Users complain iOS 14.2 causes some older iPhones to overheat, rapidly lose charge

Plus: Fault-prone iPhone 11 display? Send it in, says Apple

Apple released iOS 14.2 last month, with a laundry list of 24 security updates some of which were being exploited in the wild, leading The Reg to urge users to patch ASAP. Those sensible souls who heeded the call, however, were gifted with 100 new emoji, dark-mode wallpapers, and, according to users of certain older devices, rapid battery drain.

Affected devices, users have said, are losing as much as half of their charge in just 30 minutes. This, according to posts on Reddit and the Apple Developer forums, is accompanied with arduously long charge times and device overheating.

"My iPhone SE(2016) and iPhone 8 Plus were just fine until the 14.2 update. Now the fully charged battery drops to 45 per cent overnight and the charge drops rapidly even while simply reading my email. This cannot happen on both iPhones unless there is something wrong with the iOS 14.2 update," wrote StarFC on the Apple Developer forums.

"My phone battery was perfectly fine before update. Now it goes to 1 per cent from 70 per cent in matter of minutes. Some times it is even black out and I have to reboot my phone. After update, overnight [my] battery gets drained even [if] I have full charge," complained another user, bhandarip.

Per the reports, the issue appears to affect a smattering of previous-generation devices, including the iPhone 6s and 7, as well as the iPhone XS and 2018 iPad Pro. The fact that this behaviour coincided with a major operating system update suggests this is a software-related issue. And while it's theoretically possible to roll back to an earlier version, Apple stopped signing iOS 14.1 last month, making downgrades almost impossible.

We've asked Apple for comment, and in the unlikely event it responds, we'll update this post.

Eleven! Eleven! Elevator: Could you please repeat that?

This isn't the only quality-control woe to confront Cupertino in recent days. Faced with complaints about the fault-prone iPhone 11 display, which in some cases can become completely unresponsive, Apple has been forced to open a servicing program — much like it did with its loathed Butterfly keyboard.

"Apple has determined that a small percentage of iPhone 11 displays may stop responding to touch due to an issue with the display module. Affected devices were manufactured between November 2019 and May 2020," the page said.

Those suffering with duff phones can send their devices back to Apple for a complimentary repair, with the caveat that those with cracked displays may have to pay extra.

"If your iPhone 11 has any damage which impairs the ability to complete the repair, such as a cracked screen, that issue will need to be resolved prior to the service. In some cases, there may be a cost associated with the additional repair," Apple's support page said. ®