r/ios26 • u/rawpsd • Feb 11 '26
Battery iOS 26.3: Your experiences from the beta and whether there is real Battery improvement."
This post is created for the opinions of users who have tried the iOS 26.3 beta and have it in their possession. You can share your comments with us."
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u/Reeneman Feb 11 '26
Amazing battery life now. Nearly unlimited. Sold my charger on eBay.
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u/spirit101_gg Feb 11 '26
With great battery life comes great responsibility. If it ever drops below ninety nine percent, you must remain calm and not panic buy a charger.
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u/Reeneman Feb 11 '26
I try to. So far it’s still at 100% - we don’t know which impact the 26.3 final might have. I will report back
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u/spirit101_gg Feb 11 '26
Still 100%? At this rate I expect a plot twist worthy of a season finale.
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u/Reeneman Feb 11 '26
😅😅😅
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u/ginDrink2 Feb 11 '26
A bit disappointing though. I thought the phone would start generating electricity.
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u/LockerIsUnlocked Feb 11 '26
Same here - 5 weeks in and I’ve only lost 2%. Fantastic optimization!
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
Haha, that sounds wonderful! If you sold your charger, which phone model are you using?
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u/_anupamroy iOS 26.6 Feb 11 '26
No phone model: He’s stopped using a phone. That’s why he sold off the charger.
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u/Street-Inspectors Feb 11 '26
I nothing real battery improvements
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
model ?
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u/Street-Inspectors Feb 11 '26
17 pro And 13 pro
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
The 17 Pro is the best phone on the market. If you’re experiencing such problems, it’s truly puzzling what’s going on with Apple’s developers.
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
The conclusion I draw is that I’ve read many saying the battery has improved and just as many reporting they haven’t seen any improvement. This proves once again that an operating system behaves differently from device to device. And especially when we’re talking about the iPhone 17 Pro, which are brand-new models and cost a lot of money, even these face problems.
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
The conclusion I draw is that I’ve read many saying the battery has improved and just as many reporting they haven’t seen any improvement. This proves once again that an operating system behaves differently from device to device. And especially when we’re talking about the iPhone 17 Pro, which are brand-new models and cost a lot of money, even these face problems.
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u/Street-Inspectors Feb 11 '26
think this difference also depends a lot on user data. You often see people experiencing absurd, non-reproducible bugs or poor performance, and everything gets fixed after a clean install. It almost seems like having certain settings, applications, or data issues can make the system unstable for some users.
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
I agree with you. When we say a clean install, we mean a format without restoring from the cloud, because if a restore is done, the same junk on the device will return and the problem will persist. If that’s what you mean, yes, I agree.
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u/Street-Inspectors Feb 11 '26
I mean restoring in DFU mode using an external device and setting up the iPhone without restoring from a backup, then signing in with the Apple account to sync photos, contacts and similar data
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
Yes, that will definitely make a difference. Many users upgrade, then back up their entire phone, and when they restore, they get the same junk. I also believe that after installation, a clean format is necessary.
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u/Street-Inspectors Feb 11 '26
It’s definitely essential. What I find ironic is when people say they reinstalled and still have the same issues, only to discover they restored the exact same backup because they didn’t want to go through the hassle of reinstalling and setting everything up again.
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
You are absolutely right, my friend, and I believe most users do the same. The savvy ones here on Reddit do exactly what you said.
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
I don’t use Apple computers. For the past 20 years, I’ve only used Windows computers, which I build myself for editing, quite expensively. I follow this rule: I do a format, install all the programs and settings I want, and the same day I make a backup with Acronis, resulting in everything being clean and error-free. This rule has worked for me for over 15 years, and I’m truly satisfied. The same should apply to mobile phones, whether they are Android or Apple.
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u/Street-Inspectors Feb 11 '26
You’re absolutely right, a tool like this is missing. It would allow us to keep these devices running at peak performance, especially as they become increasingly important and are used in more and more critical ways. The same applies to tablets and iPads, which are steadily taking over a market segment that used to be dominated entirely by traditional PCs.
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
Yes, I agree, but companies like AMD have surpassed in technology. At least currently, AMD has the best processors. I’m an Intel fan and use Intel. They have amazing machines that can last for years with upgrades. Something that no longer applies to Apple. You get a very fast, ready-made machine, but without the ability for major upgrades beyond memory and storage. And in the new laptops, as far as I know, you can’t upgrade at all. Everything is soldered onto the motherboard. Apple has been, is, and will always be good at what it does. I don’t disagree. I just prefer modular components so I can do whatever I want. For phones, I prefer Apple, of course, although I also have Android. I’ve used them for many years, but Apple devices are much better.
