iPhone 12 Pro Battery Drain Fast? Fix it Here

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Here’s how to fix iPhone 12 Pro battery drain issue and save Battery life.
While we’re excited about Apple’s new iPhone 12 lineup, there are a few iPhone 12 Pro issues to contend with, including a tendency for iPhone 12 Pro battery drain that comes along with a software update. If you recently purchased a new iPhone 12 Pro, you may be wondering, “why is my iPhone 12 Pro battery draining so fast?”, “why is my iPhone 12 Pro dying so fast?”, or even wondering, “should i return the device and ask for refund?” Before you start thinking of purchasing the best iPhone charger and battery case, learn how to save battery life on your iPhone 12 Pro with iOS 14. Even new iPhones like the iPhone 12 mini, 12, and 12 Pro Max can have battery life problems because of Apple’s default settings. Changing a few iOS 14 Settings will do wonders for improving iPhone battery life. Without any further ado, let’s find out why your iPhone 12 Pro is dying so fast and how to fix the issue!

See also: iPhone 12 mini Battery Drain Fast? Here’s How to Fix it

How to fix iPhone 12 Pro battery drain issue

If you’re wondering, “why is my iPhone 12 Pro battery draining so fast?” the first thing you want to do is figure out whether or not you’re using your iPhone differently. That could account for some of your iPhone 12 Pro battery problems, but if you’re confident it’s more than that, we’ll help you fix the new update problems and save that battery life.

1. iOS 14 on the iPhone 12 Pro: iPhone Battery Health Suggestions in Settings

With iOS 14, your iPhone will recommend specific settings changes to save your battery life. To see what your iPhone recommends you change:

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone 12 Pro.
  2. Go to Battery.
  3. Select Battery Health, where your iPhone will suggest changes to settings that will improve battery life.

You can tap on each suggestion to jump to the setting that needs changing. If you don’t want to make the change, at least you understand what’s contributing to your iPhone 12 Pro battery drain.
If you don’t see the Battery Life Suggestions section, your iPhone 12 Pro doesn’t currently see any ways to improve battery life via Settings. However, we’ll have to respectfully disagree. Check out the tips below for more ways to save your iPhone’s 12 Pro battery in iOS 14 and newer.

2. Dim Your iPhone 12 Pro Screen

Keeping your device screen at full brightness contributes to iPhone 12 Pro battery drain, but it’s easily remedied. To dim your screen manually:

  1. Bring up the Control Center by swiping down from the upper-right corner on your iPhone 12 Pro.
  2. Drag the Brightness slider to the bottom, or as near to the bottom as you can go and still comfortably read your display.

3. Turn on iPhone 12 Pro Auto-Brightness

Auto-Brightness settings adjust your screen lighting automatically based on ambient light levels. To turn this feature on:

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone 12 Pro.
  2. Go to Accessibility.
  3. Tap Display & Text Size.
  4. Turn on the switch next to Auto-Brightness.

4. Turn Off Raise to Wake on Your iPhone 12 Pro

iPhone has the Raise to Wake feature enabled by default. This might be part of your iPhone 12 Pro battery drain problem, especially if you pick up your iPhone often or walk with it swinging in your hand. That iPhone screen constantly turning on will definitely drain your battery. To turn off Raise to Wake on your iPhone 12 Pro:

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone 12 Pro.
  2. Go to Display & Brightness.
  3. Turn off the switch next to Raise to Wake.

5. Update All Apps That Are Available to Update on App Store

When Apple releases a new iOS update, developers have to play catch-up too. That’s why there’s a beta version of iOS for developers, so they can prepare and optimize their apps for the latest and greatest operating system. If you don’t automatically update your apps on your iPhone, taking the time to update all the available apps on App Store could seriously help with iPhone 12 Pro battery drain issue. To update your apps:

  1. Start the App Store app on your iPhone 12 Pro.
  2. Tap your account icon located at the upper right-hand corner of the display.
  3. Tap Update All, then hit Done located at the upper right of the display.

6. Reduce the Number of Widgets in the Today View & Home Screen

Widgets allow you to quickly view information in the Today View or on your Home screen, such as the weather, your calendar events for the day, activity progress, and much more. But all those widgets take power to keep up to date. If your iPhone 12 Pro battery is dying too quickly, consider getting rid of any widgets you don’t need. To access the Today View from the Lock screen, swipe right from the main Lock screen. To access the Today View from the Home screen, swipe right from the first Home screen.

To remove widgets you don’t need in the Today View & Home screens:

Scroll to the bottom of the Today View screen; tap Edit.
If you started from the Lock screen, you’ll need to unlock your phone to make changes.
Tap the minus symbol next to any widgets you’d like to remove.

For widgets on your Home screens, touch and hold the screen until it enters Wiggle mode.
Tap the minus sign on widgets you’d like to remove.

Tap Done when you’re finished removing widgets.

