The most common reasons your iPhone battery empties quickly
iPhone battery drain usually comes from one of three sources: apps running in the background, screen brightness set too high, or a battery that has physically worn out. Most of the time it is the first two, and both are fixable in settings without replacing hardware.
If your phone is less than three years old and the battery drained suddenly rather than gradually over months, a background app or screen setting is almost certainly the culprit. If the phone is older or the drain has been slow and steady, the battery itself may have lost capacity — all lithium batteries do this over time, and Apple's batteries typically hold 80 percent of their original capacity after 500 full charge cycles.
The fastest way to find out which is happening: check Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging. If the Maximum Capacity number is still above 80 percent, your battery is fine and the drain is a software problem. If it is below 80 percent, the battery has aged and will not hold a charge as long as it once did.
Key Takeaways
- Background app refresh, location services, and high screen brightness account for most rapid battery drain and can be turned off in Settings without harming the phone.
- Check Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging to see if your battery has physically degraded; anything below 80 percent maximum capacity means the battery itself is the problem.
- Apps that use GPS constantly — maps, fitness trackers, weather — drain battery much faster than apps that only check data when you open them.
- Turning on Low Power Mode cuts background activity and screen refresh rate, which can extend battery life by several hours on an aging battery.
- If maximum capacity is below 80 percent and you use your phone heavily, a battery replacement is usually cheaper than buying a new phone.
How to find which apps are draining your battery
Open Settings > Battery and scroll down to see which apps have used the most battery in the last 24 hours or the last 10 days. The list shows both on-screen time and background activity. If an app you rarely use is near the top, it is running in the background and consuming power even when you are not using it.
Social media apps, email, and messaging services are the most common offenders because they refresh constantly to show you new notifications. Maps and fitness apps drain battery faster than almost anything else because they use GPS, which is a power-hungry feature. If you see an app you do not recognize in the list, search for it in the App Store to understand what it does, then decide whether you need it.
The Battery list does not tell you why an app is draining power — only that it is. To stop the drain, you have two choices: delete the app, or turn off background refresh for that app alone. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh, find the app in the list, and toggle it off. The app will still work when you open it, but it will not run in the background.
Screen brightness and display settings that waste battery
Your screen is usually the single largest battery drain on an iPhone, especially if you have it set to maximum brightness or if you use an iPhone 12 or newer with a high-refresh-rate display. Lowering brightness by even 20 percent can add an hour or more to your battery life.
Go to Settings > Display & Brightness and turn on Auto-Brightness. This setting adjusts your screen brightness based on the light in the room, so you are not running maximum brightness indoors or in dim light where you do not need it. If you find auto-brightness too aggressive, you can also manually lower the brightness slider and leave it there.
On iPhone 12 and newer models, you can also limit the screen refresh rate. Go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Motion and toggle on Limit Frame Rate. This tells the phone to refresh the screen 60 times per second instead of 120, which uses less battery. You will not notice the difference in everyday use, but your battery will last noticeably longer.
Location services and why they drain battery fast
Location services use GPS, which is one of the most power-hungry features on your phone. Many apps request location permission and then use it constantly in the background, even when you are not actively using the app. Maps and fitness apps need location to work, but weather apps, social media, and shopping apps do not.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services and look at which apps have permission. For each app, tap it and choose either "Never," "While Using," or "Always." Choose "While Using" for any app that does not absolutely need to know where you are when it is closed. For most apps, "Never" is the right choice — they work fine without knowing your location.
If you use your phone for navigation or fitness tracking regularly, location services will drain your battery no matter what you do. This is normal and not a problem. If you are not using the phone for those things and location drain is still high, you have an app running in the background that should not be.
Low Power Mode and when to use it
Low Power Mode is a built-in setting that reduces background activity, lowers screen refresh rate, and limits performance to stretch your battery life. It typically adds 2 to 4 hours to your battery life, depending on how much you use the phone. You can turn it on manually whenever you want, or set it to turn on automatically when your battery reaches 20 percent.
Go to Settings > Battery and toggle on Low Power Mode. You can also add it to your Control Center so you can turn it on with one tap. When Low Power Mode is on, your phone will feel slightly slower — apps take a moment longer to open, and some features like background refresh are paused. For most people, this is a fair trade for several extra hours of battery life.
Low Power Mode is not harmful to your phone or battery, and you can turn it on and off as often as you want. Many people leave it on all the time if they use their phone heavily or do not have access to a charger during the day.
When your battery has physically worn out
If your maximum capacity is below 80 percent, your battery has aged and will not hold a charge as long as it once did. This is normal — all lithium batteries lose capacity over time. At 80 percent capacity, you might notice your phone dies 20 percent faster than it did when it was new. At 60 percent capacity, the difference is obvious.
Apple offers battery replacement for most iPhone models. The cost varies by model but typically ranges from $50 to $70 if your phone is out of warranty. You can check the exact price and book a replacement at an Apple Store, or through Apple's mail-in repair service. Third-party repair shops often charge less, but Apple batteries come with a one-year warranty and are may provide to be genuine.
If your phone is more than four or five years old and the battery capacity is below 60 percent, you should also consider whether a new phone makes sense financially. A new battery might extend the life of your current phone by another year or two, but if the phone is already aging in other ways — slow performance, cracked screen, outdated software — a replacement might be the better choice.
Other settings that drain battery without you noticing
Push notifications force your phone to check for new messages constantly, which uses battery. If you do not need when ready notifications from an app, go to Settings > Notifications, find the app, and toggle off Allow Notifications. You can still check the app manually whenever you want.
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi searching also drain battery if you leave them on when you are not using them. If you are not connected to a Bluetooth device or Wi-Fi network, turn them off in Settings or Control Center. You can turn them back on when you need them.
iCloud syncing, photo backup, and mail fetch settings can also contribute to drain if they are set to check too frequently. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud and turn off syncing for apps you do not use. Go to Settings > Mail and change Fetch New Data from "Automatically" to "Manually" or a longer interval like every 30 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does closing apps in the background actually save battery?
No. Closing apps manually does not save battery because iOS automatically suspends apps you are not using. The only way to stop an app from draining battery is to turn off background refresh for that app in Settings, or to delete it entirely. Closing apps manually is unnecessary and does not help.
Is it bad to leave my phone plugged in overnight?
No. Modern iPhones have built-in protections that stop charging once the battery reaches 100 percent, so leaving your phone plugged in overnight will not damage the battery. If you want to extend battery lifespan, you can enable Optimized Battery Charging in Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging, which limits charging to 80 percent most of the time.
Why does my battery drain faster in cold weather?
Lithium batteries perform worse in cold temperatures, so your iPhone will drain faster and may even shut down temporarily if it gets too cold. This is not permanent damage — the battery will work normally again once it warms up. Keeping your phone in a pocket or bag close to your body helps prevent this.
Can I use a third-party charger without damaging my battery?
Yes, as long as the charger is certified. Look for chargers that say "Made for iPhone" or have the MFi certification mark. Uncertified chargers can deliver inconsistent power and may damage your battery over time. Apple chargers and well-known third-party brands like Anker are safe choices.
Should I turn off 5G to save battery?
5G does use more battery than 4G LTE, but the difference is usually small unless you are actively downloading large files. If you are in an area with poor 5G coverage, turning it off can help because your phone will not waste power searching for a 5G signal. Go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options and toggle off 5G to test the difference.