One of iOS 16's most praised features comes at the cost of draining battery life, according to recently published Apple support documents.
The feature, known as "keyboard haptics," is optional in iOS 16 and allows users to get physical feedback via slight vibrations upon the touch of each key, confirming that it was pressed much like keyboard sounds. The feature is a useful addition to the iPhone, being praised as one of iOS 16's best small new features, especially since similar functionality has been available on Android devices for many years.
"Turning on keyboard haptics might affect the battery life of your iPhone," Apple said in a support document published last month. The company did not provide any additional details, so it is not clear exactly how much more battery life the feature uses. Low Power Mode does not disable haptic feedback, so the only option for users who are concerned about potential battery life impact is to keep the feature turned off.
Any hardware or software feature on an iPhone obviously consumes battery life, but the fact that Apple felt it was worth explicitly mentioning for keyboard haptic feedback may indicate that the additional battery life the feature uses is relatively significant.
To enable haptic feedback for the iPhone's keyboard, open the Settings app, tap Sounds & Haptics → Keyboard Feedback, and turn on Haptic. The same toggle switch can be used to turn off the feature at any point. The feature is available on the iPhone 8 and newer running iOS 16.
