Users complain of battery drain in iOS 13.5.1

iPhone X battery percentage
iPhone X battery percentage (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Users are seeing battery drain issues on iOS.
  • Specifically in iOS 13.5.1, Apple's latest software update.
  • The issue has picked up a lot of steam in Apple's support forums.

Users seem to be experiencing severe battery drain issues in the latest iteration of iOS, 13.5.1.

As reported by ZDNet:

Have you noticed that since installing iOS 13.5.1 that you need to charge up your iPhone's battery more often? You might have even noticed that the iPhone is feeling warm -- or even hot -- even when it's not doing anything.Yes, it seems like this release suffers from yet another battery drain issue...

The report mentions iOS 13.5.1 specifically, noting issues of batteries draining faster than usual, an iPhone heating up, and a higher-than-usual 'Screen Off' activity reading (more than an hour) in the Battery Settings report.

Apple's own support forums are actually littered with complaints of battery drain in iOS 13.5 as well. One thread in particular has gained significant traction, with users noticing high background activity.

The usual fixes, such as disabling Background App Refresh might help alleviate the problem. Thankfully, Apple seems to have fixed the issue in iOS 13.6, which beta users report is much-improved on the current version.

As the report notes, the 13.5.1 update was released to fix both the Unc0ver jailbreak, but not several issues users had been complaining of including bugs, MP4 playback not working, and more.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9