Since the upgrade to iOS 18, the battery life of my iPhone has taken a hard blow. Things only worsened with the later versions, and nothing was improved by the last security correction 18.3.1. At lunchtime, my battery is rarely more than 40%, and I had to make food banks my new best friends.
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Day or night, the battery discharge was relentless – much worse than everything I remember with the previous updates. Even low -power mode barely makes a difference, constantly leaving me looking for a charger.
I decided to investigate
So, a few weeks ago, I started examining the problem.
For any battery emptying problem, the first place where I still look is under the battery screen in the settings. This section is a treasure of information, not only linked to battery but also to applications that work and consume energy. Two graphics are displayed here: the level of the battery, which shows how the load level changes at intervals of 15 minutes, and the activity, which uses a bar graph to illustrate which applications have been active and the use of The battery at time intervals. You can press the bars for a deeper dive in what is happening on your iPhone during this period.
But apart from high use by Home & Lock screen (basically, any activity on the lock screen, such as notifications or widgets), there was nothing out of the ordinary. I tried to deactivate the display always on the iPhone – The parameter to do this is under the settings> Display and brightness> always exposed – but in vain.
The problem persisted.
I found the culprit
After more surveys, tests, refining parameters and a lot of frustration, I found the culprit: Apple Intelligence. With Apple Intelligence activated (the parameter can be found under parameters> Apple Intelligence & Siri), I found it impossible to spend a day without recharging. However, with her handicapped, the lifespan of my battery returned to her old levels, allowing me to leave the home feed bank.
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And here is the botter: I don’t even use Apple Intelligence. I had briefly activated it for tests, but I quickly went to other things. Honestly, I find it quite disappointing, but I did not expect it to drain my battery so much – especially when it was not actively used.
This problem does not seem to be limited to my equipment either. I met Many similar reportsAnd that does not only affect iPhones. Some users blame Apple Intelligence for Excessive battery regard on macbooks also. I noticed the same thing on my MacBook Pro – extinguishing Apple Intelligence Off immediately fix the problem.
Serious optimization problems
The effect is consistent on my devices. On my iPhone, MacBook Pro, and even, to a lesser extent, my iPad, the model is the same: light the Apple intelligence and the drops of battery life as a rock; Turn it off and things go back to normal.
At this stage, it is clear that Apple Intelligence has serious optimization problems. Although it can have potential for some users, the battery compromise is difficult to justify now.
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If the battery life of your iPhone has been particularly bad since the upgrade to iOS 18 and you have activated Apple Intelligence’s feature, it could be the culprit. I say “could” because it is one of these situations “Your mileage can vary”. That said, if you can’t find Apple Intelligence just as useful, there is no trouble deactivating it to see if it helps.
Here is the kicker: Apple really wants you to use Apple Intelligence. The installation of iOS 18.3 automatically activated the functionality, and I heard several users that the update 18.3.1 reactivated it even after having deactivated it.
Now, I am not an anti -Apple intelligence – it has its merits for certain users – but for those who do not find it useful, the battery compromise is important. I really hope that Apple will be able to approach this battery in the coming months because, at the moment, it’s quite painful.
That said, battery problems seem to have become the norm for iPhones. It is perhaps time to accept that the dream of a day of the battery of a day fades, and the chargers and the food banks are only part of life now.
