It’s been a few weeks since Apple released iOS 15.4 to the world, bringing with it quite a few new and useful features. While the more “exciting” features landed with Universal Control on the iPad and Mac, the iPhone still gained the ability to use Face ID while wearing a mask, along with seeing the addition of almost 40 new emoji. Plus, there were plenty of bug fixes to try and smooth out the experience for iPhone users across the globe.
Unfortunately, not everything was great with the iOS 15.4 update, as users almost immediately began reporting severe battery drain issues. And if you are a proud owner of one of the new iPhone 13 models, having your battery drained quickly is going to be something that you notice rather immediately. Apple’s official Twitter account even tried to quell concerns early after the release of iOS 15.4, by telling users to give their phones “up to 48 hours after an update” to adjust.
It was pretty clear, even after waiting the suggested time period, that something was awry with the latest update. But part of the reason why Apple is so great when it comes to software is that the company promptly released an update for iOS, bringing version iOS 15.4.1 to iPhone owners. As it turns out, this bug fix release was necessary for not only battery drain issues, but it also includes a rather serious security patch:
CVE-2022-22675
Description: An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved bounds checking.
Impact: An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.
Essentially, this means that if someone was able to hack your iPhone, they would have been able to essentially take full control over it without you even knowing. Thankfully, this has been reported and patched, giving you another major reason to update your devices. Here are the other changes that you will find with this release:
Battery may drain more quickly than expected after updating to iOS 15.4
Braille devices may become unresponsive while navigating text or displaying an alert
Made for iPhone hearing devices may lose connection within some third-party apps
How To Download and Install iOS 15.4.1
We always recommend performing a backup of your device whenever you plan to update it. For many, this is done automatically, but you can manually do so if you want to be sure. Just open the Settings app, head into your iCloud account, select iCloud Backup, and then tap the Back Up Now button. From there, here’s how you can download and install iOS 15.4.1:
Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
Scroll down and tap General.
Tap Software Update at the top of the page.
Tap the Download and Install button at the bottom.
Follow the on-screen prompts to finish installing iOS 15.4.1.
After the update is finished downloading, your iPhone will automatically restart and actually install the update. Then, you can unlock it using your PIN or passcode, and can rest easy knowing that the major security flaw has been patched and the battery drain issues should be resolved.
Andrew is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US.
He has written for a variety of sites over the years, including iMore, Android Central, Phandroid, and a few others. Now, he spends his days working for an HVAC company, while moonlighting as a freelance writer at night.
It’s frustrating but Apple does seem to require several updates to fix bugs on their OS releases. I sort of feel like they release this stuff to public to weed out more specific bugs on specific hardware. Personally, I think IOS has just become a rather heavy OS using more energy over time and hardware has also increased in energy usage even though battery capacity has not increased that much.
After the update iPadOS 15.4.1 on an iPad Air 2, the battery drains with a 10% per 15 min rate while browsing in Safari with low level of screen intensity! So a full charge last not even 3 hours, while battery was replaced last year.
It’s frustrating but Apple does seem to require several updates to fix bugs on their OS releases. I sort of feel like they release this stuff to public to weed out more specific bugs on specific hardware. Personally, I think IOS has just become a rather heavy OS using more energy over time and hardware has also increased in energy usage even though battery capacity has not increased that much.
After the update iPadOS 15.4.1 on an iPad Air 2, the battery drains with a 10% per 15 min rate while browsing in Safari with low level of screen intensity! So a full charge last not even 3 hours, while battery was replaced last year.