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What are possible reasons for your iPhone battery to drain quickly?

Roel28 OCTOBER 2025
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Do you feel like your iPhone is running out of power faster than usual? This can have various causes. Do you use apps that consume a lot of energy, or is your screen perhaps not set to energy efficient? In this article, you can read all the possible reasons for your iPhone battery draining fast and what you can do about it.

Your iPhone battery drains quickly because of certain apps

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One of the biggest culprits behind rapid battery drain is apps. In particular, apps that make heavy use of mobile data, GPS, or the camera consume a lot of energy. Think of apps like TikTok, Instagram, Google Maps, or Snapchat. You can check which apps use the most power by going to ‘Settings’ -> ‘Battery’. There, you’ll find an overview of battery usage per app over the past 24 hours or 10 days. Always try to close apps when you’re not using them. Another tip to reduce power consumption is to disable push notifications for apps you don’t find particularly useful.

Bekijk de batterijduur van alle iPhones

Your iPhone battery drains quickly due to a bright screen

Another big power drain is the screen of your iPhone. The brighter your screen is, the more energy you use. You can adjust the brightness of your screen by going to ‘Settings’ -> ‘Display & Brightness’. There you can also turn off the automatic brightness, because this requires energy. Lower brightness means longer battery life.

You can also set the time before your screen turns off automatically when you're not using your iPhone. You can do this by going to 'Settings' -> 'Display and brightness' -> 'Automatic lock'. The shorter this time is, the more energy you save.

Extra tip: set your screen to dark mode

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Do you want to make your iPhone's battery last longer? Set your display to dark mode. Especially on iPhones with an OLED screen, you save a lot of energy by using dark mode. All iPhones from the 16 series onwards have an OLED screen, just like the iPhone 16, the iPhone 16 Plus, and the iPhone 16 Pro. The battery of these iPhones lasts about 30% longer in dark mode. You can easily turn it on by going to 'Settings' > 'Display and brightness' and then clicking on 'Dark display'. You will also see a bar with 'automatic' here. Slide this to the right and set when your iPhone automatically switches to dark mode.

Location Services drain the battery

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Another cause of a fast-draining battery on your iPhone is the use of location services. Location Services is useful for determining your position, for example for Google Maps or Weeronline. They only consume a lot of power, because your iPhone always has to connect to GPS satellites, Wi-Fi networks, and cell towers. Some apps use location services even when you're not actively using them, which drains even more energy. Fortunately, you can decide which apps have access to your location and when. Go to ‘Settings’ -> ‘Privacy’ -> ‘Location Services’, then choose for each app whether you want to turn on Location Services always, never, or only while in use.

Your iPhone battery drains quickly due to automatic background refresh

Another feature that can consume a lot of energy is the automatic refresh of apps. This means that apps are automatically updated when a new version is available in the App Store. This can be useful to always have the latest features and security updates, but it can also take a lot of data and energy. You can turn off the automatic refresh by going to 'iTunes & App Store' via 'Settings'. There you can choose whether you want to refresh apps via mobile data or only via Wi-Fi.

Have your iPhone repaired at MediaMarkt

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One way to provide your fast-draining iPhone with enough energy is to place an iPhone charger in many different places. Unfortunately, this does not solve the problem of the bad battery. Sometimes, the only solution is to have a new battery put in your iPhone. This is possible with MediaMarkt's warranty and repair service. If it turns out that the battery can no longer be repaired, you could buy a new iPhone.

Buying a new iPhone

Also check out our refurbished iPhones

Another option is to buy a refurbished iPhone. A refurbished iPhone is a used iPhone that has been fully checked, cleaned, and repaired. You then get an iPhone that is as good as new for a lower price. Moreover, you contribute to a more sustainable world, because you produce less electronic waste.

if you are from Belgium, read the article iPhone battery drains quickly on MediaMarkt Belgium.

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