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Apple’s latest iPhone and iPad update fixes battery drain

Apple has delivered an update for iPhone and iPad that should fix a troubling issue apparently triggered by iOS/iPadOS 15.4, which the tech giant rolled out a couple of weeks ago.

Some users have been complaining of rapid battery drainage after downloading 15.4 to their device. Apple said on Thursday that 15.4.1 should prevent that from continuing to happen.

A week after Apple rolled out 15.4, it started responding to battery-related complaints with the message: “Thanks for reaching out! We’ll be happy to help. It’s normal for your apps and features to need to adjust up to 48 hours after an update.” It added that customers who were continuing to experience the issue should contact Apple’s support team via direct messages so it could explore the problem in greater depth.

Thanks for reaching out! We'll be happy to help. It's normal for your apps and features to need to adjust up to 48 hours after an update.

Let's have you reach out to us in a DM if this is still an issue after that time so we can help you look into this further.

— Apple Support (@AppleSupport) March 19, 2022

It’s not clear why the 15.4 update caused rapid battery drainage, and even then only for some users. Apple hasn’t revealed how many people contacted it about the issue, either, but it clearly deemed the issue serious enough to address it in a timely manner.

Besides resolving the battery issue, Thursday’s update also fixes a bug where paired Braille devices may become unresponsive while navigating text or displaying an alert, and another where Made for iPhone hearing devices may lose connection with some third-party apps.

It’s the emergence of problems like these that cause many mobile users to hold back from installing an update to the operating system, preferring instead to wait a few weeks until any issues have been ironed out. Two weeks on from the launch of 15.4, it seems that the battery issue is the main problem to have appeared, and so with that now fixed, anyone holding back can be more confident about installing 15.4.

Thursday’s 15.4.1 update also addresses an important security issue, so it’s really in your best interest to install it as soon as you get a chance.

To do so, head to Settings > General > Software Update and follow the prompts.

To find out more about iOS 15 and all the features that it brings, check out Digital Trends’ comprehensive guide.

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Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
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