iPhone 12 Pro Max Battery Draining Fast? Fix!

This guide explains how to fix iPhone 12 Pro Max battery drain issue and improve battery life.

If you just purchased a new iPhone 12 Pro Max, you may be wondering, “why is my iPhone 12 Pro Max battery draining fast?”, “why is my iPhone 12 Pro Max dying fast?”, or even wondering, “should i return the device and ask for a refund?” Before you start thinking about visiting the nearest Apple Store, learn how to improve battery life on your iPhone 12 Pro Max down below.

We continue to get feedback from those who have bought themselves iPhone 12 Pro Max. While a lot of the feedback is positive, some users are complaining about abnormal iPhone 12 Pro Max battery drain which is a common issue that impacts all the iPhone models.

We’ve heard about an assortment of issues with iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Some of the problems are minor bugs. Others, like abnormal iPhone 12 Pro Max battery drain, are far more problematic.

Again, iPhone battery life problems are extremely common. They tend to popup after every iPhone release and after every iOS update so these complaints don’t come as much of a surprise.

Some iPhone 12 Pro Max battery drain issues might be hardware-related, but most probably have something to do with the iOS 14 software that powers the phone.

If you notice your iPhone 12 Pro Max battery draining fast, you’ll need to try to fix the issue before you get in contact with Apple’s customer service.

In this article we’ll walk you through some fixes that will help you fix iPhone 12 Pro Max battery drain issues. These are fixes that have worked for our readers and there’s a chance they’ll work for you.

Dim Your iPhone 12 Pro Max Screen

Keeping your device’s screen at full brightness can lead to rapid iPhone 12 Pro Max battery drain, but it’s easily fixed. To dim your screen manually:

1. Bring up the Control Center by swiping down from the upper-right corner of the screen.
2. Drag the Brightness bar to the bottom, or as near to the bottom as you can go and still comfortably view your display.

Turn on iPhone Pro Max Auto-Brightness

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

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility.
3. Tap Display & Text Size.
4. Toggle on Auto-Brightness.

Turn Off Raise to Wake on Your iPhone 12 Pro Max

All iPhone models comes with the Raise to Wake function turned on by default. This might be The reason why your iPhone 12 pro Max battery is draining fast, especially if you pick up your Device a lot 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 Max:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Display & Brightness.
3. Find Raise to Wake and toggle it off.

Location Services: Only While Using the App

Location Service is another sneaky way your iPhone 12 Pro Max battery could be draining fast. 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, Find My. 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. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Privacy.
3. Tap Location Services.
4. Select 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.

Place Your iPhone 12 Pro Max Face Down

When your iPhone is facing up, the screen illuminates whenever you get a notification. If you receive a huge number of notifications, they could easily cause iPhone 12 pro Max battery issues, 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 save battery life since your iPhone won’t illuminate when you receive a notification.

Turn On Reduce Motion

If you are a fan of 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 can stay alive. Beyond the Messages app, the iPhone has 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. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility.
3. Tap Motion.
4. Toggle on Reduce Motion, then toggle on Prefer Cross-Fade Transitions.

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

Use Wi-Fi & Turn On Your iPhone’s 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 Max battery drain, open the Control Center by swiping down from the upper right corner 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, use the same steps to turn off Airplane mode.

restart your iPhone

If you suddenly start noticing iPhone 12 Pro Max battery draining fast, try restarting your device. Power it down, wait for a minute, and then power it back on. This sometimes works, particularly if you haven’t restarted your phone in awhile.

Update Your iPhone 12 Pro Max

If your device is currently running an older version of iOS 14, try updating it to the latest version.

iOS updates typically don’t come with specific battery fixes, but installing new software could help to stabilize your iPhone 12 Pro Max performance.

Before you install a new version of iOS 14 on your phone, make sure you read reviews and dig into feedback before you initiate the download.

Check Your Apps

More often than not it’s an application causing iPhone 12 Pro Max battery drain issues. Apps, particularly third-party applications, sometimes act up after Apple releases new iOS firmware.

Checking in on an app’s performance is extremely easy and you should be able to isolate culprit in a matter of minutes. Here’s how to do that:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Battery.
3. Find the Battery Usage section.
4. In this menu you’ll see the apps consuming your iPhone 12 Pro Max battery life and when they’re doing so. If you use an app a lot, it will obviously put a strain on your device’s battery.

