I was excited to upgrade from the iPhone 14 Pro to the new iPhone 16 Pro as soon as it was released. However, after just 12 days of use, my excitement started to fade when I noticed that the iPhone 16 Pro’s battery was draining very quickly, with less battery life than my iPhone 14 Pro, which still had 87% battery health.
If you own an iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max and notice that your battery is draining rapidly, the guide below might help you understand the root of the problem and what you need to do about it.
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How does the iPhone 16 Pro’s battery performance compare to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro?
Battery performance is measured by its lifespan, specifically how long your phone lasts between two charging cycles. This period of time—when the battery drops from 100% to 0% under normal usage—shortens over time as the battery wears out and its health declines.
Related: How to extend the battery life of an iPhone (Maximum Capacity)
According to Apple and the technical specifications of the new devices, the iPhone 16 Pro has a 3,582 mAh battery, which is 9.4% larger than the one in the iPhone 15 Pro (3,274 mAh). With a full charge, the iPhone 16 Pro’s battery should last up to 27 hours of video playback, which is about 4 hours longer than both the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro. In terms of audio playback, the iPhone 16 Pro promises up to 10 hours more than previous models, with a total of up to 85 hours (3 and a half days).
These figures are based on the technical specs and comparisons provided on Apple’s official website.
Why is the iPhone 16 Pro battery draining so quickly?
If you notice that your iPhone 16 Pro’s battery life is shorter than expected, there are a few factors that could be causing this under normal usage conditions.
iCloud data syncing causes fast battery drain on the iPhone 16 Pro
Your iPhone’s battery may drain quickly during the first few days after setting up the device and connecting it to your Apple account. You might notice that the device gets warm, and the battery level drops rapidly right after linking your Apple account to the new phone.
If you use iCloud to store photos and videos, it will take a few days for these to download, index, and organize in the native Photos app. While some of these tasks happen when the iPhone 16 Pro is charging overnight, when you open the photo gallery, the content will begin downloading from iCloud, which can cause the battery to drain quickly and the device to heat up.
The same thing happens with other Apple apps that store data and settings in iCloud. Downloading these can cause the iPhone 16 Pro’s battery to drain quickly during the first few days of use.
iOS 18.1 Beta drains the iPhone 16 Pro battery quickly.
Any beta version of an operating system comes with various issues, including rapid battery drain. After testing iOS 18.1 (beta) for a few days, I noticed that the iPhone 16 Pro’s battery drained very quickly, with less than a day of battery life under normal usage.
If you’re experiencing this, the solution is to revert from iOS 18.1 (beta) back to the final version of iOS 18. Keep in mind that downgrading will require reinstalling iOS, which will erase all data on the device unless it’s stored in iCloud or you have a backup.
This worked for me. After reverting to iOS 18.1, my iPhone 18 Pro’s battery life improved on the first day, even though the iCloud data sync wasn’t complete yet. It’s likely that Apple Intelligence, the flagship feature of iOS 16, isn’t yet smart enough to manage the iPhone 18.1’s energy resources efficiently.
Do you have this battery life issue with your iPhone 16 Pro / Max?
