iOS 18 battery life review: Don't worry, your iPhone will run as usual

Every year, when Apple pushes its latest update out into the world and while everyone certainly gets excited to discover and try out the new features, there's one question that plagues the mind of every iPhone user who wants to update their phone. "What's the impact of the update on the battery life?"

With every update, there are always mixed opinions about the impact of the OS on the device's battery life. It's no different this time. Right away, social media is full of users who are talking about how the update is impacting the battery life on their device in a negative way. But there are also users who have experienced improved battery life than iOS 17.6.

I've been on iOS 18 betas since their release. While the initial betas had a toll on my device's battery life (which is to be expected with betas), the subsequent betas brought some improvements. Now, I've seen a definite improvement ever since updating to the final version that's released to the public (which I've been on for around a week).

My iPhone 14 Pro did experience overheating initially, especially when playing Music, to the point that I had to keep my phone down but things have been normal for the past few days. I don't think I've experienced any significant improvement in battery life over iOS 17, but it certainly isn't worse either.

While my phone's battery certainly doesn't last a day (it does if I charge it to 100% which I almost never do), a charge of around 80-85% makes sure I only need to plug it in at night with moderate usage of the phone that includes scrolling on social media, streaming video, reading in Safari and Books, and using other communication apps.

There's no adverse affect on Standby time and around 20 minutes of watching a video caused only 1% drop in battery. This all is to say that iOS 18 does not drain battery, at least on relatively newer devices, so you can update without hesitation.

Users with older devices compatible with iOS 18, like iPhone XS or 11, have reported some battery drainage, but that's expected with all the new OS releases. The new features in the latest OS can put strain on the hardware of the older devices, including battery life.

For newer devices like iPhone 15 and later, iOS 18 even has a new optimization algorithm that lets you adjust the percentage at which to limit the charging. Users can now choose from multiple options that include 80, 85, 90, 95, and 100% to select the option most suitable to them. iOS even suggests the most appropriate number based on your usage patterns instead of limiting the charge to 80% universally. Unfortunately, even the 14 series did not get this feature but I sincerely hope Apple changes that with the future updates.

Now, if you've just updated to iOS 18 or are planning to update, expect some battery drainage in the initial days. After a major OS update, some impact on battery life is to be expected since there are a lot of background tasks going on in the background.

If you dive into the Settings app and go to 'Battery', you'll even find an option for 'Device Setup & Updates' taking up your battery life. This would eventually go down after a few days after your phone has settled down a bit.