Apple fixes a battery drain bug with 15.4.1 update

Apple released iOS and iPadOS 15.4.1, which fixes some accessibility bugs, improves security, and fixes a battery drain bug that affected some people's phones and iPads after updating to iOS 15.4.

It's unclear how widespread the problem was (no one on staff at The Verge reported any noticeable battery issues), but earlier this month, Apple's support Twitter account told customers complaining of battery drain. A battery that it was "normal for its apps and features to need adjusting." to 48 hours after an update." Still, more than two weeks after the update was released, it's not difficult to find recent posts reporting poor battery life. Hopefully, the update will resolve them, though – iOS 15.4 brings the really useful update of being able to use Face ID even while wearing a mask, so it would be not good if people didn't want to update for fear of battery issues.

Even if your battery is all fine, it may still be worth upgrading reasonably soon. Apple says that iOS 15.4.1 (and macOS Monterey 12.3.1, also released today) contain security fixes for issues that the tech giant says could have been exploited in the wild. Unfortunately, this type of warning has become routine in Apple security bulletins; Although postponing updates indefinitely has never been a great idea, it seems more important than ever to ensure your devices are running the latest version of their operating system.

To update your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Software Update. To update your Mac, go to System Preferences > Software Update.