Is Apple’s iOS 26 draining the battery life of iPhones?

Apple has started rolling out iOS 26, the newest version of its operating system for iPhone. The update introduces several new features.

Many users, however, have reported that their phone batteries are draining faster after installing it.

Apple has also updated its ‘About Software Updates’ page, explaining why it is important to keep all devices up to date.

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So, what is happening? Is the new update actually causing battery issues?

Let’s take a look:

What’s happening?

The newly released iOS 26 brings several new features to your iPhone, including call screening and a fresh Liquid Glass redesign.

But what about battery life?

Soon after updating, many users took to social media to say their phone batteries were draining faster than before.

“My phone’s been burning up since the update to iOS 26 and voila my battery health just fell down to 80%. I haven’t even changed any charging habits,” one user wrote on X.

Another user wrote, “iOS26 is a battery hog! I typically don’t run out of juice and only need to recharge at night.”

“This new iOS 26 update seems to be really battery hungry on my iPhone 13. even when i have a new genuine battery,” a third user wrote.

Is iOS 26 really draining iPhone battery life?

In a support document released on September 15, Apple explained why software updates are important, including the difference between major updates like iOS 26 and minor ones such as iOS 26.1.

One section talks about performance and battery life.

Apple said that after installing a major update, users might see a drop in battery life for a short period.

The company said its hardware and software are built to work together to give good performance and battery life, but new features and changes may affect how people use their devices.

“Immediately after completing an update, particularly a major release, you might notice a temporary impact on battery life and thermal performance. This is normal, as your device needs time to complete the setup process in the background, including indexing data and files for search, downloading new assets, and updating apps,” Apple wrote on the support page.

It added, “New features are exciting and help you get even more out of your Apple product, though some may require additional resources from the device. Depending on individual usage, some users may notice a small impact on performance and/or battery life.”

What Apple has said could be true. As the update has only been available for a short time, it is best to wait and see if battery performance returns to normal after a while, which usually happens.

How to download iOS 26?

You can set your iPhone to install software updates automatically, or you can check for updates manually in the Software Update section of the Settings app.

Before installing any new software, back up your device so you do not lose important data.

List of eligible devices

These devices can get the iOS 26 update:

• iPhone 17

• iPhone 17 Pro

• iPhone 17 Pro Max

• iPhone Air

• iPhone 16e

• iPhone 16

• iPhone 16 Plus

• iPhone 16 Pro

• iPhone 16 Pro Max

• iPhone 15

• iPhone 15 Plus

• iPhone 15 Pro

• iPhone 15 Pro Max

• iPhone 14

• iPhone 14 Plus

• iPhone 14 Pro

• iPhone 14 Pro Max

• iPhone 13

• iPhone 13 mini

• iPhone 13 Pro

• iPhone 13 Pro Max

• iPhone 12

• iPhone 12 mini

• iPhone 12 Pro

• iPhone 12 Pro Max

• iPhone 11

• iPhone 11 Pro

• iPhone 11 Pro Max

• iPhone SE (2nd generation and later)