12+ iPhone Settings You Can Change to Improve Its Battery Life (iOS 26 and Older)

If you’ve ever been to an area with little or no service, you’ve probably noticed your battery draining faster. This is because your iPhone is constantly scanning to locate and connect to a cell tower, and this consumes power.

Cellular data also uses more energy than Wi-Fi, because it must transmit and receive signals over longer distances and maintain connections with distant towers. In short, the cellular connection can drain your battery faster.

If you need to save power, switch to Wi-Fi, but be cautious on public networks.

How to use Wi-Fi over cellular on iPhone:

1. Open Settings > Wi-Fi and turn it on, and then connect to a known network.
2. In Settings > Cellular, toggle off Cellular data.
3. Optional: In Settings > Cellular, disable Wi-Fi assist to prevent automatic fallback to cellular.