After downloading and installing the latest iOS 14.6 update from Apple, some iPhone users are complaining about battery drain issues. While it's not uncommon for software updates to cause excessive battery usage in the initial days after downloading them, issues with iOS 14.6 could be something more nefarious.
Apple rolled out iOS 14.6 on May 24, and for the most part, it's a pretty timid update. There are some subtle improvements to AirTag trackers, new functionality for the iPhone's Voice Control feature, and new expense-tracking tools for the Apple Card Family service. iOS 14.6 seems to have been a harmless update for some users, but for others, they weren't quite as lucky.
As reported by MacRumors, its own forums and the Apple Support Community site are both filled with complaints about iOS 14.6 causing iPhone battery life to take a turn for the worse. One iPhone 7 owner reports that their device now runs out of juice after just 2 hours of use, an iPhone XS user says that Siri consumed 70 percent of their fully charged battery while sleeping, and even some people with more recent iPhone 12 models have reported similarly bad endurance. It's difficult to say how widespread the issues are, but they certainly appear to be affecting a wide range of iPhones, both old and new. Under the hood changes often result in temporarily worse battery life with each iOS update, but seeing as how iOS 14.6 has now been out for over a week and the problems are still persisting, there may be an issue that Apple needs to patch.
What iPhone Users Can Do About Poor Battery Life
In the meantime, what can affect iPhone owners do about their suddenly terrible battery performance? While there isn't a magical fix, there are a couple of troubleshooting tactics that are worth trying. According to one user in the Apple Support Community, deleting the Apple Podcasts app, soft resetting their iPhone, and reinstalling the app "made a big difference in battery use." Other iPhone owners have also backed up this claim. According to some of them, going to the iPhone battery usage page shows the Podcasts app using significantly more battery than it should. To check this, open the Settings app, scroll down, tap 'Battery,' and then scroll down on that page to see battery usage by each app that's installed.
As silly as it may sound, it's also worth doing a proper reset of an iPhone that's acting up. Hold down the Siri and volume up buttons until the power menu appears, drag the toggle that says 'Slide to power off,' and then let the iPhone stay turned off for about 30 seconds. Then power it back on and see if things are running more smoothly.
Outside of that, there's not much else to do except to wait and see if Apple has anything to say about these complaints. It's possible the company could roll out a smaller iOS 14.6.1 patch to address the issues, or Apple may need to wait until iOS 14.7. It's impossible to say for sure until Apple offers insight one way or another. Here's to hoping that happens sooner rather than later.
