Apple releases urgent iPhone update for popular and vital feature

Unless you’ve somehow managed to buck the smartphone trend and have been blissfully living in 2007 with an old flip phone, chances are, you’ve grazed up against the iPhone. 

Apple’s AAPL latest innovation, the iPhone 15, was released with great fanfare at the tech giant’s Wonderlust event. 

Related: Apple user discovers genius (and simple) hack for this key product

“The next generation pro pushes each of these further in ways only Apple can,” Tim Cook said of the latest iPhone lineup. 

They feature a titanium outer material – “the most premium material we’ve ever used in an iPhone enclosure,” as Apple said in its reveal. The Max – iPhone’s most capable and expensive model –features a 48-megapixel camera, a new Action button (which assists with things like mute and other activations), a new A17 chip, and of course, the beloved/dreaded transition over to USB-C.

But some folks have been having issues with the new charging capabilities. 

“My iPhone 15 pro battery is worse than my nearly 3 year old 12 pro,” one reddit user complained on the r/iOS subreddit. 

“The battery drain on the iPhone 15 with iOS 17.0.3 is terrible,” another wrote on the same subreddit. 

“iPhone 15 Pro battery – Is there something wrong?” another user wrote, adding, “Can it be a hardware issue that isn’t recognized by Apple remote diagnostics, or should I be patient and wait for software fixes?” 

Others have complained their new iPhones have been overheating. 

And more recently, BMW drivers specifically have complained that after using wireless chargers in their cars, certain features on iPhone stop working, like Apple Pay. 

Apple issues urgent update

It’s almost always expected that Apple will roll out some fixes for the almost inevitable issues that come along with a new phone; the tech is still new and working out the kinks. 

Apple has since addressed some of these concerns and issued an urgent update for users. 

So Apple’s “bug fix,” was promptly issued this week. iOS 17.1.1 includes the following update, according to Apple: 

• In rare circumstances, Apple Pay and other NFC features may become unavailable on iPhone 15 models after wireless charging in certain cars.
• Weather Lock Screen widget may not correctly display snow.

The update is available to download if you navigate over to Settings -> General -> Software Update -> Install Now.

It’s expected that, once it irons out the glitches, Apple will release iOS 17.2. This update is likely to include some long-awaited features, including Apple’s new journaling app and more advanced data protection and encryption. 

Apple had similar drainage issues with its Watches, after users began complaining that the new operating system, watchOS 10.1, was sapping their batteries quickly. 

“After 10.1 update my battery only lasts a few hours. I can literally watch the percentage go down. Rebooted the watch. Shut off background app refresh after advised by a friend. Still drains ridiculously fast. It’s essentially useless now. I’m out of ideas. Anyone else have this problem?” a watch user asked on the official Apple support forum. 

Apple released a watchOS 10.1.1 update, which should fix the battery drainage issue, this week.

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