iOS 18.2 was killing my iPhone’s battery until I turned off this feature

It is not possible to not discover how unhealthy my iPhone’s battery life has grow to be since upgrading to iOS 18; it solely bought progressively worse with iOS 18.1 and 18.2. It is the uncommon day that my battery continues to be above 40% by lunchtime, and energy banks have grow to be fixed companions in my life. 

The state of affairs was unhealthy (night time or day), battery consumption was a lot increased than something I bear in mind, and even Low Energy Mode did not provide a lot reduction.

It was time to research the issue.

Nevertheless, I wasn’t optimistic about discovering an answer or perhaps a workaround. Just lately, the one treatment for such points has been to attend for Apple to patch the issue. However on condition that I’ve watched this challenge go from unhealthy to worse over the previous few months, I am not holding my breath.

So I made a decision to research. For any battery drain challenge, the primary place I at all times look is below the Battery display in Settings. This part is a treasure trove of knowledge, not solely associated to the battery but additionally to the apps which are operating and consuming energy. Two charts are displayed right here: Battery Stage, which reveals how the cost degree adjustments at 15-minute intervals; and Exercise, which makes use of a bar chart for example which apps have been lively and utilizing battery energy in hourly intervals. You may faucet on the bars for a deeper dive into what’s been occurring in your iPhone throughout that interval.

However aside from elevated utilization by House & Lock Display (mainly, any exercise on the lock display, reminiscent of notifications or widgets) there was nothing out of the peculiar. I did strive disabling the iPhone’s always-on show — the setting to do that is below Settings > Show & Brightness > All the time On Show — however to no avail.

The issue endured.

After a bit extra investigating, testing, tweaking settings, and plenty of frustration, I discovered the offender: Apple Intelligence. With Apple Intelligence enabled (the setting will be discovered below Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri), I discovered it not possible to make it via a day with out recharging. Nevertheless, with it disabled, my battery life returned to its former ranges.

And this is the kicker: I wasn’t even utilizing Apple Intelligence. I had enabled it for testing functions, nevertheless it type of fell by the wayside as I moved on to different issues. I discovered Apple Intelligence relatively underwhelming, however I did not count on it to empty the battery so considerably when it wasn’t actively in use.

Evidently this challenge is not restricted to my {hardware}, as I’ve come throughout loads of comparable experiences. Furthermore, it does not look like restricted to the iPhone; Apple Intelligence is also being blamed by some for extreme battery consumption on MacBooks.

I discover the impact repeatable — on my iPhones and, to a lesser extent. my iPads. Flip Apple Intelligence on, battery life drops like a stone; flip it off, and issues return to regular. 

It is as dependable as clockwork. This tweak additionally seems to reign within the extreme battery consumption I used to be seeing on the iOS 18.3 beta.

In the event you’re discovering battery life to be particularly poor since making the leap to iOS 18, and you have enabled the Apple Intelligence function, it might be your offender. I say “may” as a result of this might be a kind of “mileage will range” conditions. Nevertheless, when you’re not discovering Apple Intelligence to be all that helpful, you don’t have anything to lose by turning it off.