iOS 17.4.1 ― Bug Fixes, Changes, and Improvements

[Brachaci]

Battery degradation is not what I'm talking about. What I'm saying is that I magically lost half of the battery life I used to have on iOS 15 and 16 by just upgrading to iOS 17.0 beta 6 or 7 I don't remember at this point. It was sudden. It was just one update and boom. I patiently waited for 17.0 RC, then for all the 3rd party apps to be updated (even though I knew that won't help) and guess what? That didn't help. And we're at 17.4 and it still the same.

Also, even if my battery was at 80% health (it's not), I shouldn't have such a major decrease in battery life. 1-2 hours is understandable, but not 6 and not after one iOS update.



I'm not on beta since 17.3. Well actually the only "beta" I installed lately was 17.4 RC.


Of course it was big and heavy from the day one. But I don't like to bring a powerbank with me, that's why I decided to buy a Pro Max iPhone.
What I'm trying to say is that with iOS 17 this phone is big, heavy AND has the battery life of an iPhone 13 mini.

I get what you are saying and truth to be told 6 hours of battery drop sounds like too much and would bother me as well, but for that dramatic battery drop I wouldn't blame iOS and iPhones in general but will look for a different reason. I am very confident to say that, because I bought my 15PM in November and before I was running betas on my 12PM, which was on 91% of its original capacity and had it for approx 3 and half years when I switched to 15PM. The battery was getting me through they day and true I ended up on 10-15% of battery when I went to bed, but for a 3 and half years old battery, I was OK with that.
If SW updates didn't work for you, I would try more dramatic solutions. Do a backup, wipe out your phone, set it as new, restore from backup and keep only most critical apps on your iPhone first, offload the rest and you should see if that makes any difference.

EDIT: What I was saying, is that you may have bad luck and the update to iOS17 did something that was juicing your battery on the background. I guess, you checked the stats of what app was taking more juice than usual, but you didn't mentioned it in your post, so I am just curious.

 

[sbailey4]

What fixes? Source? Why is it not OTA, which is a departure from Apple's usual practice?

You ask why ignore it, well it's time consuming to DL and install through ipsw. Given the buggy state of iOS most of us have gone to a wait-and-see posture, I don't know anyone who blindly does first-day anymore unless they have other problems with their device. Hopefully more will be revealed to give us a sound footing on update choices.

Source? Apple. They don't release software updates just to be doing it. Clearly there is some fix or they would not send a new one out. I suspect OTA will be (is) available for users below 17.4.1 currently as that is now THE version thats available. And if you follow this site at all, then you know there are plenty of folks that press the "Software Update" over and over and reboot and press it some more when there is any info that a new version is available or may be at any moment. So yeah plenty of folks "blindly" doing first-minute much less first -day updates.

[Edit] Just updated wifes iPhone OTA that was 17.3.1 and got build 21E236 not the new 237 build. So who knows why thats still available via OTA but 237 is what you get using iTunes. (even if you already have 17.4.1 236 build)

 

[Ninflu]

My battery has been amazing on 17.4.1 but once I installed they quiet revision from finder now it’s dropping much quicker like 1% a min using it

Having the same problem, you're not alone. I'm currently travelling with no laptop, so i cross my fingers that the v1 of 17.4.1 is still signed next week when i return. You can bet, i'm getting back on v1.

 

[Populus]

Having the same problem, you're bot alone. I'm currently travelling with no laptop, so i cross my fingers that the v1 of 17.4.1 is atill signed next week when i return. You can bet, i'm getting back on v1.

Hey, can I ask which device do you have? Thank you.

 

[Ninflu]

Hey, can I ask which device do you have? Thank you.

Sure, iPhone 15 Plus with 19 charging cycles. Got the phone end of January.

 

[Populus]

Sure, iPhone 15 Plus with 19 charging cycles. Got the phone end of January.

Damn, if you’re noticing the battery life decrease with THAT huge battery and an efficient/modern SOC like the A16… I don’t think I’ll do better with the rather small battery of the SE 3 and an A15…

I guess I’ll have to manually look for the previous build that seemingly had a decent battery life. I hope the 237 doesn’t address any critical security issue.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[jazzzyJeff]

Damn, if you’re noticing the battery life decrease with THAT huge battery and an efficient/modern SOC like the A16… I don’t think I’ll do better with the rather small battery of the SE 3 and an A15…

I guess I’ll have to manually look for the previous build that seemingly had a decent battery life. I hope the 237 doesn’t address any critical security issue.

Thanks for sharing.

If it’s a security issue they’d have released it to the public as a separate update. It’s likely just a fix for the iTunes installation issue.

 

[Populus]

If it’s a security issue they’d have released it to the public as a separate update. It’s likely just a fix for the iTunes installation issue.

Then, if it’s just that, I don’t quite understand the difference in efficiency between those builds… maybe they also touched something else.

 

[simba4]

After 17.4 i started to have problems with Face ID, I think after the revised 17.4.1 from ITunes all is fixed, it might be a placebo but it is ok now.

 

[Spline]

Source? Apple. They don't release software updates just to be doing it. Clearly there is some fix or they would not send a new one out. I suspect OTA will be (is) available for users below 17.4.1 currently as that is now THE version thats available. And if you follow this site at all, then you know there are plenty of folks that press the "Software Update" over and over and reboot and press it some more when there is any info that a new version is available or may be at any moment. So yeah plenty of folks "blindly" doing first-minute much less first -day updates.

[Edit] Just updated wifes iPhone OTA that was 17.3.1 and got build 21E236 not the new 237 build. So who knows why thats still available via OTA but 237 is what you get using iTunes. (even if you already have 17.4.1 236 build)

So, not a single hard fact about changes/fixes; still not available OTA; no mention on Apple's security content page. Pass.

