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A new test shows that iOS 17.1 actually increases the battery life of several earlier iPhone models, including the iPhone SE 2020, iPhone 12, and iPhone 13. Interestingly, the iPhone XR and iPhone 11 experienced a battery benchmark decrease during the test.
YouTube channel iAppleBytes tested the five iPhone models using the recently released iOS 17.1, which comes with several new features and bug fixes. All units with 100% battery charge were set at the same 25% brightness, configured to the same settings, and connected to the same access point.
The test employed GeekBench 4’s Battery Benchmark, which tested the units for hours until their batteries drained. In the end, the test ended with the iPhone SE 2020 dying first at 3 hours and 41 minutes, followed by the iPhone 11 (4 hours and 54 minutes), iPhone XR (5 hours and 8 minutes), iPhone 12 (5 hours and 56 minutes), and iPhone 13 (7 hours and 48 minutes).
Despite finishing the test at a somehow expected sequence, iAppleBytes noted that the iPhone XR and iPhone 11 saw decreased benchmark scores compared to their performances in the iOS 17.0.3 update. The review describes iPhone 11’s battery performance as a “horrible result,” noting it fell below 3000 points for the first time ever.
On a positive note, three of the models in the test saw their scores increase compared to the past few updates Apple rolled out.
“iOS 17.1 is not terrible for all, it actually brings back some battery life to most phones. The iPhone SE gets one of its better scores in a long time only seeing better scores before on iOS 15.4, 16.0, 16.3, and 16.6,” iAppleBytes said. “The iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 get the best score so far on iOS 17, and scores better than a lot of previous tests. So this time various model specific results.”
Apparently, the figures are not exact indicators of the battery performance of the models, as the test performed was entirely synthetic. Nonetheless, it really seems the latest update is doing pretty well compared to its predecessors, like the iOS 16.5.1 that caused battery issues in several iPhone owners in June. Thankfully, there are still no reports about the same experience in iOS 17.1, and we hope this will last until another update arrives.
