cases may generate excess heat, which can affect battery capacity. If you notice your device getting hot when you charge it, take it out of its case first.
28. Restart
It might seem strange to recommend a reboot since the update process reboots the iPhone, but it actually helps. And remember, that reboot that happens following an update triggers off a raft of post-update actions, from updating indexes and recalibrating the battery.
If your iPhone’s battery is draining faster after iOS 17 update, then a reboot might bring things under control. It’s worked for me, and it’s worked for several other people I’ve recommended.
And it doesn’t cost you anything beyond a couple of minutes.
- Press and release the Volume Up button.
- Press and release the Volume Down button.
- Press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears, and then release the Side button.
29. Restore as New
If you’re at your wits’ end and nothing is helping to improve rapid battery drain after iOS 17 update, you can try restoring your iPhone and setting it up as new to eliminate any potential behind-the-scenes problems. This should be a last resort, as starting from scratch can be a hassle.
First and foremost, make sure you have an iCloud backup.
- On a Mac with Catalina or later, open Finder. On a Mac with Mojave or earlier, open iTunes. On a Windows machine, open iTunes.
- Plug your iPhone into your computer.
- If you’re prompted to enter a device passcode or to click a Trust This Computer prompt, do so.
- Select your device from the side bar in Finder or the side bar in iTunes.
- Click on the Restore open. If you’re signed into Find My, you’ll be prompted to sign out.
- Click Restore again to confirm.
After restoring, you can set your device up as if it was a new device. You can restore from the iCloud backup that you created prior to the restore, but you might want to try starting fresh to prevent any possible problems.
30. Turn Off Significant Locations
Significant locations is a feature that tracks your location and marks where you often go, keeping a list of the places that you’ve visited. This data is collected in the background and there’s a chance that it has some small impact on battery life, so disabling it might be worthwhile. Note that significant locations is a feature that powers personalized location services features in Maps, Do Not Disturb While Driving, CarPlay, Siri, Calendar, Photos, and more.
- Open up the Settings app.
- Select Privacy & Security.
- Tap on Location Services.
- Scroll down to the bottom and tap on System Services.
- Tap on Significant Locations in the list and authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID.
- Tap on the toggle to turn it off.
31. Disable Analytics
If you’re sharing your device analytics with Apple or with third-party developers, there’s a possibility that your battery life is being impacted when this data is uploaded, though activating low power mode and restricting background usage should take care of this. If you want to disable it anyway, here’s how:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap on Privacy & Security.
- Scroll down to Analytics & Improvements.
- Disable all of the analytics sharing options.
32. Reduce motion effects and animation
Buried deep in the Accessibility setting exists an option to reduce the motion of the user interface, including the eye-catching parallax effect of app icons.
- Go to iPhone Settings.
- Tap Accessibility.
- Select Motion.
- Enable Reduce Motion.
33. Turn off EQ
Equalizer adds additional load to your iPhone battery. You can turn it off by followingthe steps below:
- Go to Settings.
- Tap Music.
- Select EQ.
- Choose Off.
34. Disable Auto-Playing Videos (App Store & Safari)
Videos of apps and games auto-play in the App Store, which can be useful in some scenarios. On the other hand, videos auto-playing in Safari are straight-up annoying. While both of these opinions are subjective, the fact here is that both these features lead to battery drain. And if you’re looking to save battery, turn them off right away.
To disable Auto-Playing Videos in App Store, follow the steps below:
- Head to Settings.
- Tap App Store.
- Select Video Autoplay.
- Select the **Off ** option.
To disable Auto-Playing Videos in Safari, follow the steps below:
- Head to Settings.
- Tap Accessibility.
- Select Per-App Settings.
- Tap Add App and select Safari from the List. Once done, tap Safari **→ Auto-Play Video Previews > Off. **
35. Disable one SIM if you’re using two
I use dual SIM on my iPhone (one physical SIM and an eSIM). I have noticed that if you keep both SIM cards active (or on standby at night), it will consume significantly more battery. If you don’t need to use one of the SIM cards for outgoing calls or internet, go to iPhone Settings > Cellular > tap a cellular plan and toggle off Turn On This Line.
Tip: To ensure I don’t miss anything important, I set incoming calls on my temporarily disabled number to forward to my other active number
36. Limit frame rate
If you have an iPhone 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max, limiting the screen refresh rate to 60 fps instead of 120 can help extend the battery life. To do that, follow the steps below:
- Go to iPhone Settings.
- Tap Accessibility.
- Select **Motion.
- Enable Limit Frame Rate.
37. Make sure iPhone isn’t too hot or cold
Extreme temperatures (too hot or too cold) negatively affect the battery. So, for optimal battery life, try avoiding extreme temperatures.
38. Turn off AirDrop
Go to iPhone Settings > General > AirDropand select Receiving Off. This will make your iPhone invisible for AirDrop to other nearby Apple devices.
39. Free up local space
Indexing consumes battery. Fewer files mean quicker indexing and less power usage. If you have tons of unnecessary screenshots or documents in the Files app, delete them.
40. Disable Hey Siri
With Hey Siri enabled, your iPhone’s microphone is always on and ready to catch the hot word. You can turn it off by followingthe steps below:
- Go to Settings.
- Select Siri & Search.
- Disable Listen for "Siri" or "Hey Siri".
41. Use 5G Auto
If you have iPhone 12 or 13 series,
- Go to Settings.
- Tap Cellular.
- Select Cellular Data Options.
- Tap Voice & Data
- Choose 5G Auto to reduce battery usage.
42. Disable Personal Hotspot
Hotspot consumes a significant amount of battery. So, make sure you use it only when necessary.
- Go to iPhone Settings.
- Tap Personal Hotspot
- Turn off Allow Others to Join.
43. Turn off the Always-On display
Always-On display on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max can consume a significant amount of battery, and turning it off can increase the use-time you get on a single charge.
To turn off the Always-On display on your iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max:
- Go to the Settingsapp.
- Tap Display & Brightness.
- Turn off the switch for Always On.
44. Be patient
It’s normal to experience a drop — even quite a significant drop — in battery life following the installation of an iOS update.
iPhones need to carry out a number of tasks in the background in the aftermath of an update. This consumes more battery power than usual, and the battery life will return to normal once all these extra tasks have been completed.
45. Wait for the next iOS update
Bugs do slip through the net, and sometimes all you can do is wait for Apple to fix the problem and roll out a new update.
Apple is getting much better about fixing issues like this, although you do have to wait for the fix and take a gamble that the new update does indeed fix the problem and not cause more chaos.
46. Use the flashlight at a low level
Press the flashlight icon in the iOS Control Center, and set it at the minimum level. This brightness level will also affect the flashlight icon on the iPhone Lock Screen.