The most common causes of heat and battery drain
An iPhone that runs hot and loses battery quickly usually has one of three problems: a background app using too much processing power, a hardware issue like a failing battery, or settings that push the phone harder than necessary. The heat itself is the warning sign—your phone throttles its own speed when it gets too warm to protect the processor, which then drains the battery faster because it has to work longer to do the same task.
Start by checking what's running. Open Settings, tap Battery, then Battery Usage. Look at the list and see which apps have used the most power in the last 24 hours or the last 10 days. If one app is using 30 percent or more of your battery while you barely use it, that app is the culprit. If the heat started after you updated iOS or installed a new app, that's your starting point.
The second thing to check is whether your battery itself is failing. iPhones with batteries that have degraded to 80 percent health or lower will drain faster and heat up more easily. You can see your battery health in Settings > Battery and Device Care > Battery Health and Max Capacity. If that number is below 80 percent, the battery is aging and replacement may be the real fix.
Key Takeaways
- Check which apps are using the most battery in Settings > Battery > Battery Usage, because a single runaway app is the most common cause of heat and drain.
- Your battery health degrades over time, and phones with batteries below 80 percent health will run hot and drain faster even when nothing is wrong with the software.
- Turning off location services, background app refresh, and push notifications for apps you don't need them for can cut heat and battery drain significantly.
- If your phone is hot to the touch and draining battery even when you're not using it, force-close all apps and restart the phone to rule out a temporary software glitch.
Turn off location services and background app refresh
Location services and background app refresh are two of the biggest battery drains because they keep your phone's processor and radio awake even when you're not looking at the screen. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and turn it off entirely, or scroll down and turn it off for individual apps that don't need it—maps and weather need it, but games and social media usually don't.
Next, go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and turn it off for apps that don't need to update while you're not using them. Mail, messages, and news apps benefit from it, but most others don't. This single change often cuts battery drain by 10 to 15 percent and reduces heat noticeably within an hour.
Check for a failing battery
If your iPhone is more than two years old, the battery is probably degraded. Lithium batteries lose capacity every time they charge, and after 500 full charge cycles—roughly two years of normal use—they typically drop to 80 percent of their original capacity. At that point, the phone has to work harder to deliver the same power, which creates heat.
Go to Settings > Battery and Device Care > Battery Health and Max Capacity. Write down the percentage shown under Maximum Capacity. If it's 80 percent or higher, your battery is still healthy. If it's below 80 percent, the battery is the problem, and replacing it will fix the heat and drain. Apple charges between $69 and $99 for battery replacement depending on your model, and most Apple Stores can do it the same day or within a few days.
If your phone is still under warranty or you have AppleCare+, battery replacement may be covered. Check your coverage at Settings > General > About, then tap the serial number to open Apple's coverage checker.
Disable push notifications and reduce screen brightness
Push notifications wake your phone's screen and processor dozens of times a day, even when you're not using it. Go to Settings > Notifications and turn off notifications for apps you don't need alerts from. Keep them on for messages, calls, and mail, but turn them off for games, shopping apps, and social media.
Screen brightness is also a major drain. If your screen is set to maximum brightness all the time, it's working much harder than it needs to. Go to Settings > Display and Brightness and turn on Auto-Brightness, which adjusts brightness based on the light around you. You can also lower the maximum brightness slider to 60 or 70 percent—most people don't notice the difference but the battery drain drops noticeably.
Force-close apps and restart your phone
Sometimes a single app gets stuck in a loop and uses 100 percent of the processor, which heats the phone and drains the battery in minutes. The fastest way to stop it is to force-close all apps and restart.
On iPhone X and newer, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the app switcher, then swipe up on each app to close it. On iPhone 8 and earlier, double-tap the home button, then swipe up on each app. After you've closed them all, hold the power button and volume button together until the power-off slider appears, then slide it to turn off the phone. Wait 30 seconds, then press the power button to turn it back on.
If the phone is still hot after restart and battery is still draining fast, the problem is either a failing battery or a hardware issue that needs service.
When to take your iPhone to Apple or a repair shop
If you've turned off background app refresh, disabled location services, and restarted the phone, but it's still hot and draining battery in under four hours of light use, the problem is hardware. Take it to an Apple Store or an authorized repair shop and describe what you've already tried. They can run a diagnostic test that shows whether the battery, processor, or charging circuit is failing.
Bring your phone charger with you so they can test it while plugged in—sometimes the charging circuit is the problem, not the battery. If the phone is out of warranty, repair costs range from $69 for a battery replacement to $300 or more for processor or logic board repair, depending on the model and the damage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it normal for my iPhone to get warm while charging?
Mild warmth during charging is normal, especially if you're using the phone while it charges. Heat above 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 Celsius) is not normal and means the charger, battery, or charging circuit may be failing. Stop using the phone and let it cool down, then try a different charger to rule that out.
Can I fix battery drain without replacing the battery?
Yes, if the battery health is still above 80 percent. Turning off background app refresh, location services, and push notifications can cut drain by 20 to 30 percent. If battery health is below 80 percent, software changes help but won't fix the underlying problem—replacement is the real solution.
Why does my phone get hot when I use maps or video apps?
Maps and video apps use the processor, GPS, and screen at full power for long periods, which generates heat naturally. This is normal. If the phone is too hot to hold, or if it throttles and slows down, the phone may be overheating—try closing the app, restarting, and checking battery health.
Does closing apps in the app switcher save battery?
Closing apps manually does almost nothing because iOS suspends apps automatically when you switch away from them. The exception is apps that are actively running in the background—turning off background app refresh in Settings is what actually stops them from draining battery.
Can a software update fix heat and battery drain?
Sometimes. If the drain started after you updated iOS, a newer update may fix a bug. Go to Settings > General > Software Update to check for a newer version. If no update is available and the problem started with that update, the issue is likely hardware or a specific app, not iOS itself.