That said, if it’s draining an absurd amount of battery or an app you rarely use is sucking up a lot of power, you’ll definitely want to investigate.

If something is off, try updating the application to the latest version. App developers are constantly rolling out support updates and these releases could help.

If updating the app(s) doesn’t work, try deleting (permanently or temporarily) it and see if your battery life returns to normal. If the issue persists, you might want to get in contact with the developer.

Reset All Settings on iPhone 12 Pro Max

If you determine that your apps aren’t the offender, try resetting your iPhone 12 Pro Max settings. This will restore your settings to their factory defaults (so make sure you have your Wi-Fi passwords handy), but it could iron out your iPhone 12 Pro Max battery drain issues. Here’s how to do that:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap General.
3. Scroll down and tap Reset.
4. Tap Reset All Settings.
5. Type in your passcode if you have one enabled.

Use Screen Time

Your iPhone 12 Pro Max comes with Screen Time which could help you conserve battery life while eliminating bad habits.

Screen Time provides you with a set of controls that can help keep your addictive behavior in check. If you aren’t on your phone using your applications, you won’t be chewing through battery life.

Screen Time lets you set limits on how long you can use a particular app on a given day. If you approach the threshold, it’ll warn you.

Enable Low Power Mode

Your phone also has a feature called Low Power Mode that will help you conserve battery life by temporarily shutting off background activity including Hey Siri, automatic downloads, and mail fetch.

You can flip Low Power Mode on and off whenever you want. Your iPhone will also prompt you to turn it on whenever it reaches 20% battery.

We always recommend adding Low Power Mode to Control Center for easy access. Here’s how to do that:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Control Center.
3. Tap Customize Controls.
4. Tap the green plus sign next to Low Power Mode.

The next time you open up Control Center on your device you’ll see a battery icon and you can tap it to enable or disable Low Power Mode.

If you’d prefer to turn Low Power Mode on via your Settings you can do that too. Here’s how to do that:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Go to Battery.
3. Tap on Low Power Mode.
4. Toggle it On.

Disable Vibrations

If your iPhone vibrates every time you get a message or phone call, and you don’t want or need it to, try turning those vibrations off. This will help your phone conserve power.

To turn off your iPhone 12 Pro Max vibrations:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Sounds.
3. Toggle Vibrate on Ring and Vibrate on Silent off.

You’ll also need to go into each individual Sound and Vibration and make sure Vibration (which is located at the top of the screen) is set to “None.”

Disable Background Refresh

Background App Refresh is a feature that refreshes apps in the background in order to show you the latest data when you open them up. It’s useful, but it can also cause iPhone 12 Pro Max battery drain issues because your device is working in the background. Turning it off could help conserve battery.

Here’s how to disable Background App Refresh for your apps if you don’t think you need it:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap General.
3. Tap Background App Refresh.
4. Turn it off for any applications you don’t use.

You can also turn it off completely.

Turn Off Fitness Tracking

Your iPhone 12 Pro Max comes with a co-processor that tracks your steps and other movements. If you use your phone for fitness-related activities, you should keep this feature on. If you don’t, try turning it off because it could help you conserve battery battery life. Here’s how to do this:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Privacy.
3. Select Motion & Fitness and toggle the Fitness Tracking function off.

You also might want to toggle off apps listed below Fitness Tracking in the menu.

Disable Assistive Touch

If you’re currently using Assistive Touch on your Device, it might be one of the reasons your iPhone 12 Pro Max battery is draining quickly. If you don’t want or need Assistive Touch active on your phone, try turning it off:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility.
3. Tap Touch.
4. Tap AssistiveTouch.
5. Toggle it to Off.

Downgrade the Software

If you can’t fix the issue yourself, can’t wait for the next iOS update, and want to avoid getting in touch with Apple customer service, you can try downgrading your iPhone back to a previous version of iOS 14 if the option is available.

If you were getting good battery life on an older version of iOS 14, downgrading might help.

Restore as New

You also might try restoring your iPhone from a backup from your computer or via iCloud.

If you’re feeling really ambitious, you can try restoring the device as new. You can do this via Finder, iTunes or iCloud.