Ever since upgrading to iOS 18, my iPhone's battery life has taken a serious hit. Things only got worse with subsequent releases, and nothing has been improved by the latest 18.3.1 security patch. By lunchtime, my battery is rarely above 40%, and I've had to make power banks my new best friends.

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Day or night, the battery drain has been relentless -- far worse than anything I remember with previous updates. Even Low Power Mode barely makes a difference, leaving me constantly searching for a charger.

I decided to investigate

So, a few weeks ago, I began looking into the issue.

For any battery drain problem, the first place I always look is under the Battery screen in Settings. This section is a treasure trove of information, not only related to the battery but also to the apps that are running and consuming power. Two charts are displayed here: Battery Level, which shows how the charge level changes at 15-minute intervals, and Activity, which uses a bar chart to illustrate which apps have been active and using battery power in hourly intervals. You can tap on the bars for a deeper dive into what's been happening on your iPhone during that period.

But other than elevated usage by Home & Lock Screen (basically, any activity on the lock screen, such as notifications or widgets), there was nothing out of the ordinary. I did try disabling the iPhone's always-on display -- the setting to do this is under Settings > Display & Brightness > Always On Display -- but to no avail.

The problem persisted.

I found the culprit

After more investigating, testing, tweaking settings, and a lot of frustration, I found the culprit: Apple Intelligence. With Apple Intelligence enabled (the setting can be found under Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri), I found it impossible to make it through a day without recharging. However, with it disabled, my battery life returned to its former levels, allowing me to leave the power bank at home.

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And here's the kicker: I'm not even using Apple Intelligence. I had enabled it briefly for testing, but I quickly moved on to other things. Honestly, I find it pretty underwhelming, but I didn't expect it to drain my battery so much -- especially when it wasn't actively being used.

This issue doesn't seem to be limited to my hardware, either. I've come across plenty of similar reports, and it's not just affecting iPhones. Some users are blaming Apple Intelligence for excessive battery drain on MacBooks as well. I've noticed the same on my MacBook Pro -- turning Apple Intelligence off immediately fixes the problem.

Serious optimization issues

The effect is consistent across my devices. On my iPhone, MacBook Pro, and even, to a lesser extent, my iPad, the pattern is the same: turn Apple Intelligence on, and battery life drops like a rock; turn it off, and things go back to normal.

At this point, it's clear that Apple Intelligence has some serious optimization issues. While it might have potential for some users, the battery tradeoff is hard to justify right now.

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If your iPhone's battery life has been especially bad since upgrading to iOS 18 and you've enabled the Apple Intelligence feature, it might be the culprit. I say "might" because this is one of those "your mileage may vary" situations. That said, if you're not finding Apple Intelligence all that useful, there's no harm in turning it off to see if it helps.

Here's the kicker: Apple really wants you to use Apple Intelligence. Installing iOS 18.3 automatically enabled the feature, and I've heard from multiple users that the 18.3.1 update re-enabled it even after they had turned it off.

Now, I'm not anti-Apple Intelligence -- it has its merits for some users -- but for those who don't find it helpful, the battery tradeoff is significant. I really hope Apple can address this battery drain in the coming months because, right now, it's pretty painful.

That said, battery issues seem to have become the norm for iPhones. Maybe it's time to accept that the dream of all-day battery life is fading, and chargers and power banks are just part of life now.

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