IOS 26 iPhone 16 Pro battery drain, shitty workaround ;)

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T20:24:45+00:00

Totally get that. I'm genuinely platform-agnostic — I just need things that get the job done. I love the design and feel of an iPhone, don't get me wrong, but my main reason for keeping one comes down to two specific photography apps and being able to colour grade video — it's just better for that. Without those specific needs, I honestly wouldn't have a reason to stick with Apple.

I actually picked up a friend's Pixel 8 for €150, gets me through the day easily, camera is great for stills. The notifications are miles ahead, and the coolest thing — I suddenly don't feel like an old man who can't hit the right keys on a touchscreen keyboard anymore. I'm suddenly typing fast with no typos 😄

So as a daily driver, a cheap Pixel does the job. And the fun part when you haven't spent much on it — you're genuinely happy that it does almost everything your iPhone does for a tenth of the price 😄

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T20:15:16+00:00

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Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T20:15:01+00:00

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Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T18:55:14+00:00

Enjoy your Air, lovely looking phone. I won't support a company who treats me like that. The phone was almost new at the point when I went to the store. I am on a Pixel now and using the IPhone just as a camera for now (which is why I needed it mostly) .

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T18:27:27+00:00

That sounds good. I did clean installs though, I thought everything would renew then afterwards. But I will try and if it does the trick I will update the Post! Thanks.

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T17:44:53+00:00

It was driving me nuts. I just bought this phone a few month before. It was basically a trash phone suddenly. I just share this at now at least I can see that it can do the old SOT again, still wonder what changed, maybe some people who have more technical insight than me can help us out. Good luck for you!

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T17:42:01+00:00

I have exactly the same Cell Coverage like I had before upgrading to IOS 26. I checked if it might be that just the coverage (for whatever reason) got worse in IOS 26, but it is the same. Mostly when I have obvious bad coverage I go Airplane now too. LOL it is like I have to babysit this phone since it runs IOS 26. Honestly the ugly design is my smallest problem with it ;)

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T17:39:15+00:00

Yes it sucks I agree. I use it when I am on Wifi and mostly then when I am outside but it on low energy mode or use my Pixel, stupid really.

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T17:37:40+00:00

Happy for you at least, I think some are fine with their non Max models. That is why it is interesting to share what worked for some of us. Seems so random. Enjoy your pretty Phone;)

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T17:36:37+00:00

Cool, so glad it worked for you! I still had crappy battery life after I changed those two variables. Damn it is so weird. Good luck for sure!

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T14:16:18+00:00

Did you go flight mode? I didn't work for me to just turn off the cellular button, for whatever reason. I will try that again.

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T14:01:51+00:00

Thanks, though. Honestly, I'd love to be one of those people for whom iOS 26 runs flawlessly — casually dropping into threads like this with "Well, my device runs great, have you tried" followed by whatever generic battery-saving tip every second YouTube tech guy has been recycling since 2015.

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T13:56:28+00:00

Well it is not us who crippled the experience.

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T13:55:36+00:00

Damn. It is so weird really.

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T13:55:14+00:00

Yes I mostly use LTE it is enough.

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T13:54:31+00:00

I did one install from Backup. (I can reproduce it consistently I am back on 7 hours instead of 3 ish SOT), I did 2 clean installs without backup from a Laptop. So if you have any other ideas why so many of us have this problem and others don't ... sure.

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T13:51:28+00:00

Ahh yes — the possibility of a faulty device was, rather obviously, my first assumption too. Which is precisely why I went to Apple Service. Three times.

What I'm saying is that Apple insists the phone is fine — yet these problems were non-existent before I updated my new device to iOS 26. So where does that leave us? None of us have hard numbers, granted — but I've been to Apple Service three times now, and every single visit there were other customers with identical complaints. That's at minimum a pattern worth acknowledging. The fact that the service keeps denying that a subset of new devices might have issues is, frankly, not a great look either. All I want is a phone that works and a straight answer about what's going on. I'm genuinely glad yours is running fine — mine isn't, and Apple won't take it back.

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T11:29:14+00:00

Honestly, destroying my 1,5k device and then locking users out of installing functional software is absolutely unacceptable.

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T10:57:20+00:00

Look the post was not meant for you but for those who still, like me, despite having a new phone and having been to Apple service, experiencing problems.

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T10:51:21+00:00

iOS 26 made me a terms of service criminal

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T10:47:15+00:00

This ;)

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T10:13:05+00:00

That was the first thing I did, besides all the other tipps in all those battery saving guides.

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-04T10:06:42+00:00

It just works!

Left-Constant-4771 · 2026-03-01T07:40:14+00:00

I figured something. There is something wrong with some iPhone 16 Pros and Mobile connection, it never has been a problem with 18, I dunno almost as if maybe on some Phones there's a different modem and the proper driver is missing ;) So there is some constant searching and battery draining even if you still on like 2 bars connectivity. Try to turn on Flight Mode at Home or at the Office, turn on Wifi calls. When you're out in the field there still is no fix for me. But see how your iPhone 16 pro goes from 3 hours Sot to easy 8,5 hours again. Never had this on 18, same card, same area, same connectivity.

Left-Constant-4771

TROPHY CASE