iOS 26 was just released to the masses, and we’re sure that many iOS users out there have been eager to get their hands on it. However, if you are coming across reports that after updating to iOS 26, there is a hit on performance and battery drain, don’t worry. Because according to Apple, it’s normal .
iOS 26 battery drain and thermal performance
Some users are noticing that following the update to iOS 26, the battery drain on their devices is faster. They are also noticing that their phones are running hotter and aren’t quite as speedy as they remembered. But according to Apple, this is actually par for the course .
As Apple explains it, “Immediately after completing an update, particularly a major release, you might notice a temporary impact on battery life and thermal performance. This is normal, as your device needs time to complete the setup process in the background, including indexing data and files for search, downloading new assets, and updating apps.”
In fact, this shouldn’t be surprising since we pretty much go through this every year. Even on Android, following major updates, there are bound to be reports that batteries are draining faster and phones are running hotter. However, if you do notice a significant impact weeks after the update, then maybe there could be something wrong. But for now, just hang in there for a couple of days before contacting support as it could eventually resolve itself.
What’s new?
iOS 26 is part of Apple’s annual major iOS update . One of the biggest changes is to the overall design of the UI. It uses Apple’s new Liquid Glass design language, which features a lot of glass-like elements with reflective surfaces. It is also the most drastic visual change Apple has made to iOS since iOS 7.
Some people like it, others seem to hate it. It is admittedly a fresh-looking design, but unfortunately, the use of glass-like textures does make things harder to read. There is an option that users can enable to tone down the effect.
Apple has also revamped a lot of its native apps. One of the biggest changes is how Apple has pulled the search bar from the top of the UI to the bottom, mimicking the change it introduced to Safari a few years ago. iOS 26 is now live and available for download , but if you’re concerned about battery drain and impact on performance, you can always hold out for now.
