12+ iPhone settings you can change to noticeably improve its battery life (iOS 26 and older)

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• Squeeze extra hours from your iPhone, no battery swap required.
• Simple iOS tweaks cost nothing and take seconds to apply.
• These free settings changes beat an expensive upgrade anytime.

I'm sure you've had the dreadful experience of your iPhone hitting 1% when you're miles away from an outlet. It's the worst.

If this happens more often than not, especially on an older phone, a quick Google search will tell you to head to a repair center or Apple Store to get a fresh battery or upgrade to a newer model. 

Also: I charged my iPhone the 'Apple way' for 2 years - here's how the battery fares now

Yeah, no. Not everyone can drop hundreds of dollars just for more battery life. Luckily, there are plenty of iOS ...