Ever since Apple announced Liquid Glass for iOS 26, users have been asking the question: will the animations, translucency, blur, and other HDR and real-time effects consume more battery cycles? Now that the software update is out, users have been putting this claim to test.
Recent observations do not give us a definite answer yet. A detailed Reddit thread shows noticeable power spikes during UI interactions on iPhone 17 Pro Max, but it does not include a like-for-like iOS 18 baseline, so the takeaway is directional at best. A separate YouTube test compares iOS 18 and iOS 26 on battery, though the methodology is informal and non-scientific, so results should be treated as anecdotal.
At a technical level, effects like blur, translucency, and layered lighting require the GPU to repeatedly sample and re-render what sits behind each panel. When those layers stack and animate while you scroll or pull down Control Center, the device briefly does extra composition work. That work can show up as momentary power spikes, especially on dense screens at high refresh rates.
However, transient spikes are not the same as sustained drain. In day-to-day use, overall battery life is typically dominated by screen brightness, cellular data, camera, maps, and gaming. Modern iPhones also throttle refresh rate dynamically, so when the screen is static or dim, the GPU workload from UI chrome is small. This is why two users with the same phone can report very different results depending on how much they swipe around system UI versus sit in a single app.
The Reddit post’s wall-meter approach is helpful to visualize peaks, but it has limitations. Measuring power at the wall while the phone is charging is a proxy, not a direct device-only draw. It can mix variables like charging-controller behavior and ambient thermals. Crucially, it lacks a cross-OS control on the same hardware. The author does show that Low Power Mode caps peaks and improves endurance in their use, which aligns with how iOS reduces animation cadence and effects when power saving is active. Still, without a rigorous A/B comparison, we cannot declare a universal Liquid Glass penalty from this alone.
The iOS 18 vs iOS 26 video comparison is similarly suggestive but not conclusive. Without matched devices, calibrated brightness, controlled workloads, and repeat trials, it cannot isolate Liquid Glass from other changes such as background indexing after updates, app behavior, or network conditions. Consider it a starting point for curiosity rather than a lab test.
So, does Liquid Glass consume more battery? The fair answer is: it can, momentarily, when you are actively animating multiple translucent layers. For most people over a full day, that overhead should be modest compared to bigger drains like screen brightness and navigation. Newer hardware such as iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max may mask these costs better thanks to higher efficiency, while older devices could feel the spikes more during heavy UI interactions. You can always tone down Liquid Glass on iOS 26 by using the reduce transparency option if you feel like you are facing additional battery drain.
