Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

iPhone 4 incredibly fast battery drain

I've had my iPhone 4 since February and never really had any problems with it. I have always had 3 email accounts, two of which push automatically, and all notifications and had good battery life (charge once at night, if that). Beginning the other day, a full battery will drain in about 4-5 hours with no usage. 2 hours if I'm actually using the thing. Also, the phone is unusually warm.


In order to fix this problem I tried the following:


  1. Shut off my iPhone (holding top button)
  2. Shut off my iPhone (holding the top and home buttons, I read this was different)
  3. Turned off all notifications
  4. Deleted all apps that I had installed after and shortly before my battery life went to ****
  5. Went to the multitasking screen and closed out of every app listed


A similar issue happened with my fiance's iPhone 3Gs and once she deleted her eBay app everything worked fine.


The part that confuses me is that this wasn't a gradual degredation of the battery. I haven't even had the phone for 4 months!


I'm out of ideas on what to do. Please help me 😟


Note: I have Verizon iOS 4.2.8, which isn't listed as operating system option when submitting your question.

iPhone 4, iOS 4.2.7

Posted on Jun 17, 2011 11:25 AM

Reply
28 replies

Jun 19, 2011 9:04 AM in response to matt250

I'm having the same issue on my AT&T iPhone. Started on Friday, 6/17. Battery drains from 100% charged to dead in few hours with no usage. I went through the same troubleshooting steps as you and still no help. I've also removed an Exchange account with push mail updates (just in case, since it was no longer in use), and I've reset my network settings.

Jun 20, 2011 10:19 AM in response to matt250

I have an update of sorts. I believe I've fixed my issue, as the battery usage rate seems to have returned to (somewhat) normal and the phone doesn't feel hot all the time anymore. I am not really certain *what* I did to fix it, tho, as I tried several things.


Resetting/restoring the phone from backup did NOT fix it.

Resetting network settings did NOT fix it.

Quitting all background apps did NOT fix it.


Putting the phone in airplane mode DID fix it, but rendered the phone useless, so not a real solution. I believe one of the following changes made the difference: deleting my old work Exchange account which has been disabled or turning off Locate my iPhone (MobileMe) account. Why either of those would suddenly start draining my battery after weeks of working fine is a mystery to me. I'll probably re-enable MobileMe sometime in a few days and see if the problem resumes. For now, I'm enjoying the normal use of my iPhone again...

Jun 20, 2011 11:20 AM in response to Aleksandar Kobilarov

Thanks. I tried the deleting/recreating my Exchange account (actually connected to Google Sync). So far it seems like the drain slowed down, but I'll need to let it go for a day or so before I can say for sure.


My Google Apps domain did move to the new infrastructure at Google a couple weeks ago. Can't recall how it coincides with the battery issues, but maybe it's related. This is a total guess, but I know network things drain the phone faster than other things, so maybe there's something there. If there is, then perhaps resetting the connection will fix it.


These "fixes" are starting to feel like a Windows-style resolution. "Just reboot it", "delete it and recreate it", etc.

Jun 20, 2011 7:25 PM in response to Aleksandar Kobilarov

Restoring my phone did work.


I will note that I turned off notification after my restore, HOWEVER, I had notifications turned off before I restored it as well. I also deleted a LOT of games off my iPhone after the restore. That may have had something to do with it but all the games I deleted I hadn't played in at least a month and the battery drain started just a few days ago.


I will say this to anyone who reads this: try restoring your phone as a new iPhone (one of the two options). I have 4 email accounts, two of which are exchange accounts and a lot of apps. After restoring my iPhone it took me only 20 minutes to sign up for all my email accounts and rearrange my apps (using iTunes). I was extremely hesitant to restore my phone because I didn't want to spend hours restoring my phone. This is not the case. It is extremely quick and easy to do. You will, however lose anything that isn't synced (including your Notes, which may not sync).

Jun 20, 2011 7:27 PM in response to scottfromorange

scottfromorange wrote:


These "fixes" are starting to feel like a Windows-style resolution. "Just reboot it", "delete it and recreate it", etc.

I agree. This is part of the reason I went with an iPhone over WP7 or Android. I thought I would avoid all this headache.


The cynic in me is saying that Apple makes the same crap as everyone else, puts it in an aluminum shell and charges 50% more for it.

Jul 1, 2011 9:53 AM in response to Ken1986

I got it figured out. It's a solution for me, but may not be for others. It depends on your MobileMe use.


My setup is to have 3 total accounts:

  1. Exchange account to Google Apps (work) for pushing my Email/Contacts/Calendar
  2. IMAP to a different Google Apps account. This one just fetches personal email every 30 minutes or so.
  3. Mobile Me with "Find My Phone"


When first troubleshooting this, I had deleted all 3 and recreated them. My perception was that it helped a little bit, but was not significant.


I then deleted my Mobile Me account completely since I don't really use it. Problem solved. I haven't tried putting MobileMe back on yet, but I am sure that's the culprit (at least in my case). If you only use MobileMe for non-critical things, try deleting it for a couple days and see the results.


With the change, I end up at around 40% battery at the end of a full day. That day usually consists of several conference calls, lots of email, some Twitter and light other usage. All good.

Jul 7, 2011 8:08 AM in response to matt250

Just throwing my 2 cents in there so Apple sees the frequency of the occurance of the issue. I've had the phone for just short of a year and run very little other than exchange. The phone is my work phone. In the past I've been able to get probably 3 days from a full charge based on my usage pattern. Then all of a sudden my battery life was in the dirt as you all describe( 4 or 5 hours at best). I pretty much need a charger wherever I choose to spend any length of time. The phone was even warm. I figured my battery was failing so spoke to AT&T support who referred me to Apple for device replacement under warranty. I had it swapped and I was off to the races until I did the restore from backup. Then I was back in the dirt again.One thing I didn't notice before the replacement but in retrospect was present, are pregnant pauses in keypad response to any application including the phone. Additionally I was hearing broadcast blips on nearby radios etc. when the phone was just plain in standby with pushes off on the one email account I use on it. That thing is busy doing something I'm not asking it to. I tried all the listed fixes above short of a restore as new phone. It's my opinion the radio is wildly busy eating battery and getting warm trying to do something. I wonder if there's a vestigal IOS setting that is not acceptable to the new OS. Anyway, my next step is to restore as new and take the pain of putting it back together for accounts etc.



...TC...

Jul 10, 2011 11:20 AM in response to TC_240z

I have experienced this same problem; it appears when I attempt to get my emails at the Sprint Campus which seems to block ATT usage - my battery drains very quickly and I am not able to get my mail or when I try to use Pandora- again unable to get access. The phone gets very warm and it appears that both the mail and Pandora app is still attempting to work in the background.

Sure hope there is a fix for this.

Jul 12, 2011 1:15 PM in response to TC_240z

Update on my problem with battery drain....I did a restore as new phone and have added exchange back in.


It appears to be FIXED.


No warm phone, no more application pauses, no more phone keypad pauses and less dropped calls. I haven't measured battery life yet but going from 25% loss at lunch to less than that overnight feels like it's back to being a good phone.



...TC...

iPhone 4 incredibly fast battery drain

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.