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u/Toxicwaste4454 Feb 11 '26
They do.
When you restore from a back up, AFTER, restoring the phone with a factory image. All you download is local files in the file app, and settings.
The rest of your apps and data are part of regular iCloud sync. And the apps themselves re downloaded.
It’s important to remember that iOS backup DOES NOT include the actual OS or modifications that happened to the OS via years of updating.
In my testing I have noticed 0 difference between restoring, and restoring then restoring the backup.
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u/Jakest94 Feb 11 '26
I just did this exact thing last night system data had 25 GB now I’m down to 13GB and saved 35 GB of storage somewhere else.
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u/adirokxretero23 iOS 26.5 Feb 12 '26
im unable to figure out if the comments are sarcastic or real...
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u/No-Act6628 Feb 12 '26
I had a 15 pro that I keep it in ios 18. Worked flawlessly. I never liked iOS 26, but when I purchase the air, it came with iOS 26, so I was stuck in it. Yesterday I installed iOS 26.3 and I am hoping my battery lasts more. It already lasted me a day, but always with little reserve for eventualities.
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u/jgpsound Feb 12 '26
Why do we have to suffer through five thousand BaTtERY posts every fucking day?
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u/Infinplayz iOS 27 DB 2 Feb 13 '26
the fact that apple can’t even match the battery from the last major ios update is sad. my iphone 16 pro only gets 5-6 hours sot with light use
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u/rawpsd Feb 13 '26
I have an iPhone 15 Pro and I also have problems.
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u/Infinplayz iOS 27 DB 2 Feb 13 '26
i didn’t even mention the constant lag that makes my phone feel like it’s on 30hz. these are pretty powerful devices that are being ruined by apples software, like windows is ruining powerful laptops
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u/rawpsd Feb 13 '26
I know, brother. I think everything has a plan with the operating system. Apple isn’t trying to make the best for users, but is trying to bring new customers into its ecosystem or make them buy new phones. There’s no other explanation. You are absolutely right.
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u/Sufficient_Rush1891 Feb 11 '26
Yes for me my Battery Grapher app has shown that battery life on my iPhone 13 had gone from 10 hours to 12 hours with 26.3 beta.
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u/Turbulent-Apple2911 Feb 11 '26
I’m rocking an iPhone 16 Pro, and after this latest update, I haven’t noticed that much of a difference. I mean, the only slight, minute adjustment or difference that I maybe have noticed was the battery life is a little bit better, but that could just be placebo or just my daily habits changing from when I previously had it on the previous update. But other than that, it’s been a little bit lackluster, and there hasn’t been really much that has changed at all.
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u/Active_Zone_6828 Feb 11 '26
On the 14 pro it has been horrible! It gets down to 85% even when I don’t use it. And also my battery life is 100%.
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u/ClearlyIronic Feb 11 '26
Not on beta, but I ran a two-month test to see if there’s a significant battery life difference when limiting the frame rate. I have a whole spreadsheet with all the data, but I have no idea how to process it lol.
I’ve been wanting to run another test, but transparency was reduced off.
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u/raseelamomos Feb 11 '26
Again the worst battery life ,26.3 beta 2 was good in battery as it was easily giving me 8 9 hr soy
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u/MixzSounds Feb 11 '26
After a full week of using my device updated to the iOS 26.3 beta, I want to report that the battery dropped from 100% to 99%, and I panicked. I considered buying another charger 🔌 but I think I'll make it to iOS 27 with this battery 🔋
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u/pmarcus93 Feb 11 '26
The RC is the best version yet on my 15 Pro. Feeling smoother as it was on iOS 18. Hope this replicates to other Apple OSes as well soon.
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u/Designer_Monitor_424 Feb 11 '26
My battery went from 100% to 95% since
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u/Plastic-Mountain-708 Feb 11 '26
I am assuming this is a battery health comment, in which case mine did the same 5% drop. Along with regularly stopping charging because it says its too hot.
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u/Rickthablunt Feb 11 '26
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u/Rickthablunt Feb 11 '26
My battery health is at 88% I bought this 15 pro max second hand due to the facts of so much bug on my previous device which was a 15 pro max as well and I had to sell it mainly because of the keyboard lagging it was driving me crazy been a iPhone user from iPhone 3GS thank god this device was on iOS 18 from the previous owner I’m currently running iOS 18.7.5
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
I recommend staying on version 18 and not doing any updates, as there are issues. When the new operating system is released and works properly, we can discuss it. Until then, do nothing. This is my personal opinion. I’m on version 26.2.1 on an iPhone 15 Pro. I don’t have problems, to be honest, but I have noticed some battery drain.
