Does Liquid Glass Affect Your iPhone’s Battery Life? Find Out Now!

Does Liquid Glass Affect iPhone Battery Life? If So, How Significantly? This is the question that MacRumors sought to answer with the latest beta release of iOS 26.1, which introduced a new “Tinted” setting that increases opacity and adds contrast. It was the introduction of this setting that inspired Juli Clover to conduct this experiment.

Testing Four Different Settings

To gather insights, the journalist conducted four series of tests using an iPhone 17 Pro Max, ensuring that conditions were identical across each scenario. The aim was to evaluate the impact of different Liquid Glass settings on battery life.

The four tested configurations were:

• Liquid Glass set to Transparent (maximum transparency)
• Liquid Glass set to Tinted
• Liquid Glass in Tinted mode with “Reduce Transparency” and “Increase Contrast” options enabled in Accessibility.
• Liquid Glass with “Reduce Transparency,” “Increase Contrast,” and “Reduce Animations” enabled

Methodology Timed to the Second

The tester followed a rigorous protocol for each of the four sessions, timed to the second. Each test lasted 2 hours and 30 minutes, divided into five 30-minute intervals:

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• 30 minutes on TikTok, scrolling continuously.
• 30 minutes on YouTube, watching videos back-to-back.
• 30 minutes on Instagram, browsing and viewing Reels.
• 30 minutes on Safari, visiting the MacRumors website and several internal pages.
• 30 minutes on Maps, displaying a route to the same destination (without actual movement) to keep the Liquid Glass interface actively displayed.

During each segment, she opened the Notification Center and the Control Center four times each, totaling 20 such interactions per test, spaced approximately 3 minutes and 30 seconds apart.

The transition between applications also followed a specific protocol: fully closing the app, returning to the home screen, swiping down to initiate the search, typing the name of the next application, and manually opening it.

The tests were conducted over two days, one starting around 3 PM and the other at 5:30 PM. Between each session, the iPhone was recharged to 80%, as the tester intentionally limits the maximum charge of her battery.

The only uncontrolled variables were the nature of the notifications received and the content displayed on TikTok and Instagram, which could not be replicated identically from one test to another.

Results Are Nearly Identical

Before conducting the tests, Juli Clover believed that reducing animations or transparency would have a noticeable impact on battery life. However, the results show that the impact is virtually non-existent.

Note: The tester accidentally swapped YouTube and Instagram in one session, but this did not alter the overall trend. The observed differences are marginal, if not insignificant.

Limited Scope, But a Clear Conclusion

While the protocol has its limitations—the apps used (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Safari, Maps) do not all heavily utilize the effects of Liquid Glass, thus minimizing their potential impact on battery life—the test was conducted on an iPhone 17 Pro Max, a device powerful enough to handle these effects effortlessly. It remains to be seen what the impact would be on a less capable phone.

However, the conclusion is clear: Liquid Glass has no significant effect on battery life. In other words, there is no use in activating the Tinted or Reduce Transparency options in hopes of extending usage time; they do not affect anything other than the visual appearance.

To maintain good battery life, the old methods remain most effective: using energy-saving mode, dark mode, and reducing screen brightness.