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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Users on the Apple Developer forums and Reddit are widely reporting that iOS 14.2 causes severe battery drain issues.

iOS14.2on-Phone-Feature-2.jpg


Symptoms of the problem include rapid battery drain and longer charge times than usual. Some users are reporting that their devices are losing over 50 percent charge in less than 30 minutes, and seeing large drops of around five percent within minutes of normal use.

The issue seems to be software-related because multiple users are experiencing battery life sticking at a high percentage before dropping, as well as seeing a sudden gain in battery life after restarting their device.

The affected iPhones all appear to be slightly older, such as the iPhone XS, iPhone 7, iPhone 6S, and first-generation iPhone SE. The 2018 iPad Pro running iPadOS 14.2 also seems to be affected.

iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 arrived just two weeks after iOS 14.1 and iPadOS 14.1, in the second major updates to the iOS and iPadOS 14 operating systems that were released in September. The update included new emojis, Intercom, AirPods Optimized Battery Charging, People Detection, and new wallpapers.

There are no new reports suggesting that the battery issue was fixed in iOS 14.2.1, which sought to address bugs with MMS messages, made for iPhone hearing devices, and a significant issue with screen responsiveness on the iPhone 12 mini.

The third developer and public betas of iOS 14.3 and iPadOS 14.3 have already been released, so it is possible that Apple may fix the problem in that update. The third major update to iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 brings support for Apple ProRAW, as well as refinements to Home, Health, and Weather.

Users with older devices may wish to hold off on updating to iOS 14.2 if they have not already done so, until the issue has been fixed by Apple.

Article Link: iOS 14.2 Reportedly Causing Severe Battery Drain
 

hellosil

macrumors regular
Feb 11, 2013
227
517
I’m hoping 14.3 will resolve this issue as I don’t like what is often suggested: a time consuming full restore.
 
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dannyyankou

macrumors G5
Mar 2, 2012
12,937
27,783
Westchester, NY
I’m wondering if it’s related to cold weather

What I mean is that it’s causing the battery readings to go crazy. All the way back to the iPhone 4s I’ve had this issue, it could be 20 degrees outside and the percentage would suddenly drop dramatically or the phone would turn off, and when I turn it back on it would jump back up.
 
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dohspc

macrumors 6502
Jun 7, 2008
436
755
Plano, TX
I have actually seen this on the iPhone 12 Pro Max on 14.2.1. Phone was at 97% plugged in a lightning cable and I got the 10% battery warning. Rebooted the phone and it was at 97%. Only seen it happen once but definitely a software issue. I looked in the battery settings and there was no indication the battery level actually was 10%.
 
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PhillyGuy72

macrumors 68040
Sep 13, 2014
3,028
4,394
Philadelphia, PA USA
"Some users are reporting that their devices are losing over 50 percent charge in less than 30 minutes, and seeing large drops of around five percent within minutes of normal use."

50% in 30 min??! That is utterly insane. I had 14.2 on this PB 12 Pro Max after exchanging it the day before T'Giving, quick updated to 14.2.1.

Did a total erase of the phone, started again brand new. I'm just not experiencing the severe battery drain. Left it off the charger Thurs into Friday, 7 hours and work up with 100%. During the day I would say it's a normal drain right now. Trust me, no complaints...witch all these posts I'm seeing I'm very thankful!
 
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tjminter

macrumors newbie
Jun 18, 2009
7
3
I experienced this with FordPass for my car. It caused severe battery drain and my phone was even hot to the touch.
 
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