Does iOS 11.4.1 Fixes Battery Drain Problem?

The iOS 11.4 update for iPhone and iPad devices brought along a horrible battery drain problem, and unfortunately, even the subsequent iOS 11.4.1 update which rolled out last week fails to fix the problem for affected users.

We did an extensive test of iOS 11.4.1 battery life on our iPhone X and iPhone 6. Fortunately, we didn’t see any battery drain on either of our devices, but this doesn’t mean iOS 11.4.1 fixes the battery drain problem for the affected users. The Apple support forum is full of complaints by users who are still seeing massive battery drain even after updating their devices to iOS 11.4.1.

NO, iOS 11.4.1 did NOT fix the battery drain problem

If you’ve had battery drain on your iPhone after installing iOS 11.4, chances are you’ll continue to see similar drain pattern after updating to iOS 11.4.1 as well. The iOS 11.4.1 update doesn’t fix the battery drain problem which brewed from the 11.4 update.

We didn’t have battery drain on our iPhone devices running iOS 11.4.1 because we never had the issue on the 11.4 update either. Only users who have had problems on iOS 11.4 will continue to see the battery drain on iOS 11.4.1.

The temporary fix

So far we have come to know of only one absolute way to fix iOS 11.4 battery drain problem — Reset your iPhone.

You need to factory reset your iPhone to fix the battery drain problem on both iOS 11.4.1 and iOS 11.4. And you need to set up your iPhone as new after the reset. Do NOT restore your iPhone from a backup or else the battery drain problem might recur.

How to Reset iPhone

Make sure you backup your iPhone via iTunes or iCloud.
Go to Settings » General » Reset.
Select Erase All Content and Settings.
If you’ve iCloud enabled, you’ll get a pop-up to Finish Uploading Then Erase, if documents and data aren’t uploaded to iCloud. Select it.
Enter your Passcode and Restrictions Passcode (if asked).
Finally, tap Erase iPhone to reset it.