Maximizing your iPhone’s battery life is easy with a few simple tweaks — no need to sacrifice your favorite features. Whether you’re using the latest iPhone 16 Pro Max or an older model, there are plenty of options. Here are the best ways to boost your iPhone’s battery performance.

Turn Off Nearby AirDrop Sharing

iOS 17 introduces a convenient feature that allows you to hold two iPhones, Apple Watches, or a combination of both close together to quickly share contact information, files, and more. While useful for occasional use, keeping this feature active can drain your battery since it constantly searches for nearby Apple devices. Although the impact on battery life isn’t huge, it can become more noticeable in crowded areas with many devices around.

To conserve battery on your iPhone by adjusting AirDrop settings, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap on General.
3. Select AirDrop.
4. Set Receiving Off: This will prevent your device from being discoverable for AirDrop, saving battery.
5. Turn off Bring Devices Together: Disabling this option stops your device from automatically connecting to nearby devices, which helps conserve battery.
6. Disable Use Cellular Data (if available): Turning off this option ensures that your iPhone won’t use cellular data for AirDrop transfers, further extending battery life.

By adjusting these settings, you can help maximize your iPhone’s battery life.

Turn Off Background App Refresh to Save Battery

Apps on your iPhone continue to update even when they’re not open, which can drain your battery. To conserve energy, turn off the Background App Refresh feature.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap General.
3. Select Background App Refresh.
4. To disable it entirely, turn off Background App Refresh at the top. Alternatively, scroll through the list and turn off background refresh for individual apps that you don’t use often.

Tip: Consider disabling background refresh for shopping apps, but keep it enabled for essential apps like email.

Turn Off Raise to Wake

The Raise to Wake feature automatically turns on your iPhone or iPad screen when you lift the device, improving accessibility. However, if you’d like to conserve battery life or simply prefer to disable it, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap Display & Brightness.
3. Find the Raise to Wake option.
4. Toggle the switch to turn it off (the button will turn gray).

Once disabled, you can still wake your device by either tapping the screen or pressing the lock button.

Turn Off the Always-On Feature

The Always-On Display on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max shows the time, wallpaper, widgets, and more, even when your device is locked. If you’d like to conserve battery, you can turn it off. Here’s how:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Display & Brightness.
3. Select Always On Display.
4. Toggle the switch to turn it off.

Turn Off Screen Time

The Screen Time feature on your iPhone tracks your usage and provides insights into your habits, but its impact on battery life is generally minimal. While it requires some processing power, it doesn’t run continuously in the background like more resource-intensive features. If you’re concerned about battery drain, you can monitor your battery usage and decide how often to check Screen Time statistics.

If you’d like to disable Screen Time completely, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Screen Time.
3. Scroll down and tap Turn Off App & Website Activity.
4. Confirm by tapping Turn Off App & Website Activity again.

This will disable Screen Time and remove any restrictions or limits you may have set.

Adjust Your Auto-Lock Settings

The Auto-Lock feature controls how long your iPhone stays active before the screen automatically turns off. To conserve battery, choose a shorter Auto-Lock time. Here’s how to adjust it:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Display & Brightness.
3. Scroll down and select Auto-Lock.
4. Tap Auto-Lock and choose a shorter time (we recommend 30 seconds).

By setting a shorter Auto-Lock time, your iPhone will automatically lock the screen sooner, helping to extend battery life.

Don’t Use Live Wallpapers

Live wallpapers can be fun, but they consume more battery power than static images. To conserve battery life, opt for a still photo as your wallpaper instead.

Turn Off the Live Voicemail Feature

The Live Voicemail feature on the iPhone 15 provides a real-time transcript of voicemails as they’re being left. While it’s a handy feature, it can drain battery life. If you don’t need it, turning it off can help extend your battery life.

To disable Live Voicemail:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Phone.
3. Select Live Voicemail.
4. Toggle the switch to turn it off.

Lower Your Brightness Levels

The dimmer your display, the less battery power it uses. To conserve battery life, try lowering your screen brightness.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Display & Brightness.
3. Move the brightness slider to the left to reduce brightness.

Turn Off the Haptic Feedback Feature

If you’ve enabled haptic feedback for the keyboard, where you feel a vibration with each key tap, it can impact battery life. If you don’t need this feature, turning it off can help conserve power.

To disable haptic feedback:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Sounds & Haptics.
3. Select Keyboard Feedback.
4. Toggle Haptic to turn it off.

Turn Off the Screen Distance Feature

The Screen Distance feature uses your iPhone’s front camera to monitor how far away you are from the screen, promoting better viewing habits. While this feature can use some battery, its impact is generally minor. If you’re concerned about battery life, you can turn it off.

To disable the Screen Distance feature:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap Screen Time.
3. Tap Screen Distance.
4. Toggle the switch to turn it off.

This will disable the feature, and your iPhone will no longer use the front camera to monitor your distance from the screen.

Disable “Hey Siri” Detection

If you don’t use Siri regularly, there’s no need for your iPhone to constantly listen for the “Hey Siri” command. You can still activate Siri by long-pressing the side button, which will save battery by turning off voice command detection.

To disable Hey Siri detection:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Siri & Search.
3. Toggle off Listen for “Hey Siri”.

This will prevent your iPhone from listening for the hot word, saving battery life.

Limit Your Notifications

While app notifications keep you connected, they can also drain your battery. Review which notifications are essential and disable those you don’t need.

To adjust notification settings:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications.
3. Select an app from the list and customize its notification preferences.

