When Apple releases new iPhones and new operating system updates, there are often complaints about how long the battery lasts. Apple made improvements to battery life across the iPhone 16 lineup, and while these iPhones last longer than ever, some people are still seeing battery issues. Battery life problems can be caused by new features Apple has added or bugs that have yet to be addressed. Whatever the cause, we've created a list of suggestions for maximizing your iPhone's battery life. There aren't many battery saving options that don't disable key features on the iPhone, but in situations where every minute counts, it's useful to have options. You'll need to balance battery drain with the feature set you want enabled, turning things on and off when you need to ensure your battery lasts all day. Not all of these tips are specific to iOS 18 and the iPhone 16 models, but they will help you preserve battery whether you have an iPhone 16 or an older device. 1. Turn Off iPhone Mirroring iPhone Mirroring allows you to control your iPhone from your Mac, and get your iPhone notifications on your Mac's display. Since it's on Mac, it seems like it shouldn't be using iPhone battery, but there is a connection there to relay notifications. Notifications still show up when the iPhone Mirroring app is closed on the Mac, so that constant connection might impact battery. One reader experiencing battery life issues on the MacRumors forums said turning off iPhone Mirroring made a notable difference. If you're not often using this option, it's worth turning it off. To disable it, go to Settings > General > AirPlay and Continuity and tap on Edit. From there, delete the Macs that your iPhone connects to. You can also swipe to delete a Mac from the list. 2. Delete Home Screen and Lock Screen Widgets In iOS 18, Apple made it so you can place app icons and widgets anywhere on the iPhone's hidden grid, so you might be using widgets more often than before. If that's the case, it's worth noting that widgets can have an impact on battery life. If you're not using a particular widget on your Home Screen or Lock Screen regularly, it might be best to remove it to preserve battery life. On the Home Screen, you can long press and tap the "-" button to remove a widget. On the Lock Screen, you can actually set up several different Lock Screen options, so you could create one that has widgets and one that doesn't, using the latter when you're low on battery. To add or edit Lock Screens, long press on the Lock Screen and choose either the "Customize" or the "+" button. On the MacRumors forums, one user said turning off Lock Screen widgets dropped overnight battery usage from 20 percent to 10 percent. 3. Use Dark Mode and Dark Mode Icons Turning on Dark Mode has long been a suggested way to preserve battery life, because OLED displays draw less power when displaying darker colored pixels. A 2021 Purdue study found that using Dark Mode on a sunny day outside can save you up 47 percent battery power, which can make a major difference. Lower levels of brightness in Light Mode use the same battery as higher levels of brightness in Dark Mode, which explains why Dark Mode can save battery even when screen brightness is turned up. When your screen brightness is lower, such as when you're in a dim room, swapping to Dark Mode doesn't save as much battery life, but it still draws a little less power. In iOS 18, you can set a Dark option for your icons that turns them darker when Dark Mode is enabled (or all the time, if you prefer). Dark icons are easier on the eyes when Dark Mode is on, and it might save just a little extra battery life. 4. Be Mindful of Control Center Controls iOS 18 has a customizable Control Center where you can use the Controls Gallery to choose your controls, including third-party controls. You can change the size of Control Center toggles, and use multiple pages. Some Control Center toggles are animated, and animations can have an effect on battery life. It's probably not a major impact, but worth knowing about. One of the bigger offenders is the full-size Music Control Center toggle, which shows album art and has playback controls. Home app controls also need to update whenever the Control Center updates, and these controls that refresh might drain some battery. Customize Control Center by long pressing on the display and tapping the "-" button by any controls you want to remove. 5. Remove Your Lock Screen Controls In iOS 18, you can finally swap out or remove the Camera and Flashlight buttons on the iPhone. If you've ever accidentally activated one of those buttons while your iPhone's in your pocket, you know that leaving on the Flashlight or the Camera for an extended period can definitely impact battery life. If you're prone to hitting those buttons, it's worth removing them. You can do so by long pressing on the Lock Screen, tapping on Customize, and then tapping the "-" button next to the icons. 