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iPhone Battery Draining Fast? Adjust These Settings and Thank Me Later
It's tough to exist without a smartphone these days. So much of our lives are contained inside these tiny devices that we don't want them running out of juice at an inopportune time. But thanks to Apple clinging to its proprietary Lightning cable for so long, there wasn't always a compatible charger at the ready—until the iPhone made the switch to USB-C in 2023.
Modern smartphones are powerhouses. In our tests, the iPhone 17 Pro Max offered over 32 hours of battery life, but this rarely matches perfectly with real-world use. And if you have an aging model, it might struggle to last all day. Normal wear and tear (and our own bad habits) will degrade your battery over time. Years ago, Apple even throttled performance.
If things get bad enough, Apple's Self Service Repair Store sells replacement batteries you can install yourself at around $70 (after returning your old component for a credit). Your phone will also notify you when it may be time to replace the power supply. But if you would prefer to eke out a few more months without paying for a new battery (or phone), here are some things to try.
1. See How Long it Takes to Charge
Sometimes you need to charge your phone, but you don't have the time—or do you? A new feature in iOS 26 estimates how long it will take to charge. Upon plugging in the device, the lock screen and Battery settings screen will display the time remaining before your device is charged to 100%. If you have Optimized Battery Charging enabled on the Battery settings page, it will also indicate how much time is left before it reaches 80%. While this doesn't improve your battery life, it may convince you to wait the extra five minutes it takes to reach 80% so your phone has a little more juice.
2. Show the Battery Percentage
Before you can monitor your battery life, you need to know exactly what you're looking at. The iPhone battery icon in the top-right corner of the screen indicates the remaining battery life on the device, but it's not an exact measurement. You can view the exact battery percentage remaining by opening the Control Center. However, if you prefer to see this information at a glance, navigate to Settings > Battery and enable Battery Percentage. The battery icon will then show a number, making it easier to monitor.
3. Enable Adaptive Power Mode
Managing your battery can be a pain, so Apple has introduced a new feature to iOS 26 called Adaptive Power mode, which will do the work for you. When enabled, it will make performance adjustments, lower screen brightness by 3%, limit background activity, and automatically enable Lower Power Mode if the battery drops below 20%. According to the company, it does this by using "on-device intelligence to predict when you'll need extra battery life based on your recent usage patterns," so it will turn on and off throughout the day once it's learned your usage habits.
The iPhone 17 models will have this feature enabled by default, but you'll need to enable it manually if you have an iPhone 16 model or an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max. Enable the feature by navigating to Settings > Battery > Power mode and selecting Adaptive Power. You can also turn on Adaptive Power Notifications if you want to be notified when the Adaptive Power feature turns on throughout the day.
4. Activate Low Power Mode
One of your strongest weapons against battery drain is Low Power Mode. With it enabled, your phone only performs the most essential of tasks, so background activities like downloads, iCloud syncing, and mail fetching are disabled. Low Power Mode will automatically kick in when the battery falls below 20%, but you can also activate it manually to keep your phone going for longer. Head over to Settings > Battery and turn on Low Power Mode. You can also add Low Power Mode to the Control Center under Settings > Control Center. When activated, the battery icon in the top-right corner will turn yellow.
5. Adjust Screen Brightness
The greatest hurdle in your fight for more battery life is your phone's own screen. Smartphone displays are bigger and brighter than ever, but they are also murder on your battery. You can't really get around this fact, but you can turn down the brightness. Manually adjust brightness levels in Settings > Display & Brightness by using the slider bar. A slider is also accessible via the Control Center; press lightly on the brightness icon and move the slider down.
You should also turn off auto-brightness to ensure your changes stick. Open Accessibility > Display & Text Size and disable Auto-Brightness. Your phone will no longer try to adjust its brightness based on the current lighting situation, which will avoid situations where the screen becomes brighter than it really needs to be.
6. Manage When Your Phone Locks
Since the screen is your battery's enemy, you should also think about managing when the phone's display turns off automatically. You can adjust this setting under Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock. If you tend to put your phone down without locking it, set this to something lower to give the battery a break. It may also be worth disabling Raise to Wake if you don't want the screen to turn on simply by picking it up.
7. Control the Always-On Display
Exclusive to the Pro and Pro Max models for iPhone 14 and later is the Always-On display, which shows the time, widgets, notifications, and wallpaper while the device is locked. Apple has taken steps to ensure it doesn't consume too much power, but you can disable it from Display & Brightness > Always On. If you keep it on, it will turn off if the phone is face down, stored in your pocket or bag, when the Sleep focus is enabled, or at your set bedtime.
8. Turn Off Location Services
Location services are helpful for apps like Google Maps or Yelp, but the GPS pings that occur in the background can drain a battery. You could turn off location services completely via Privacy & Security > Location Services, but this greatly affects the usability of your device. Instead, rein in individual apps by customizing how they use your location data: Never, Ask Next Time Or When I Share, While Using the App, or (in some cases) Always. For example, with Google Maps, it's best to set it to While Using the App so that it only pings your location when you actually need it.
9. Turn Off Background App Refresh
When you close an iOS app, it can still check for updates and new content periodically—a process that can drain battery life. You can disable Background App Refresh completely or just for certain apps under Settings > General > Background App Refresh. Here, you can disable specific apps if you only want to cut off refresh-heavy programs, like email or social media platforms. Otherwise, select Background App Refresh and set it to Off (or Wi-Fi if you want to restrict it, but not outright disable it). Disabling it completely won't stop the apps from working, but it may take a moment for new information to appear when you return to them.
10. Cut Down on Notifications
If your screen lights up with a preview of every notification you receive, it's consuming power with each text, breaking news alert, or social media follow. Cutting down on these interruptions can save your battery (and sanity). Open Settings > Notifications and choose which specific apps should be allowed to send notifications to your phone and where. Turn off Lock Screen or choose Notification Center so that alerts won't be sent to your lock screen. If you prefer not to make any permanent changes, Focus mode allows you to set restrictions for when notifications can come through.
11. Turn Off Wireless Services
From Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular data, your phone has many wireless features running in the background. It continuously searches for nearby Wi-Fi connections, which is why the list of available networks constantly changes when you're out and about. If you're in a real power jam, you can turn off cellular data, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and AirDrop from Control Center—or just enable Airplane Mode to disable all your phone's cellular features.
12. Slap on a MagSafe Power Bank
This might sound like cheating, but a great way to ensure extended battery life is to keep your phone plugged in and charging all the time. You can buy a power bank or wireless MagSafe charger from a third-party manufacturer, which allows you to charge the phone without needing to plug it into the wall. This way, you'll be able to top off the device right from anywhere—even your pocket.
If you want something made by Apple, your options are limited. The company previously sold a MagSafe Battery Pack that connected to the back of the phone to charge wirelessly, but that was discontinued. If you bought the iPhone Air, a new battery pack was unveiled exclusively for Apple's ultrathin offering. It can technically be used on any iPhone 17 model, but you have to turn it sideways to make it fit.