If the battery in your iPhone or iPad drains too quickly
“Battery life” is the amount of time that your device works before it needs to be recharged. Battery life is a combination of many factors, such as how much you use your device and which apps you use. If you think your battery is draining too quickly, find out what to do.
Before you begin
Make sure you have the latest version of iOS or iPadOS. You’ll need iOS 26 or later or iPadOS 26 or later to see the Daily Usage chart and to use Adaptive Power.
Check for battery suggestions and Insights
iOS and iPadOS can suggest how you can extend battery life with battery suggestions and Insights.
Go to Settings > Battery.
If there are any suggestions or Insights, you’ll find them just above Daily Usage.
Find out about suggestions
You may see suggestions such as these:
Enable auto-brightness: Auto-brightness is off. To improve battery life, enable auto-brightness.
Enable auto-lock: Auto-lock is off, and your device is often idle. To improve battery life, enable auto-lock.
High Brightness: High screen brightness consumes a lot of energy, and your brightness is set to higher than the recommended level. To improve battery life, reduce brightness.
Find out about Insights
With iOS 18 and later and iPadOS 18 and later, Insights inform you of activities happening in the background that can affect battery life and thermal performance for a while. When the activity finishes, battery life will return to normal. You might see one of these Insights:
Ongoing iOS Update: A recent software update is finishing in the background.
Ongoing Device Setup: Your device is completing setup steps in the background.
Check daily usage
Go to Settings > Battery.
Check the Daily Usage chart.
The Daily Usage chart summarises today’s battery usage as compared with your usage over the last seven days. You’ll see a message that indicates if you’re using more, less or similar battery to usual.
Below the chart, App and System Activity Usage shows the three apps that have used the most battery today. You can tap an app to display a chart showing today’s battery usage for that app as compared with the usage over the last seven days.
To find out more about your battery usage, tap View All Battery Usage. A Daily Usage chart compares today’s battery usage as compared with the usage over the last seven days. Tap a bar for a day to see detailed usage for that day. App and System Activity Usage shows battery usage throughout the day for a list of the apps you’ve used, as well as system activities that have used battery.
In the details for each app, you may see usage types such as these:
Background Activity: Most of the app’s battery usage – such as playing music or tracking location – happened while the app was active in the background. You can improve battery life by reducing your use of the app.
No Mobile Coverage and Low Signal: Your device was searching for a Wi-Fi or mobile signal or being used in a low-signal environment, which affected battery life. To improve battery life, if you can, use your device in a place with a strong signal. If you know you’ll be in an area with no coverage for some time, enable Airplane Mode.
Notifications: The app’s notifications wake the device. To improve battery life, you can adjust the app’s notifications to wake the device less often.
Connected to Charger: The app was only used while your device was charging, so the battery wasn’t used.
Use Wi-Fi when you can
Wi-Fi uses less battery power than mobile networks. When you use apps that use the internet, make sure that Wi-Fi is on and connect to a Wi-Fi network if possible:
Go to Settings > Wi-Fi.
Choose a Wi-Fi network.
If you can, use your device in a place with a strong signal. Both Wi-Fi and mobile connections use less energy when used in places with high signal strength. If you know you’ll be in an area with no coverage for some time, enable Airplane Mode.
With iPhone 12 models and later, iPhone SE (3rd generation) and iPad models with 5G, you can turn on 5G Auto, which enables Smart Data mode. When 5G speeds don’t provide a noticeably better experience, your device will switch to LTE automatically, saving battery life.
To turn on 5G Auto:
For iPhone, go to Settings > Mobile > Mobile Data Options > Voice & Data. For iPad, go to Settings > Mobile Data Options > Data.
Tap 5G Auto.
If battery life is less than expected after an update
If you notice that your battery life has decreased after updating your device, wait a few days and then check again.
Even though you can use your device immediately after an update, certain tasks related to the update continue in the background and may affect battery life and thermal performance. While they’re ongoing, you may see the Insight Ongoing iOS Update in Settings > Battery.
Use Adaptive Power
With Adaptive Power, your iPhone can extend battery life automatically on days when you’re using more power than usual. Adaptive Power can predict when you’ll need extra battery and then make performance adjustments to help your battery last longer. When active, Adaptive Power can even turn on Low Power Mode to extend battery life automatically when your battery reaches 20 per cent.
You can use Adaptive Power with iOS 26 or later and one of these devices:
iPhone 17 models
iPhone Air
iPhone 16 models
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 15 Pro
Find out more about Adaptive Power
Use Low Power Mode
You can extend the battery life of your device by turning on Low Power Mode. Low Power Mode reduces the amount of power your device uses by reducing or disabling certain settings and features, such as Mail fetch, Hey Siri, Background App Refresh and some visual effects.
To use Low Power Mode:
Go to Settings > Battery > Power Mode.
Turn on Low Power Mode.
You can also turn on Low Power Mode using Control Centre on iPhone or Control Centre on iPad.
Low Power Mode turns off automatically when you have charged your device to above 80 per cent.
Check battery health
How long a battery lasts depends on battery capacity and your use of software and hardware features.
iPhone and iPad batteries, like all rechargeable batteries, have limited lifespan and may eventually need to be replaced. Here’s where you can check your battery capacity:
On iPhone 15 and later and certain iPad models: Tap Settings > Battery > Battery Health.
On iPhone 14 and earlier: Tap Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging.
If you see Service next to Battery Health, consider replacing your battery to restore full performance and capacity. Follow the onscreen instructions.