 

[sbailey4]

So, not a single hard fact about changes/fixes; still not available OTA; no mention on Apple's security content page. Pass.

Nothing specifically mentioned, no. But rest assured there was some issue that was addressed or .237 would not exist. It is weird that iTunes and the developer portal both have the 237 IPSW for download but OTA is still issuing 236.

The release notes remain the same: “This update provides important bug fixes and security updates and is recommended for all users.”

 

[brinkeguthrie]

My 11 Pro Max iPhone shows 17.4.1. So does iPad 9. Yet when I connect both to synch music to MBP, it shows 'an update is available.' Even tho phone and iPad both say 'you are up to date.' So do I need to do this? Or just wait for 17.5?

 

[Ninflu]

My 11 Pro Max iPhone shows 17.4.1. So does iPad 9. Yet when I connect both to synch music to MBP, it shows 'an update is available.' Even tho phone and iPad both say 'you are up to date.' So do I need to do this? Or just wait for 17.5?

Honestly: Never touch a running system. If it works right now, keep it as it is. Don't update to the v2 of 17.4.1. That are my two cents.

 

[contacos]

Sure, iPhone 15 Plus with 19 charging cycles. Got the phone end of January.

I have also noticed much worse battery on my iPhone 15 Plus since 17.4x. I used to go a whole day with the whole 80%-30% routine and not having to charge it until like 11 am the next day.

Today I had to charge it twice from 30% to 80% and half the day I spent hiking, not even using my phone!

Maybe it’s also just placebo and I focus / obsessing too much on looking at the % all the time like on my previous 12 PM? Idk

 

[brinkeguthrie]

Honestly: Never touch a running system. If it works right now, keep it as it is. Don't update to the v2 of 17.4.1. That are my two cents.

So there are TWO versions of 17.4.1- and the second one isn't OTA. And that's the one that is borked? Both iPad and iPhone work fine, with the (first) 17.4.1.

 

[jazzzyJeff]

I have also noticed much worse battery on my iPhone 15 Plus since 17.4x. I used to go a whole day with the whole 80%-30% routine and not having to charge it until like 11 am the next day.

Today I had to charge it twice from 30% to 80% and half the day I spent hiking, not even using my phone!

Maybe it’s also just placebo and I focus / obsessing too much on looking at the % all the time like on my previous 12 PM? Idk

Do you see low signal in battery usage?

 

[Ninflu]

So there are TWO versions of 17.4.1- and the second one isn't OTA. And that's the one that is borked? Both iPad and iPhone work fine, with the (first) 17.4.1.

For me the v2 (not OTA) is borked. First one was fine, i did the mistake and upgraded, my very own fault.

I just went to an Apple Store, asked them if they can install the v1, because my Mac is a few thousand miles away- of course they can't do that

 

[sbailey4]

So there are TWO versions of 17.4.1- and the second one isn't OTA. And that's the one that is borked? Both iPad and iPhone work fine, with the (first) 17.4.1.

Correct there are two. And neither is "borked" per sae. I have used both and don't see any difference between the two. The first one (236) is the only one available via OTA. If you use iTunes or Mac you will get (237) version 2 which is 6 days newer. There is apparently some change that caused them to re-release it but no one knows what it is or why you get different versions depending on your method of update.

 

[gwhizkids]

Do you see low signal in battery usage?

Yes. I had the same thought. The hiking may be leading to signal hunting and higher than normal battery usage

 

[redbeard331]

I have also noticed much worse battery on my iPhone 15 Plus since 17.4x. I used to go a whole day with the whole 80%-30% routine and not having to charge it until like 11 am the next day.

Today I had to charge it twice from 30% to 80% and half the day I spent hiking, not even using my phone!

Maybe it’s also just placebo and I focus / obsessing too much on looking at the % all the time like on my previous 12 PM? Idk

It’s not just you, ever since 17.4 my battery has been draining more than previously, I think it’s why a lot of people have been anxious to see 17.5 drop.

 

[contacos]

Do you see low signal in battery usage?

I wonder how Home- and lockscreen can have over 1 hour of „usage“ and overall it says the screen has only been off for 45 min?! Huh? I just slept 7 hours, certainly the screen wasn’t on

 

[Tomas1988]

I wonder how Home- and lockscreen can have over 1 hour of „usage“ and overall it says the screen has only been off for 45 min?! Huh? I just slept 7 hours, certainly the screen wasn’t on

Just say Wow 😳 and its with low power mode ??

 

[cableguy84]

Anyone having an issue in imessage where name and photo profile will disappear after force closing the app or restarting the phone?

 

[dk001]

Not sure is the issue….

I’m in an app like X and a link will either open in a pop-up or in a tab in Safari and it seems to do this at random. With the pop up, I have the open in Safari option but the open in the app doesn’t work. Lates was a YT link in X for a Cybertruck review.

Seeing this more on my iPad Pro 11 than my 15 ProMax but it has been happening for a couple of says now on both. Both are on 236.

 

[DoctorMesmer]

How’s battery life?

Terrible. The battery on my iPhone 11 Pro Max has started draining very quickly since updating to iOS 17.4.1 from 17.4.

Prior to the update I was getting to bedtime with around 50% charge left; now my phone is barely lasting until late afternoon before I have to recharge. The 17.4.1 update has had a similar effect on my iPad Pro 12.9” (5th gen).

Lots of people seem to be reporting the same thing (especially with iPhone Pro models):

Battery Draining on my iPhone after recen… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

UPDATE: Just had to plug in my iPad Pro to recharge – it went from 100% to 5% in 5 hours of screen-on time. This problem started immediately after updating to iPadOS 17.4.1, before which I was getting around 10 hours. Apple Support and diagnostics this afternoon and confirmed the battery health at 100%.