The fact that the capacity of a battery decreases over time is in the nature of things: meanwhile, the battery status can be read out with on-board tools and users are able to make a decision more easily whether it makes sense to replace this component. But if a software update is identified as the cause of problems with the battery, the user has no choice but to wait – and hope for improvement on the part of the manufacturer. This situation has now occurred for some users: Some owners of older iPhone and iPad models are currently reporting enormous energy consumption under iOS and iPadOS 14.2.
iOS / iPadOS drains the battery
With the software update to iOS and iPadOS 14.2, Apple provided a better system integration of Shazam, numerous new emojis, the intercom function that is important for the HomePod and a few other features. The company also closed serious security gaps. However, the update not only created a cheer for some users: In Apple’s developer forum and up Reddit some users report increased energy consumption. Some of those affected experience a charge level that is up to 50 percent lower within 30 minutes. Sometimes no drop in the charge level can be observed over a longer period of time until it suddenly occurs – but then all the more massive.
Older devices are particularly affected
The problem can often be resolved with a restart until it occurs again. The most affected devices are the iPhone SE (2016), 6S, 7, XS and the iPad Pro (2018). iOS 14.2.1 did not help the users – but the update is only available for the latest model series anyway. With the iPhone 12, however, there are also more messages describing a greatly increased energy consumption – these devices require an extraordinary amount of power without background activity. It is not yet clear whether Apple will fix these errors with iOS / iPadOS 14.3 – the version is currently available in the third beta and should be released for all users shortly.