7. Restart Your iPhone 12 Pro

Restarting your iPhone is troubleshooting 101. If you ever have any problem with your iPhone, Apple-made or otherwise, a simple restart almost always helps. Restarting your iPhone probably won’t fix the problem of battery drain on iPhone 12 Pro completely, but it’s likely to give it a bit of a boost. To restart iPhone 12 pro:

  1. Press and hold down the Side button alongside the up or down volume button until you see the Power Off slider.
  2. Drag the slider from left to right to turn your iPhone 12 Pro off.
  3. Wait a minute, then hold the Side button again until you see the Apple logo, and release.

8. Turn Off Background App Refresh

Background App Refresh allows your apps to check for new content and update even when you’re not using them. This is intended to save you loading time when opening up apps as the latest information should be ready and waiting since it refreshed in the background. However, allowing all your open apps to continually update and refresh in the background is a sure-fire way to drain your iPhone 12 Pro battery. To turn off Background App Refresh:

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone 12 Pro.
  2. Go to General.
  3. Tap Background App Refresh.
  4. Hit Background App Refresh again, then select Off.

9. Location Services: Only While Using the App

Location Service is another sneaky way your iPhone 12 Pro could be consuming battery power. Lots of different apps want to know and use your location for various reasons, but most of them don’t need to track your location when you aren’t using the app. Yet, some apps have the option to always know your location, regardless of whether you’re currently using it or not. Now you might want to leave tracking on for, say, a navigation app. But most apps don’t need Location Services on all the time. You can quickly go through your apps and choose whether they can use your location Always, While Using the App, Ask Next Time, or Never. If the app never needs your location, feel free to select that. For most apps, it makes the most sense to allow Location Services only while using the app. To do this:

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone 12 Pro.
  2. Go to Privacy.
  3. Select Location Services.
  4. Tap on individual apps to choose when Location Services can be used. If the app never needs to know your location to be fully functional, go ahead and select Never.

You can also choose to toggle off Precise Location if the app does not need to know exactly where you are.

10. Place Your iPhone 12 Pro Face Down

When your iPhone is facing up, the screen lights up whenever you receive a notification. If you receive a ton of notifications, they could easily be part of your iPhone 12 Pro battery problem, especially since notifications in iOS 14 are rich, meaning you can see conversations, images, and more directly from the Lock screen. Doing so might mean you’re actually on your iPhone more by virtue of being able to do so much without unlocking the device. Stop yourself from being tempted to reply each time a notification appears by leaving your iPhone face down on your desk or side table. Doing this will preserve battery life since your iPhone 12 Pro won’t illuminate when you receive a notification.

11. Save Battery Life on Your iPhone 12 Pro: Turn On Low Power Mode

I was hesitant to include this because it seems like such an obvious Battery saving trick. However, not all people are aware of the beauty that is Low Power Mode. Sure, we’d love our iPhone battery life to last forever without it. But when you have three more hours until you can charge your iPhone, and your iPhone battery percentage is at thirty percent, Low Power Mode is an iPhone battery life saver. To turn on Low Power Mode on iPhone 12 Pro, you can summon Siri and say, “Siri, turn on Low Power Mode”. Alternatively, you can turn Low Power Mode on in Settings manually.

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone 12 Pro.
  2. Go to Battery.
  3. Turn on the switch next to Low Power Mode.

Pro-tip:

Better yet, you can add Low Power Mode to your Control Center to be able to easily toggle it on and off. Simply head over to the Control Center tab in the Settings app. From here, you can add, remove, and rearrange your Control Center by tapping the red minus to remove and the green plus to include controls.

12. Turn On Reduce Motion

If you’ve been enjoying the interesting effects (fireworks and confetti anyone?) and reactions in the Messages app, you’re using animations that require lots of iPhone battery life. While the flashy features of the Messages app might be fun, they’re sure to cut into the amount of time your iPhone 12 Pro can stay alive. Beyond the Messages app, the iPhone 12 Pro comes with animations for everything. Simply switching from an app to the Home screen has its own animation. Each animation may not use much battery life, but the little bit each transition uses adds up quickly. To turn on Reduce Motion:

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone 12 Pro.
  2. Go to Accessibility.
  3. Select Motion.
  4. Turn on the switch next to Reduce Motion, then toggle on Prefer Cross-Fade Transitions.

While you’re on this screen, you can also toggle off Auto-Play Message Effects and Auto-Play Video Previews to save even more battery life.

13. Use Wi-Fi & Turn On Your iPhone’s 12 Pro Airplane Mode in Locations with Poor Reception

If a secure Wi-Fi network is available, log in to it rather than using your cellular data plan. As well, if you are out and about in a location with poor cellular reception, having your iPhone constantly searching for a cell signal will deplete your battery in no time. To prevent iPhone 12 Pro battery drain,

  • bring up the Control Center by swiping down from the top right of your Home screen, then tap on the Airplane mode icon (it looks like a miniature airplane.) Once you’re back in an area with a strong cellular signal, repeat the above steps to turn off Airplane mode.
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GeeksModo Staff is a team of iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch experts led by Moses Johnson. We're passionate about all things Apple!
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