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Could iOS 26 update impact your iPhone’s battery? Apple says it ‘might’ (temporarily)

Apple's support page confirms that new software might have temporary effect on battery life

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iOS 26 features on a series of iPhone screens
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The latest iPhone software, iOS 26, has now launched, but Apple has issued a note to users explaining how they might see a temporary drop in battery life.

What’s happened?

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As part of the iOS software update support documentation (as spotted by 9to5Mac), Apple has included a section on ‘Performance and battery impact’. In this, the brand says:

“Immediately after completing an update, particularly a major release, you might notice a temporary impact on battery life and thermal performance. This is normal, as your device needs time to complete the setup process in the background, including indexing data and files for search, downloading new assets, and updating apps.

“New features are exciting and help you get even more out of your Apple product, though some may require additional resources from the device. Depending on individual usage, some users may notice a small impact on performance and/or battery life. Apple continually works to optimize these features in software updates to ensure great battery life and a smooth user experience.”

Why does this matter?

  • While this is entirely normal behavior when a new version of iOS launches, as your iPhone can take time to process the changes for a couple of days, Apple clearly wants to get ahead of pushback from users over their instant reactions with the software
  • The fact that it’s taken pains to highlight how the new features are likely to encourage more phone use (which can have an impact depending on ‘individual usage’) shows that Apple may have seen some battery life changes in testing

Why should I care?

  • If you’re updating your phone, it can be something of a worry when you instantly see things not working as they ‘normally’ do – being aware of the potential issues, and their temporary effects, is important
  • It’s possible that your experience of the performance and battery life issues may vary depending on the age of your iPhone – iOS 26 is being supported all the way back to the iPhone 11 and iPhone SE 2
  • It’s hard to roll back your version of iOS, so it’s worth noting the warnings – however, it’s generally best to update to the latest version of phone software to get the latest security enhancements and ensure long-term app compatibility

OK, so what should I do next?

  • If you want to update to the latest software (and you’ve got one of the iOS 26 compatible phones), head into your Settings app and hit ‘General’, then ‘Software Update’
  • You may see an option to update to iOS 26 directly, or it may be at the bottom of the screen under an older update you’ve not installed
  • Hit Update Now (or Update Tonight if you want to do it overnight while charging) and you’ll start the installation when the software had downloaded
  • Be aware that you might need 18GB+ of storage free to enable the update to take place
Gareth Beavis
Gareth Beavis
Former Editorial Director
Gareth is former Editor in Chief of TechRadar, writing over 4,000 articles on the world of tech over two decades.
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