Why your iPhone battery may be draining after iOS 26.5
What's the story
Apple's latest iOS 26.5 update has sparked complaints from users over severe battery drain and overheating issues. The problems were first reported on the r/ios26 subreddit, where an iPhone user complained about their device heating up after installing the new software version. Other Redditors quickly joined in, sharing similar experiences with the update. One user said their battery was solid before updating but now drains heavily even with normal usage like streaming Spotify or scrolling through social media apps.
Update effects
Temporary impact on battery life and thermal performance
Apple's support page states, "Immediately after completing an update, particularly a major release, you might notice a temporary impact on battery life and thermal performance." The company adds that this is normal behavior as the device needs time to complete the setup process in the background. When a new version of iOS is installed, it doesn't just reboot and resume its previous state. The operating system works behind the scenes to finish a large setup process.
Resource usage
Similar complaints after iOS updates in the past
This background processing, according to Apple, includes indexing data and files for the internal search system, downloading new system assets, and updating apps for the new code. All of this requires a lot of CPU power which can lead to faster battery drain and noticeable device heating. Notably, similar complaints were also raised after the iOS 18 and iOS 26 updates but those issues were resolved over time.