[Solved] – iPhone battery draining fast all of a sudden – 10 proven fixes

Why is my iPhone battery draining so fast?

Why my iPhone battery draining fast and how to fix the issue?

In this article I have given 10 proven fixes, which have been found to work in most cases, when someone finds his iPhone battery draining fast all of a sudden and not holding charge for long.

It is not uncommon for iPhone users reporting at times – why is my iPhone battery draining so fast without any apparent reasons. If you also see your iPhone battery drains fast and you wonder why is my battery draining so fast without any noticeable reasons then you have come to the right place.

iPhone battery drains overnight and the users can’t even make it through the day without charging their device, is not an uncommon issue. In fact I, myself, have come across users of iPhone 6 battery often complaining – my iPhone battery is draining fast all of a sudden. If, for any reasons, you find your iPhone battery dying fast you can try the tips given below which have been found to work in most cases.

However, before you try the given fixes when your iPhone battery drains fast or ‘iPhone not holding charge‘, it is suggested that  first you follow the general performance tips given below as recommended by Apple, which are applicable for all iOS devices including iPad:

Also read: [Solved] iPhone keeps disconnecting from WiFi – Proven fixes

1. Avoid extreme ambient temperatures. iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple Watch work best at 0° to 35° C (32° to 95° F) ambient temperatures. Recommended storage temperature is –20° to 45° C (–4° to 113° F). Avoid exposing your device to ambient temperatures higher than 35° C (95° F), which can permanently damage battery capacity;

2. Remove your device from its case during charging. If you charge your device when it’s inside its case it may generate excess heat, which can affect battery capacity;

3. If your device is in storage for a long time, the environmental temperature and the percentage of charge on the battery when it’s powered down for storage, may affect the overall health of your battery.

It is, therefore, recommended,

i. Not to charge or discharge your device’s battery fully when it is stored for an extended period of time. In such cases charge the battery to around 50 per cent only. If you store the device when its battery is fully discharged, the battery could fall into a deep discharge state, which renders it incapable of holding a charge. Conversely, if you store it fully charged for an indefinite period of time, the battery may lose some capacity, leading to shorter battery life;

ii. Power down the device to avoid additional battery use;

iii. Place your device in a cool, moisture-free environment that’s less than 32° C (90° F);

iv. If you plan to store your device for longer than six months, charge it to 50 per cent every six months;

 iPhone battery draining fast all of a sudden  – 10 proven fixes

If you see your iPhone not holding charge and you are not sure why is my phone battery dying so fast all of a sudden, try the 10 proven tips given below. If followed correctly, these would make your battery last longer without sacrificing its functionality. These are also definitely going to improve your iPhone battery life significantly, be it iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 7, iPhone 6 or iPhone 5. It is often reported by the users that iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s battery draining fast after up-gradation of their devices to iOS 10, 11 or 12.

1. Check Battery Usage

If your see your iPhone battery draining fast all of a sudden the first thing would obviously come to your mind –  why is my phone dying so fast and what is draining my iPhone battery?

If you are using iOS 9 and later version it has an excellent new feature, called Battery Usage which helps to find why your iPhone battery drains fast. This feature would identify the guilty app responsible for your iPhone battery drain, when you are not sure – what is draining my iPhone battery.

Once you find the guilty app for which your iPhone battery drains quickly, you can update the app as a first step. If the app still causes problem, you can eventually remove it. You can always re-download these apps at a later date if you find that these apps are not responsible for your iPhone battery drain issue.

Follow the steps below to check battery usage on your iPhone or iPad and clear your doubt – why is my iPhone battery draining so fast?

i. Go to Settings > tap on Battery;

ii. On the Battery screen, wait for a few second for Battery Usage feature to load;

iii. Tap the “Last 7 Days” option to see the percentage of battery used by each app in the last 7 days;

iv. Tap the ‘time’   sign to see the detail information of each app;

v. Find out which apps eat your iPhone battery the most;

vi. Now you can decide whether to update or remove the guilty apps. If you find any app that you seldom use is draining your battery abnormally uninstall it;

2. Enable ‘Low Power Mode’

Enabling Low Power Mode reduces iPhone battery drain and makes your iPhone battery last for several hours longer than in normal mode. When Low Power Mode is on, mail fetch, background app refresh, automatic downloads and some visual effects are reduced or turned off automatically. This will greatly increase battery life on your iPhone. When it is enabled you will see Yellow battery bar on iPhone. To enable this, go to settings > tap Battery > toggle the switch next to ‘Low Power Mode’ to turn it on.

