The newest update to Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 11.1, is officially out. It doesn’t have too many user-facing features, but it makes one big improvement that you won’t find in its release notes.
Sure, it adds 70 new emoji, fixes some security issues and bugs, and brings back a popular gesture. But, arguably, iOS 11.1’s most important feature is its improvement to battery life — and it does improve battery life across most devices, at least compared to the base version of iOS 11.
Forbes’ Gordon Kelly, for example, has written quite a bit about the battery life issues in iOS 11 — and his reports are corroborated by other data that’s tracked a decline in battery performance for users who downloaded iOS 11. It’s really hard to argue that iOS 11 was poison for battery performance across the gamut of iPhone devices.
But while Apple hasn’t publicly addressed iOS 11 battery life issues, its newest release suggests that it’s been aware of the problem. Apple has seemingly fixed some of the battery drain problems during the beta testing period of iOS 11.1 — the big breakthrough being iOS 11.1 beta 4. In some cases, iPhones from the SE to the 8 Plus saw a 50 to 60 percent increase in battery life performance, Forbes reported.
The big boost to performance was first spotted by YouTube channel iDeviceHelp, which conducted tests comparing iOS 11.0.3 to iOS 11. You can see the results of that testing below.
Kelly also compiled several anecdotal reports from social media that noted big battery life improvements happening for users who are running iOS 11.1.
So far really good for me, awesome battery life and finally zero stutter/lag on the 3D Touch shortcut animations for home screen icons.
— Christian Scrogins (@theRevanchist1) November 2, 2017
Of course, the newest update isn’t perfect, and it doesn’t fully address battery drain issues. But iOS 11.1’s improvements in that area suggest that Apple is working to fix them. And with iOS 11.2 already in the beta testing phase, it’s probably a safe bet that subsequent iOS updates will continue to improve battery life for the operating system.