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Scarface.

Q: iPhone 4s Battery Life?

My iPhone 4s battery seems terrible! Almost equivalent to my 3GS and it's terrible battery life. When I got my iPhone yesterday and restored from backup I noticed nothing really changed with minimal usage and standby! Is this normal or should I consider setting it up as a new phone because maybe something is running in the background that's causing it to drop a percentage every few minutes under light usage? Input would be great!

Posted on Oct 15, 2011 7:14 AM

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Q: iPhone 4s Battery Life?

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  • by lisenz,

    lisenz lisenz Nov 17, 2011 11:15 AM in response to Scarface.
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    Nov 17, 2011 11:15 AM in response to Scarface.

    Hi

     

    So I followed some instructions above and it worked for me, so I'm going to repeat them again to see if it helps others with battery life.

     

    1. Restore phone (via itunes plugged in to computer, not over the air).

    2. Set up as a new phone (yes you lose your data, but at this point, I don't care, I want a phone that works).

    3. Your phone is basically "blank" now at this point, but on the handset, go through and reset the settings on your phone.  I missed this step the other times I restored - It seems counter intuitive since you "think" there is nothing set up on your phone, but it may do something to help with clearing the bug!

     

    At this point I set up my email and other settings and synched with itunes to add back my music, apps etc.

     

    4. Let battery fully charge and then drain and fully charge again.

     

    So now I only lose 3% per hour with light use instead of the 10% I was encountering ...

     

    Hope it works for others, and I know this is a "repeat" type of post but I hope it helps others.

  • by DJ So Steve,

    DJ So Steve DJ So Steve Nov 17, 2011 12:00 PM in response to lisenz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 12:00 PM in response to lisenz

    We shouldn't have to go through this to get the battery to work properly.

    I'm pretty sure Apple will make another update for us to fix this issue.

    For now we'll just have to suck it up.

  • by 1AppleADayNoWay,

    1AppleADayNoWay 1AppleADayNoWay Nov 17, 2011 12:15 PM in response to Scarface.
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    Nov 17, 2011 12:15 PM in response to Scarface.

    Once again, page 369, Miless post - because when this guy libenz says he slowed down the drain, he did restore through itunes so as far as I know this restores the full 800mb 5.0.1 and might prove somewhat effective as opposed to the OTA delta. And it's possible to have one's config restored by sanitizing it in the proposed way...

  • by TrekkieMonster,

    TrekkieMonster TrekkieMonster Nov 17, 2011 12:26 PM in response to DJ So Steve
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 12:26 PM in response to DJ So Steve

    Been lurking on this thread but haven't posted until now, I guess because I didn't really have much to add.  But, I finally decided it's time to add my voice to the cacophony, in the hope that it might help draw more attention to the problem.  I'm coming from a Blackberry Storm II that I had for 2 years.  I went through all this same BS with the Storm and switched to the iPhone because all my Apple-loving friends swore to me that I would love it because it "just works".  Well, not mine.  From the first day I had my 4s I noticed significant battery drain; at first it seemed like I was losing easily 7%-10% per hour if I did absolutely nothing with the device; much more if I had the audacity to actually USE the thing.  I came here (and elsewhere) and found that I wasn't alone.  Having dealt with battery drain issues with my Storm, I knew what to do to staunch the flow.  I am in the habit of turning off apps when I'm not using them (and I do not have all that many app's to begin with); adjusted my screen brightness down; I tunred off the auto date/time and other updates, etc.; I did a full discharge and recharge of the battery.  However, I NEED push email for work, so couldn't turn that off.  I was so happy when I woke up last Sunday morning to the notice that I had iOS 5.0.1 ready to install, stating that it should fix the battery issue.  After the install, I decided to restore all the settings to where I had ideally wanted them ... and I was quickly appalled to discover that my bettery drain problem had actually gotten worse, and not better:  between 15% and 20% per hour if I did so much as make a phone call and/or respond to an email or two or a text or two.  I decided to see how long I could go with what I considered light normal usage, just as an experiment.  I made it less than 6 hours and had to plug it in. This was doing no more than, again, a couple phone calls, a hand full of texts and emails, taking a couple of pictures, and checking FaceBook a couple of times; turning off all apps when not in use.  So, I went back to all my battery-saving settings, but my battery drain is STILL worse than it was before the update. I turn off wi-fi and bluetooth when I don't need them, and anything else I can think of.  Still horrible. Plus, I started noticing that Siri was constantly fritzing and telling me she was having problems, couldn't access the network, needed me to retry my request later, etc.  I have since read that this also seems to be a side effect of the iOS 5.0.1 update.  To say the least I am EXTREMELY unhappy.  I would be okay if I had to be a LITTLE cautious about usage and/or if the battery drain were a LITTLE more than I had expected ... if I were able to use the full features of the phone as advertised!  But, part of the reason I switched to the iPhone was so that I woudln't have to jump through all these hoops like I had to with the BB for the last 2 years.  Like DJ So Steve says, we shouldn't have to go through this just to get the thing to work properly.  I have exactly 1 more week before my 30 day return window is up, and I am sincerely hoping they fix this before then.  If they don't, I may have to jump ship. Thus far, Apple seems even less responsive to problems with their devices than RIM was.  I absolutely hate the idea of going back to a BB (and, as much as I wish it were not the case, Android just may not be an option for me), but sometimes it may be better to stick with the devil you know, after all.

