'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
iOS 18.2 update triggers eruption of iPhone battery life complaints - what to know
Just a day after the iOS 18.2 update, an update packed with even more Apple Intelligence goodness, social media has once again erupted with iPhone users venting about one major issue: their battery life has taken a serious hit.
X is a popular site for those wanting to vent about their battery issues, and complaints have surfaced ranging from, "Terrible battery drain on ios 18.2 after being unbelievably good on 18.1" to "iOS 18.1.1 decimated the battery life of my iPhone15 Pro. Installed 18.2 today, and now it literally drains faster than it charges while it lays unused on my desk. WTH @apple?"
Also: The 7 tech gadgets I couldn't live without in 2024
There are also some concerning reports about heat: "Every time I use Apple Intelligence feature on iOS 18.2, my phone always gets hot 🥵."
It's so bad that it's actually rather hard to find much positive said about it -- other than the praise for the new hearing aid feature.
So, what's going on?
I've been running iOS 18 and iOS 18.2 betas since they've been available and my battery life has been pretty appalling throughout. There have been glimmers of hope here and there -- there was a point with one of the iOS 18.1 betas that I mistakenly thought things had improved -- but I've gone to the point where I have a power bank or two with me at all times.
I only installed the final release of iOS 18.2 yesterday, and who knows what last-minute bug fixes it contains. I'm not holding my breath, but I have to give Apple the benefit of the doubt.
Also: My favorite USB-C stocking stuffers for tech-savvy friends and family
Also, add to that the fact that after every update, the iPhone has to perform a lot of background and housekeeping tasks, which eat up processor power and, in turn, drain the battery harder than usual. Apple knows this and wants users to know because there's now a message that appears in the Battery screen in Settings that informs users of this.
Apple tells iPhone users to expect poor battery life after iOS updates.
Thinking of giving iOS 18.2 a miss? I wouldn't because this update contains 20 security fixes, making it pretty important.
My advice is to wait and see how it plays out. Give iOS 18.2 a good 24 to 48 hours to finish all the background tasks before you start to worry and turn off any features. If the problem persists, hopefully, Apple can address it with a future update.