Use Focus Modes

Focus Modes help reduce distractions by limiting the apps and people that can send you notifications. For example, you can set a Focus mode for driving or work to minimize interruptions. Apple provides several pre-made Focus profiles, but you can also create a custom one to suit your needs.

To set up Focus modes:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Focus and select a Focus mode (e.g., Work).
3. Choose which apps and contacts can send you notifications while in that Focus.
   • Tap the Add button, select an app or contact, then hit Done.
4. Optionally, customize the Lock Screen or Home Screen to control which notifications appear.

This allows you to tailor your iPhone’s notifications to your current activity and conserve battery life.

Don’t Use Live Activities

Introduced with the iPhone 14 Pro series and Dynamic Island, Live Activities display real-time updates from various apps, so you can stay informed without keeping the app open full-screen. It’s useful for tracking sports scores, Uber ETAs, Instagram uploads, and more. However, Live Activities can drain your battery over time. To maximize battery life, consider disabling this feature.

To turn off Live Activities:

1. Open the Settings app and locate the apps that support Live Activities.
2. Tap on each app and toggle off Live Activities.
3. Alternatively, go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode and turn off Live Activities to prevent them from showing on the lock screen.

Check the Widgets on Your Lock Screen

With iOS, Apple allows users to add widgets to the lock screen, offering more customization and quick access to glanceable information. While widgets can be useful, some of them, like the Weather app or Todoist, can drain your battery over time by constantly updating in the background—especially for screens you don’t frequently view.

To manage widgets on your lock screen:

1. Wake up your iPhone and press and hold on the lock screen to enter customization mode.
2. Tap Customize and select Lock Screen.
3. From here, you can remove any widgets that may be using excessive battery. Widgets that frequently update data, like weather apps or task managers, are often the main culprits.
4. Apps like Calendar or Fitness Rings may have a smaller impact, but they are still worth considering.

By removing high-drain widgets, you can conserve battery while keeping the useful ones.

Reduce Your Refresh Rate

If you own a newer iPhone Pro, you’ve likely noticed how smooth the display feels. That’s because Apple includes a 120Hz refresh rate on Pro models, making everything from animations to scrolling more responsive. However, this smoother experience consumes more battery than a 60Hz display. To extend battery life, consider reducing the refresh rate.

To lower your refresh rate:

1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Motion.
2. Toggle on Limit Frame Rate.

This will reduce the display’s refresh rate to 60Hz, conserving battery power.

Turn Off an App’s Permission to Track You

Disabling the “Allow Apps to Request to Track” setting can help reduce background activity, conserving battery life.

To turn off app tracking permissions:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap Privacy & Security.
3. Select Tracking.
4. Toggle off Allow Apps to Request to Track.

This will prevent apps from requesting permission to track your activity, potentially saving battery.

Turn Off Journaling Suggestions

To disable journaling suggestions and reduce notifications and background activity:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap Privacy & Security.
3. Select Analytics & Improvements.
4. Tap Improved Suggestions.
5. Toggle off Journaling Suggestions.

This will stop your iPhone from providing journaling-related suggestions.

Adjust the Location Services Feature

Location Services uses GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, and cell towers to pinpoint your location. While it’s useful, it can also drain your battery. To conserve power, turn off Location Services for apps that don’t need it, and set it to While Using the App for those that do.

To adjust Location Services settings:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Privacy & Security.
3. Select Location Services.
4. To turn off Location Services completely, toggle it off at the top of the screen, or customize it for each app by selecting Never, Ask Next Time, While Using the App, or Always, depending on your preference.

To save even more battery, you can also disable certain System Services like Routing & Traffic and Improve Maps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Privacy & Security.
3. Select Location Services.
4. Scroll down and tap System Services.
5. Toggle off Routing & Traffic and Improve Maps.

These steps help minimize background location usage and can improve battery life.

Use Optimized Charging and Avoid Overcharging

One of the best ways to preserve your iPhone’s battery health over time is by using Optimized Charging. This feature adjusts the charging speed based on your usage patterns. For example, when you plug in your phone at night, it charges up to 80%, then slows down and only finishes charging to 100% just before you wake up. This helps reduce battery wear from constant full-speed charging.

To enable Optimized Charging:

1. Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging.
2. Make sure Optimized Battery Charging is enabled (this is on by default).

If you have an iPhone 15 or later, you can also use the 80% Limit feature, which caps your charge at 80% to further protect your battery and extend its lifespan.

To turn on the 80% Limit:

1. Open Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging.
2. Tap Charging Optimization and enable 80% Limit.

Both of these settings help keep your battery healthier for a longer period, reducing wear from overcharging.

Use Low Power Mode

I didn’t initially include Low Power Mode in the main list because it feels like an obvious choice when you think about saving battery on your iPhone. However, it’s worth mentioning because, yes, it can significantly extend battery life by disabling several power-hungry features, such as background app refresh, high display refresh rates, animations, and more.

To enable Low Power Mode:

1. Swipe down from the top-right corner of your iPhone to open the Control Center.
2. Tap the battery icon.

Once activated, your battery status indicator will turn yellow, indicating that Low Power Mode is on. To turn it off, just repeat the same process.

Use 4G Mobile Network Instead of 5G

5G networks can sometimes drain more battery than 4G, particularly in areas with weak 5G coverage or when using high-bandwidth apps. While 5G can be more efficient with strong coverage, switching to 4G when 5G isn’t necessary can help save battery life.

To switch to 4G on your iPhone:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Cellular (or Mobile Data).
3. Tap Cellular Data Options (or Mobile Data Options).
4. Tap Voice & Data.
5. Select 4G.

This will force your iPhone to use the 4G network, helping conserve battery when 5G isn’t required.