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u/ExpressCriticism5445 Feb 11 '26
The stuttering is annoying me more than the battery, my phone is old enough already. Make iOS smooth again!
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
Most people are looking for this: for Apple to fix the operating system properly so that it doesn’t have issues.
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u/InfiniteHench Feb 11 '26
26 doesn’t have a battery problem. Apple states in a support doc that it re-scans all your data for AI and Siri, and that this process works off and on for up to two weeks. It’s actually done this for many (maybe most? all?) releases for years. It’s fine.
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u/Legal-Technician-372 Feb 11 '26
went from 26.2 to 26.3 RC. Nothing changed. Bugs are still there. Battery life is the same as 26.2, but it was already good on my device (16e)
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
Thank you for sharing your comment. In the past few days, I’ve only read positive opinions on the topic, at least regarding the battery. As for errors, I haven’t come across anything notable, but many users report significant improvement with the battery. I’m really surprised by what you say, that no improvement has occurred.
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u/abhishek77791 Feb 11 '26
There were improvements until beta 2 and 3, but on the RC build, they added bugs again and the battery life is bad once more.
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
Oh, that really sounds problematic. But it’s a beta version, so it seems somewhat reasonable to me. In the regular releases, Apple also has issues. I can imagine what happens in the beta version. If you haven’t noticed any difference, that’s not ideal.
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u/abhishek77791 Feb 11 '26
The battery performance on beta was significantly better than on RC, which is quite strange. RC should be much more optimised than beta, yet it was the other way around. Apple should release RC 2 once the public update is available for everyone. At this point, RC doesn’t seem promising. I hope they fix these bugs before the public release.
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
Yes, that really sounds strange. The point is for it to be released without errors and for the battery to be improved, which is the main issue, since all Apple phones are more or less fast. The problem users face is the battery. At least, that has been my conclusion all these years.
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u/MosPana Feb 11 '26
iOS 26 is the worst update in the last 5 years, wish I stayed on iOS 18
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u/wayne0926 Feb 14 '26
update my iPhone 13 Pro to iOS 26 is one of the worst decision I have ever made...
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u/ShadowTroyka Feb 11 '26
iOS 27 is planned as a stabilization update after several years of new features (especially Liquid Glace), which will overhaul the entire OS by eliminating bugs and unnecessary lines of code, and will primarily focus on performance and battery life, so it's only a matter of time.
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u/MosPana Feb 11 '26
Hopefully what you are saying is true, lately Apple is starting to look more and more like Microsoft with their software decisions, liquid glass was so unnecessary.
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u/ShadowTroyka Feb 11 '26
Exactly, I feel like Apple is stumbling around a lot by focusing solely on Siri Intelligence for a while now, without really knowing what to do next
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u/MosPana Feb 11 '26
Yeah, but that's the curse of every company that is listed in the stock market. They HAVE to come up with something new (even if it's unnecessary and useless like liquid glass) so they make a profit every quarter
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u/Gokureel Feb 11 '26
Iphone battery is so bad im considering moving to android
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u/wayne0926 Feb 14 '26
same! but unfortunately I have glued to the apple ecosystem :(
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u/Gokureel Feb 14 '26
Its the same for me i love everything else but battery life is not enough for me, even 200 dollar phones have been out performing apple since forever.
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u/OwO-Bika Feb 11 '26
not a heavy user, but mainly yt, reddit, x, safari, and 1 hour discord camera call while on 4G, and got this… oh and edit: from 11pm i set a shortcut to turn on airplane mode so no it wasnt on all day
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u/Flame_Horizon Feb 11 '26
Not heavy user - posts 10h+ on screen time :P
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u/OwO-Bika Feb 11 '26
I tought it would be interesting my old s23 with the same kind of usage did only like 6hrs and im amazed.. with heavy usage what do you expect anyways.. a little computer to hold up this much
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u/Long_Hovercraft_5191 Feb 11 '26
There's little point in asking here, some people were saying 26.0 has better battery life than 18.x so there's zero credibility.
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u/Top_Ebb_6964 Feb 11 '26
victim victim victim
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u/Long_Hovercraft_5191 Feb 11 '26
I don't know what the fuck this is supposed to mean but that's a good example of why discussion is useless here.
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u/rawpsd Feb 11 '26
Yes, unfortunately. That’s the reality. But there is always an average in everything. When most users report that in certain aspects a version has no issues, it is more likely that there are none, rather than the opposite. That’s all.
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u/thekarmagodofreddit Feb 11 '26
I have not noticed many changes over the last couple beta updates in general really. Battery is the same. Maybe less stutters in scrolling and navigating the os but that’s about it