iPhone with dead battery still shows time on the screen, thanks to iOS 18

A picture of the new iPhone 15 pro lineup

Apple previewed the iOS 18 update earlier this week, and it comes with a small but useful addition. The company has updated the Power Reserve feature to display the time even when the device's battery is dead.

A Reddit user running the iOS 18 Developer Beta 1 on their iPhone shared an image where the time is visible in the top-left corner of the screen. It's the same place where the time is visible when the device is turned on.

iOS 18 Power Reserve Mode displays time — Image via Reddit

For the unversed, Power Reserve is a feature built into iPhone Xs (and later models) that makes the device findable on Apple's Find My network for some time after the battery dies. The feature makes it possible to use your travel cards, student ID cards, digital keys, and passes that support express mode for up to five hours after the battery runs out of power.

When your iPhone automatically turns off due to insufficient battery, you can press the Side button to see the Power Reserve mode in action. It displays a low-battery icon and text indicating that your iPhone is findable and whether express cards and keys are available.

It's reported that the ability to display time may not be available on all iPhone models that support iOS 18 Developer Beta and Power Reserve. MacRumors found out during its testing that the feature worked on an iPhone 15 Pro Max but not an iPhone 14 Pro Max, suggesting that it only works with iPhone 15 models. However, note that it was spotted on a pre-release version of iOS 18 and may change over future beta versions.

iOS 18 will be released to the public later this year, possibly sometime around the launch of the iPhone 16 series. Apple is preparing a platter of features for the upcoming iPhone software update, including a Game Mode, T9 dialer, slow charger warning, Apple Intelligence service, and flashlight improvements.

Apple is also readying a new Passwords app that makes it easier to share Wi-Fi passwords with Android users. Moreover, you can customize Home Screen icons on iOS 18 with a new dark mode and color tint options.