This feature is only available on iPhones that are running with iOS 9 and later, and iPad doesn’t have this feature.

3. Turn off ‘Raise to Wake’

‘Raise to Wake’ option in your iPhone settings is turned on by default with iOS 10. Raise to Wake feature automatically wakes your iPhone or iPad screen as soon as you pick it up from flat on a surface.  If you move around a lot with your iPhone in your hand, your iPhone screen wakes up automatically and remains constantly turned on which is one of the causes of your iPhone battery draining fast. Therefore, at any time if your iPhone battery drains fast, turn off ‘Raise to Wake’ feature to save iPhone battery life.

To do this, go to Settings > tap Display & Brightness > toggle the switch next to ‘Raise to Wake’ to turn it off.

4. Update apps (including iOS update)

Sometimes the outdated apps can be the cause of your iPhone 6, iPhone 7 or iPhone 8 battery draining fast suddenly. Normally software updates often include bug fixes some of which at times may be the cause of your iPhone battery draining fast. When Apple releases a new iOS update, developers also prepare and optimize their apps for the latest version. Therefore, ensure that your iPhone or iPad is working with the apps with latest iOS version. Taking time to update all the available apps may affect your iPhone or iPad battery life considerably.

To update apps, open App Store > Tap ‘Updates’ at the bottom right of the screen > Tap ‘Update All’ in the upper right corner.

5. Turn off ‘Background App Refresh’

‘Background App Refresh’ refreshes the apps on your iPhone in the background which is to say your apps continue to update even when you’re not using them. This is intended to save loading time of the apps. But allowing all your open apps to continually update and refresh in the background also becomes one of the causes of the issue of your iPad or iPhone battery draining fast all of a sudden. Therefore, you should turn this feature off to extend battery life on your iPhone or iPad.

To turn it off go to Settings> General> Background App Refresh> Toggle ‘Background App Refresh’ to off position.

6. Disable ‘Location Services’

iPhone Location Service may also be one of the causes why your iPhone battery draining fast all of a sudden.

iPhone’s location service determines your approximate location using GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi hotspot and mobile tower location and pass on the information to different  apps that help to find restaurants, and more for you. But, like any service that sends data over a network, it needs battery power to work. Therefore, if you don’t need to use Location Service and don’t plan to use it right away, turn it off to prevent your iPhone battery drain.

To turn it off go to Settings > tap Privacy > tap Location Services > toggle the switch next to ‘Location Services’ to off position.

7. Turn on ‘Airplane Mode’

If you see your iPhone battery draining too fast suddenly, one of the major reasons may be poor cellular service. When you are in a place of low signal, your iPhone will increase the power to the antenna in order to stay connected enough to receive calls and maintain a data connection. This depletes your iPhone battery in no time.

To prevent iPhone battery drain, turn on ‘Airplane mode’ by swiping up from the bottom of Home screen of your device to access Control Center and tapping on the Airplane mode icon or go to Settings > Airplane Mode > Toggle ‘Airplane Mode’ to on position. Once you’re back in an area with a strong signal, use the same steps to turn off Airplane mode.

But please bear in mind that during the time when your iPhone’s Airplane mode is turned on, you cannot make or receive any phone calls.

8. Turn off ‘vibration’

Vibration alerts can drain your iPhone battery more than anything else especially when you get a lot of push notifications. If you turn off vibration alerts on your phone, you’ll notice considerable improvement in battery life. To turn off vibration go to Settings > Sounds > turn off ‘Vibrate on Rings’ and ‘Vibrate on Silent’.

9. Turn off ‘Auto-brightness’ feature

Auto-Brightness feature of your iPhone may be also one of the reasons of the issue of your iPhone dying fast all of a sudden. This feature of your iPhone adjusts display brightness of the device according to the lighting of your existing surroundings. It always keeps the display brightness at its highest level depleting your battery life. Therefore, if you see your iPhone losing battery fast turn Off Auto-Brightness feature and adjust the brightness yourself to a lower level according to your requirement.

