According to GSMArena, Apple started pushing out iOS 15.4, iPadOS 15.4, watchOS 8.5, macOS Monterey 12.3, tvOS 15.4, and HomePod Software 15.4 to users earlier this week. This time around, the most notable change on iOS 15.4 is support for face unlock when the user is wearing a mask.
This feature, however, is only available on the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12 generations.
However, immediately after the update was released, a growing number of consumers complained that their smartphones’ battery life had deteriorated. The iPhone 13 Pro Max, for example, has a battery life of only half a day. With two hours of screen use, an earlier iPhone 11 loses 80% of its battery in 24 hours. Moreover, many such reports are still updated on an hourly basis.
Of course, this issue is not universal, and after an update, there may be some temporary battery issues. And while iOS 15.4 isn’t a huge release, it does offer 39 fixes.
Some users believe Apple has begun to use the maximum 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate more frequently, causing increased battery depletion. It sounds fair, but it can’t be the whole story because ProMotion is only available on the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, and these aren’t the only devices affected. Apple, hopefully, will remedy the issue soon.
Battery troubles aside, iOS 15.4 also includes over 100 new emojis from the Emoji 14.0 set, new voice options for Siri along with the ability to provide offline date and time information, and support. EU digital COVID certificate in vaccine card in Apple Wallet, improvements to Safari website translation with Italian and Chinese support, Podcasts app improvements, etc.
