YouTuber @iAppleBytes tested iOS 14.4.1 battery life, drain, and performance on Geekbench to check if the performance depletes and the result was not promising.
This video was shot 3 days after iOS 14.4.1 was installed, so it had time to settle in. I have seen many comments that it takes about a week for battery performance to optimize itself after an iOS update.
I have always been skeptical of this statement as I have never personally had bad battery life right after I update. If I restore and download backup from iCloud well then that is another story. So I decided to run the battery test 5 days after I updated them. In those 5 days they were just idling with power connected. So let’s run the battery test again, and see if we will get some different results this time around.
Geekbench battery life test of iPhone models on iOS 14.4.1
Prior to the test, @iAppleBytes turned the display brightness of all smartphones was set to 25% display, auto-brightness was disabled, were on the same settings, and connected to the same access point.
The iPhone model
- iPhone SE (first-generation) – 98% battery health
- iPhone 6s – 100% battery health
- iPhone 7 – 100% battery health
- iPhone 8 – 99% battery health
- iPhone XR – 92% battery health
- iPhone 11 – 100% battery health
- iPhone SE (second-generation) – 96% battery health
Battery Scores
- iPhone SE (first-generation) – 1750
- iPhone 6s – 1770
- iPhone 7 – 2283
- iPhone 8 – 2069
- iPhone XR – 3133
- iPhone 11 – 3315
- iPhone SE (second-generation) – 2127
The Verdict
Oh no.. not a good result for iOS 14.4.1. Even considering that the XR and SE 2020 dropped in battery health. All other devices remained on the same battery health, 100% or 99%. But all devices dropped in battery performance according to Geekbench 4’s battery test. All, except the iPhone 11 which scored exactly the same as iOS 14.4.
What a gut punch that is after we saw a great battery life test from iOS 14.4. As for the XR even if it dropped 4% in battery health it only dropped 4% in performance where devices like the 7 and 8 dropped a whopping 7% and 8% at the same battery health level. One thing to consider before updating, Battery life or Security? tough choice.
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