if your iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Proor iPhone 12 Pro Maxs battery life starts to drain faster than it should, there are some steps you should take before contacting Apple customer support.
We haven’t seen widespread complaints about battery life, but some iPhone 12 users say their device’s battery is draining faster than it should.
Battery life issues are common, especially after Apple released new iOS software, and we know that 5G drains batteries faster than LTE, so these complaints are not surprising.
If you start noticing severe battery drain, there are some steps you can take to try and fix the problem. In this guide, we will talk about some fixes that can help you fix bad iPhone 12 battery life.
These are fixes that have worked for us for years and can help you fix your battery problems in minutes and avoid chatting with Apple customer service.
Restart your phone
If your battery starts to drain faster than you think, we recommend always restarting your phone before doing anything else.
Turn off your iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, or iPhone 12 Pro Max, wait a minute, and then turn it back on. If it’s still draining fast, continue with these other steps.
Update Your iPhone
Apple periodically releases iOS software updates for the iPhone. Point updates (xxx) typically focus on fixing bugs, while landmark upgrades (xx) often offer a mix of features and fixes.
The company may not disclose battery life fixes in an iOS update’s changelog, but new firmware always has the potential to help alleviate battery issues.
If you’re still using iOS 14, check out our guide to Apple’s latest changes. See this guide for more information on the latest version of iOS 15.
Turn off 5G
The iPhone 12 series supports 5G connectivity. While it’s fast, it can drain your battery much faster than LTE. If you don’t need or need to use 5G all the time, go to your iPhone 12’s settings.
iOS has a few 5G tweaks you’ll want to add to your memory bank. To find these, you’ll want to go to Settings, then Cellular, then Cellular Data Options, then Voice & Data.
If you are in the right place, you will see three options:
5G On means your iPhone will use 5G when available, even if it could drain your device’s battery life.
The 5G Auto option only uses 5G when it’s not draining your phone’s battery significantly. 5G Auto is the default and is the option most people should choose.
Control Your Apps
Apps can sometimes have a negative impact on your phone’s battery life, and you’ll want to look into them if you notice any abnormal battery drain.
Controlling app performance on the iPhone 12 series is extremely easy. Here’s how to do this:
This battery usage tool shows the apps that are draining your iPhone 12’s battery and while it’s doing it.
If you use an app a lot, it will definitely consume more battery than apps you never use. So if you see an app that you rarely use, it sucks a ton of power, you’ll want to investigate further.
If you see an app that is consuming a lot of battery life, try deleting the app from your device and see if it’s confirmed.
If the app is necessary for your daily use, we recommend downloading the latest update from the developer. If that doesn’t work and you really need the app to get around your day, you may need to revert to a previous iOS version.
reset all settings
If you are sure that there is nothing wrong with one or more of your apps, try resetting your iPhone 12’s settings.
Before doing this, remember that it will cause your device to forget known Wi-Fi networks; so make sure you write down or save your passwords somewhere before doing this. Here’s how to do this in iOS 14:
If you’re using iOS 15, here’s how to reset all your iPhone’s settings:
Once the process is complete, you should reconnect your iPhone to your Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth devices.
Use Low Power Mode
Low Power Mode helps you conserve battery life by turning off services (Hey Siri, automatic downloads and mail fetch) that may drain your battery.
You can turn Low Power Mode on or off at any time, and the operating system will also prompt you to turn it on when your iPhone reaches 20% battery level.
Add Low Power Mode to your Control Center if you haven’t already. Control Center is the menu that opens from the top right corner of the screen when you swipe up from the bottom or if you’re using a newer iPhone model. Here’s how to do this:
The next time you open Control Center on your phone, you will see a battery icon. Tap this to enable or disable Low Power Mode on your device.
You can also turn on Low Power Mode from Settings. Here’s how to do this:
Stop Background Refresh
Background App Refresh refreshes apps in the background to show you the latest data when you open them. This is a useful feature, but it can also drain battery life. If you don’t need it, try turning it off. Here’s how to do this:
Also, if you don’t want to go through your apps one by one, you can turn them off completely.
Downgrade Your iPhone 12’s Software
If you can’t find a solution to your problem and/or don’t want to wait for Apple’s next iOS update, you can try downgrading your iPhone 12 (if there is an option).
For more information on the downgrade process, take a look at our step-by-step guides.