6. Turn Off ProMotion Display If you have an iPhone 16 Pro or another "Pro" iPhone that supports a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate, turning it down to 60Hz might extend your battery life. Since Low Power Mode limits the display refresh rate to 60Hz, it's definitely a measure that works to preserve battery. Turning on Low Power Mode is one way to disable ProMotion, but there's a more permanent Accessibility setting. Open the Settings app, go to Accessibility, tap on Motion, and then toggle on "Limit Frame Rate." 7. Disable Live Activities Live Activities let apps keep an ongoing notification on the Lock Screen or Dynamic Island. Combined with the Always-On display of the iPhone 14 Pro, 15 Pro, and 16 Pro, Live Activities can drain your battery. Live Activities can be turned off by following these steps: Open up the Settings app. Go to Face ID & Passcode. Enter your passcode to unlock the iPhone. Scroll down and toggle off Live Activities. This will prevent Live Activities from showing up on the Lock Screen, but you'll want to take this one step further. In the individual app sections in the Settings app, you can disable Live Activities on an app-by-app basis, or avoid using Live Activities features within apps. You can't fully disable the Dynamic Island, but you can swipe left on any running animation to dismiss it. 8. Turn Off Proximity AirDrop Sharing When you hold two iPhones running iOS 17 or later together, the iPhone initiates a proximity-based AirDrop or contact transfer protocol. If you're continually triggering this, it can drain battery. Should you find yourself in a situation where your iPhone is near another iPhone often enough that AirDrop continually pops up, you might want to turn it off. To do so, go to Settings > General > AirDrop and toggle off "Bringing Devices Together." 9. Take Advantage of Offline Maps Since iOS 17, you've been able to download Apple Maps for offline usage. It's useful for when you don't have a cellular connection, but it can save battery even if you do. If you're traveling in an area where you have a somewhat spotty connection, downloading a map for that spot and then turning off cellular will preserve your battery life without impacting your ability to get turn-by-turn directions. We have a dedicated how-to that walks you through downloading a map for offline usage, but it's as simple as searching for a location in Maps, tapping the download button, and then selecting the area of the map to download. 10. Disable Haptic Keyboard Feedback Apple has a keyboard option that gives you haptic feedback when you tap the on-screen keys. It vibrates with each key tap for a more satisfying typing experience, but what you might not know is that it drains battery. Apple has a support document that says keyboard haptics can affect battery life, so it's not something you want to use when you don't have battery to spare. It's not on by default, but if you've enabled it, you can turn it off by following these steps: Open up the Settings app. Tap on Sounds & Haptics. Tap on Keyboard Feedback. Toggle off Haptic. 11. Turn Off Always-On Display As the name suggests, the Always-On display on some Pro iPhone models leaves the time, your wallpaper, widgets, and Live Activities visible on the Lock Screen even when your iPhone is locked. The display uses a 1Hz refresh rate to preserve battery, and Apple has neat tricks like turning off the display when a connected Apple Watch is no longer nearby (signaling that the iPhone owner is out of the room) or the iPhone is in a pocket, but Always-On display still drains battery faster than an Always-Off display. You can turn off the Always-On display by following these steps: Open up the Settings app. Tap on Display & Brightness. Tap on Always On Display. Toggle off Always On Display. Just how much battery Always-On display drains will depend on your use case, so it may or may not be worth turning off. 12. Use Focus Modes Using Apple's built-in Focus option can cut down on the number of notifications that you're receiving during the day, and fewer notifications means less opportunity for apps to wake up your display and cause battery drain. Focus modes let you choose which apps and people can send you notifications and when, so during work hours you can make sure you're only getting work notifications, and during personal time, you can limit your work notifications. Focus filters even let you filter out select emails, messages, calendars, and more. With Apple Intelligence, Apple is adding a new "Reduce Interruptions" Focus Mode that can intelligently filter out what's not important, while still delivering what you need to see immediately. Toggling this on removes all of the hassle of setting up a Focus mode, but it has all of the benefit. You can also use the "Intelligent Breakthrough and Silencing" toggle with every Focus mode you make to get the same effect, so you'll never miss something important. Apple Intelligence is coming in iOS 18.1, set to be released in late October. You'll still get all of your notifications when a Focus mode ends, but all in one alert rather than multiple.
https://www.macrumors.com/guide/iphone-16-battery-saving-tips/