To turn it off go to Settings > tap on Display & Brightness > Turn off Auto-Brightness and adjust the brightness to a lower level by swiping to left.

10. Turn off WiFi when not in use

If you do not turn off WiFi when you are not connected to a WiFi network it makes the WiFi of your iPhone or iPad to hunt around for WiFi networks it could join. This will obviously consume battery power. Therefore, when you are not using WiFi you should turn it off to stop unnecessary iPhone battery drain.

To do this go to Settings > tap WiFi > toggle WiFi to off position.

Besides the above fixes another point also needs mentioning in this connection that all kinds of viruses consume lots of power and cause the battery of devices to run out faster. Therefore, when you wonder why is my battery draining so fast, virus or malware infection may also be one of the reasons, though likelihood of such happening is extremely low in case of iOS devices. Here is how to check iPhone for virus or malware.

You might also like to read this related post: Why does my phone die so fast

Frequently asked questions

Now that I have explained in detail the possible fixes when your iPhone battery not holding charge and draining fast suddenly, let me also answer some of the related questions often asked by the iOS users:

Why does my iPhone battery die so fast?

When you see your iPhone battery dying fast all of a sudden the question may come up in your mind – why is my battery draining so fast?

There may be two possibilities for this. Either the battery is depreciating or something in the system is draining your battery power more than usual. In order to fix the issue, you need to look into both hardware and software aspects of your device and follow the fixes suggested in the post.

How long do iPhone batteries last?

As per Apple, an iPhone 5, from full charge condition, offers up to eight hours of talk time and Internet use on 3G, 10 hours of internet use on WiFi, 10 hours of video viewing or 40 hours of using audio besides 225 hours of standby time. The Battery life of earlier models may, of course, vary.

How do I know if my iPhone battery is bad?

If you find that your iPhone battery draining quickly and doesn’t hold charge as long as it used to, then you can check about this in the iOS settings. For this, go to Settings > Battery.

If it’s in a bad condition, you’ll see a notification at the top of the screen that says, your battery needs to be serviced.

How to check if my iPhone battery needs replacement?

To check if your iPhone battery needs replacing

1. Go to Settings > Battery;

2. Tap on Battery Health;

3. Here you will see the ‘maximum capacity’ of your battery in percentage which is a measure of your battery capacity relative to when it was new;

4. Below that you can see your battery’s present ‘Peak Performance Capacity’;

At what percentage should I charge my iPhone battery?

The ideal charge level for a stable battery is between 40 and 80 percent. It would be best if you can maintain your battery charge in the upper mid-range of the above. Keeping your battery in the above range will help you to get the most out of your battery. Leaving your phone plugged in when it’s fully charged (like charging overnight) is bad for the battery in the long run.

You may also like to read this related post: Why is my iPhone battery yellow

Conclusion

Now that you got answer to your query – why is my iPhone battery draining so fast all of a sudden, try to follow the following tips also besides the fixes mentioned in the post:

> Turn off as many background apps as possible;

> Turn off Bluetooth & WiFi if you aren’t using them;

> Turn your screen’s brightness down as low as possible without straining your eyes;

> Don’t use battery hogging apps like Facebook too much;

> And finally, don’t check your phone every 5 minutes for stuff;

So far my experience goes, it can be assured that when you find your iPhone battery draining fast all of a sudden and you follow the tips given above, you will be able to stop your iPhone battery drain in most cases and save iPhone battery life significantly under normal circumstances.

If you see your iPhone 7 or iPhone 6 battery draining fast suddenly and the issue could not be resolved following the above fixes, you need not worry about the battery of your device. May be the reason for your iPhone battery dying fast and not lasting long is simply because you are a heavy user. However, the only way to tell if your battery is defective is to take your phone to an Apple Store or Authorized Apple Service Center and have them test it.

If iPad or iPhone battery drain continues even after following the tips above your best option is to purchase an external battery pack or a battery case. I have found ‘Anker PowerCore 20100’ to be the best external battery pack so far in the market. It is not too heavy and it can be carried easily into different kinds of pockets in your bag. It can recharge an iPhone up to 7 times from 0 to 100% depending on the model.

Please share in the comment section below if you have any other better solutions when your iPhone battery draining quickly and not holding charge.

You might also like to read this post: Why is my iPad not charging?