  • by lisenz,

    lisenz lisenz Nov 17, 2011 12:36 PM in response to 1AppleADayNoWay
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    Nov 17, 2011 12:36 PM in response to 1AppleADayNoWay

    @1AppleADayNoWay

     

     

    Some people don't have time to read all 384 pages of this thread and scroll back to page 369.  I did reiterate I was repeating steps that had been stated before on this thread ... but I pointed out what STEP seemed important to the restore. 

  • by lisenz,

    lisenz lisenz Nov 17, 2011 12:38 PM in response to DJ So Steve
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    Nov 17, 2011 12:38 PM in response to DJ So Steve

    @DJ So Steve totally agree we shouldn't have to go through the pain ... but it didn't take me long to do those steps ... and I am happy that I don't have to constanly charge my phone or worry about usage anymore. 

  • by mkris101,

    mkris101 mkris101 Nov 17, 2011 12:41 PM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 12:41 PM in response to Scarface.

    Love the new rumor floating around IOS 5.0.2 by the end of next week.. Really? Apple is so concerned that it will work through thanksgiving to fix the battery problem that according to them isn't a problem! 

     

    Rumors are funny

  • by Haik68,

    Haik68 Haik68 Nov 17, 2011 12:49 PM in response to Scarface.
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    Nov 17, 2011 12:49 PM in response to Scarface.

    First experience with an iPhone (4s). It really ***** life out of the battery. I wake up with a full one and after 2 hours its halfway already. I think it's the 3G connection. When I turn data off, batterylife improves dramatically. But iPhone is genetically connected with the internet, so now it is halfdead.

     

    A solution would be appcreciated. Apple engineers? Can you extend batterylife for me?

  • by James Cohen,

    James Cohen James Cohen Nov 17, 2011 12:52 PM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 12:52 PM in response to Scarface.

    Apple's Spec:

     

    200 hours of standby. That means we should lose only 1% every 2 hours!

     

    If you're losing more than that, either you've got apps eating up the juice (lapping?) or the bug is doing it.

     

    Mine was at that rate after the update, and up until yesterday.

     

     

    Oh well. It's very hard for me to let it sit idle for very long!

  • by Haik68,

    Haik68 Haik68 Nov 17, 2011 12:56 PM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 12:56 PM in response to Scarface.

     

  • by rs100811,

    rs100811 rs100811 Nov 17, 2011 1:01 PM in response to JonGoldman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 1:01 PM in response to JonGoldman

    My battery died at 2PM completely , after 70% change at 8 AM.

    This is horrible. No talk time . Just texting and browsing (and not all the time)

  • by bbfc,

    bbfc bbfc Nov 17, 2011 1:17 PM in response to mkris101
    Level 3 (850 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 1:17 PM in response to mkris101

    iOS 5.0.2 is due out within a few weeks, most saying it will be by the end of next week. Apple have admitted that the problem did not entirely go away with iOS 5.0.1

     

    This update will hopefully address the remaining battery issues on the iPhone 4S.

  • by James Cohen,

    James Cohen James Cohen Nov 17, 2011 1:28 PM in response to Haik68
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 1:28 PM in response to Haik68

    I can tell all of you that once this issue is fixed, the 4S is AWESOME!

     

    This is my first smartphone, and despite the battery issues, it's a whole new world!

     

     

    Just to repeat from a post of mine about 50 pages ago,

     

    I tested the battery capacity, by noting the battery drain over a one hour phone call. It dropped 10% which works out to 10 hours of talktime; better than Apple's specs.

     

    This means that at least in my 4S and probably most others, it is not a  hardware problem.

     

    Patience grasshoppers.

  • by James Cohen,

    James Cohen James Cohen Nov 17, 2011 1:30 PM in response to bbfc
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 1:30 PM in response to bbfc

    Also, it seems like there are more GSM phones with the problems than CDMA.

     

    Of course there are more GSM phones out there to HAVE problems. But it also may be an issue with the GSM commication with the cells.

  • by sean-g11,

    sean-g11 sean-g11 Nov 17, 2011 1:36 PM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 17, 2011 1:36 PM in response to Scarface.

    Out of mere interest, could people post there serial numbers the long one starting C39 etc ( good and bad ) I think it might help identify if there is hardware issues? Just an idea!

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