Battery problems after installing iOS 14.5? Try this

May 01, 2021

Every new iOS update seems to stir up complaints about poor iPhone battery life.

When it’s a major update, some of these issues will be down to the hardware being a year old (in tech terms). The rest of the time, the problems can be down to numerous things, from bugs to calibration issues.

So, your battery isn’t lasting as long as it used to since installing iOS 14.5. Here are some things that you can try before resorting to Apple support.

Must read: Is your iPhone feeling slow? The fix might be quick and simple (and free)

Wait. Patience is a virtue. It takes a little while after an update for things to settle down. iOS does a lot before, during, and after an update (especially if it is limited on storage space).
Check out much free space you have. If you have less than 1GB, Apple considers your iPhone to be low on storage space, and all sorts of things kick in to help manage your free space, and those extra processes could be draining your battery. Free up some additional storage space.
Take the iPhone through a few recharge cycles. This means you charge it fully, then let it to go down to between 10 and 5 percent before recharging it again (don’t let it go so low it turns itself off).
Check the battery health. Head over to Settings Battery Battery Health. Maximum Capacity should be greater than 80 percent, and if you see any messages about battery recalibration, you will need to wait for that to complete (which “might take a few weeks” according to Apple).

If this doesn’t work, then you might need to investigate further. More information on how to do that here.

If all else fails, then it might be time to either get the battery replaced (if your handset is more than three years old, chances are that it’s nearing that time). Alternatively, see if Apple Support can be of any assistance (although given what I’m reading on the Apple support forums, this might be a long shot).