New iPhone 16 Pro Reports Highlight Latest Battery Problems

Update October 20 with iPhone 16 shutdown issues.

Apple is facing frustration from new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro owners as their battery life is significantly less than the Apple community has expected following the launch and initial reviews.

The issue is showing itself when the smartphone goes into standby mode. Rather than reducing battery usage to a minimum, iPhones are drawing more power and impacting standby time. It is particularly noticeable for those who do not leave their phone on charge overnight.

Like other smartphones, the iPhone assumes it will always be on and has an internet connection supporting background services such as “Find My iPhone.” At the same time, there are some strategies to extend battery life. Not all will apply; turning down the screen brightness isn’t going to help, but restricting background services and using low-power mode reduces the demands any app can make. It’s a stopgap measure, though, not a cure.

The culprit looks to be the latest version of iOS. Previewed at WWDC in June, iOS 18 debuted alongside the new iPhone 16 family of handsets. There’s no option for iPhone 16 owners to downgrade to an older version. Those with older iPhones who have upgraded to iOS 18 face similar issues with similar numbers, suggesting this is a software issue.

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Given that, a fix should be forthcoming from Apple. The company has historically rolled out minor updates to iOS to address issues that have included high battery drain on previous models. As yet there is no official word on a timeline for the update.

Until then, many iPhone users will have to manage their battery carefully to get them through the day.

Update: Sunday October 20: Not only do iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max owners have to consider the impact of the battery drain bug, but reports are coming in that the latest iOS smartphones are facing random moments where the handsets freeze up, with some reporting random reboots of their new iPhone.

Users have reported reboots happening during the night, resulting in the phone starting back up on the home screen as the only clue an issue has happened, while restoring data from an iCloud backup, and when connecting to CarPlay. These aren’t the only causes of the crash, which has left the community perplexed about the cause and any potential fixes or precautions users can take.

Apple will have a much more comprehensive view of the issue than the support forums and will no doubt be working to address the causes and concerns around the issues. This is likely a software issue, but in this case, a future update to iOS should fix the cause.