Skip to content 
12 Tips To Help Improve Your iPhone Battery Life (2023 Guide)
If you’re using a smaller iPhone, chances are the battery life isn’t great. Use these simple tips and tricks to extend your iPhone battery life.
There are often complaints regarding battery life and quick battery drain with every new software update, and iOS 16 is no exception. With each subsequent point release since the release of iOS, there have been more reports of battery life problems.
iOS battery life troubles can be brought on by software bugs that Apple has to fix, excessive GPS use, system-demanding apps and games, and more. There are actions you can take to improve iPhone battery life and reduce hidden sources that might be causing excess drainage, but a battery life issue brought on by a bug can’t be fixed until Apple releases an update to resolve it.
1. Get An iPhone Battery Case – It’ll Double Your Battery Life!
If you’re using an older, smaller iPhone – the iPhone 6, iPhone 7, or iPhone 8 – battery life will almost certainly be an issue. However, you can get around this by using an iPhone battery case that will not only protect your iPhone from bumps and scuffs but also double (and, in some cases, triple) your iPhone’s battery life.
These iPhone battery cases aren’t expensive, either. You can pick them up via Amazon for anywhere between $20 to $40, depending on the brand and the battery capacity. If you don’t want to compromise the performance of your iPhone by switching off features and settings, an iPhone battery case is 100% the way forward. Apple even makes its own iPhone battery pack that uses MagSafe technology to connect to and charge your iPhone.
2. Store And Use The iPhone At Room Temperature
Direct sunshine or putting the iPhone in the glove compartment of a warm car will generate excess heat and cause your iPhone battery level to drop sharply. The iPhone functions well between 0 degrees centigrade and 35 degrees centigrade (32-95° F).
According to Apple, the optimal environment for iPhones and other Apple products is between 62° and 72° F (16° and 22° C). Cases above 95° F (35° C) can “permanently damage battery capacity.”
In addition to doing your best to protect your iPhone from excessive heat, you should take off your case if you detect it is getting warm while charging. Temperatures below 32° F (0 ° C), on the other hand, can momentarily shorten battery life.
3. Turn Off Background App Refresh
The apps on your phone will reload their material in the background when you’re online. Although this is a helpful background process, it can slightly reduce battery life, therefore, it’s worthwhile to turn it off. In Low Power mode, this feature is disabled.
Here’s how to turn off the general background app refresh to extend the battery life of your phone:
- Open Settings.
- Tap General.
- Tap Background App Refresh.
- Then tap Background App Refresh on the next screen.
- Tap Off.
- Alternatively, on the Background App Refresh Page, toggle the setting off for individual apps.
4. Disable Location Services
Location services are great, but they do gobble up your battery health – especially if you have them running on ALL of your applications. Switching off location services on iPhone not only saves you precious battery life, but also stops applications tracking your whereabouts (something that is used for ad targeting).
You can, of course, keep location services on some apps, just don’t have it switched on for everything. This way, you get the best of both worlds: location-specific data when needed and improved battery performance by limiting how many of your apps can use it.
To turn off location services, follow those few simple steps:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Privacy & Security.
- Tap Location Services.
- To toggle location services settings off completely, tap the “Location Services” switch to OFF (white).
- Or, if you’d prefer to set up custom access for each application, you can do that on the same screen.
5. Disable Siri
Do you actually use Siri? If not, then switch it off. Why? It’ll save you a ton of battery life – especially on older iPhone models. Siri is always listening, you see, and that requires CPU power, and excessive CPU power may drain your device’s battery life. The fewer requests you make of the CPU, the better the battery’s lifespan, so if you don’t need or use Siri, switch it off completely.
- Open Settings.
- Tap on Siri & Search.
- Toggle the Listen for “Hey Siri”, Press Side Button For Siri, and Allow Siri When Locked switches to OFF (white).
- When the pop-up appears, tap “Stop Using Siri.”
6. Reduce The Display’s Brightness
Increasing battery life by reducing screen brightness is another option, however, this would probably depend on the user. To reduce the display brightness on your iPhone:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Display & Brightness.
- Slide the brightness slider to the left.
7. Enable The Display’s Auto-Brightness
Alternatively, you could enable Auto-Brightness so the iPhone’s display is automatically adjusted to match the current lighting conditions:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Accessibility.
- Tap Display & Text Size.
- Toggle the Auto-Brightness switch to ON (green).
8. Lock The Lock Screen
It may sound obvious, but locking the iPhone as soon as you’ve finished using it will immediately turn off the display and ensure that it won’t make persistent calls while it’s in your pocket.
Simply click on the Sleep/Wake button on the upper right hand of the iPhone and preserve the battery life of your device.
9. Enable Auto-Lock
Better still, if you can get into the habit of locking your iPhone yourself, simply turn on the Auto-Lock feature, which will help you save the battery life of your phone:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Display & Brightness.
- Tap Auto-Lock.
- Select a short duration before the Auto-Lock kicks in, eg 1 minute or less.
[snippet]
10. Turn Off Keyboard Clicks
If you regularly use the iPhone’s touch keyboard, then the constant need to generate audio keyboard clicks can add to the iPhone’s power consumption. This may significantly affect battery capacity. To turn off the keyboard click:
[snippet]
- Open Settings.
- Tap Sounds & Haptics.
- Tap Keyboard Feedback.
- Toggle the switch next to Sound to OFF (white).
11. Enable Low Power Mode
When your iPhone’s battery life starts to run out, you may easily extend it with the help of Low Power Mode, which was introduced with iOS 9. Your iPhone notifies you when the battery level drops to 20%, then again at 10%, and you can activate Low Power Mode with a single tap.
When you’ve somewhat overdone it, Low Power Mode is quite useful for extending the life of your iPhone’s battery. It accomplishes this by reducing or removing functionality on your iPhone, such as 5G, visual effects, refresh rate, and screen brightness. Yet, it will buy you some valuable time to travel to an outlet.
Here’s how to enable Low Power Mode:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Battery.
- Toggle the Low Power Mode switch to ON (green).
12. Activate Airplane Mode In Low Signal Areas
Your iPhone uses battery power when searching for a signal or trying to connect when you’re in an area with poor or no cellular data. It’s better to turn on Airplane Mode if your cellular coverage is spotty because you generally won’t be able to accomplish anything with a weak signal.
In Airplane Mode, your iPhone won’t keep looking for a signal indefinitely, conserving battery life until you can find a location with a stronger connection.
The quickest way to enable Airplane Mode is to open Control Center and press down on the plane button in the top left corner.
Bottom Line
In a pinch, the two quickest ways to prolong iPhone battery life are to use Low Power Mode and reduce screen brightness. However, perhaps a better understanding of which applications are draining your battery the fastest and regular monitoring of location services will also provide you with practical power-saving measures.
Keep Reading
Explore more →
