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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 owh786,

    owh786 owh786 Nov 28, 2011 4:14 PM in response to Jameson!
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 28, 2011 4:14 PM in response to Jameson!

    I am browsing over wifi, not 3G, so I should be getting up to 9 hours of usage, not 6!!!

    But I will try a battery rundown test in the weekend to see how much usage I can get in total, with the same settings apple has listed on their iPhone 4s battery page

  • by 1AppleADayNoWay,

    1AppleADayNoWay 1AppleADayNoWay Nov 28, 2011 4:21 PM in response to SHADYZZ
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2011 4:21 PM in response to SHADYZZ

    You know where I come from. No one in the entire thread was more vehemently critical of Apple than me. I talked about merchantability ages ago, about consumers, value, battery choice, form factor, factory settings, antenna, Qualcomm's, corporate culture, choice, compteting products and many many other things. Now you somewhat changed your tone and what you say... You put lots of efforts into steering your discourse for someone who just laughs at this. It was right to challenge you. Some people in America waste lots of time tinkering with their smartphones, whereas other spend lots of time putting down other people's efforts and profiling them. Productivity suffers in both cases. I don't have a personal grudge against you but you won't have my pity. The words "chumps, trolls, idiocy, shattered egoes, no self-esteem" and telling people to "get back to work" and that they "should go out and enjoy life and wait" and your obsessive focus on you being right at everyone's expense are your workings - and utterly condescending. Using capitalization to shout it out was your own doing... I'm not picking on you, I've taken such a stance with other people here in the past. And I will in the future, for as long as I come here.

     

    Now it has simply become clear to me that your anger was misdirected at your fellow users, whereas in reality you're angry at Apple. But how can people wait for Apple to "fix this or not"? They might as well wait for life or death. You ask for value and proper fixing of the issue yet you would have people sit back calmly and wait - how that would stimulate Apple into fixing anything escapes me entirely. Prayer maybe? I have known, even before you ever spoke the first time out, that only Apple can fully fix their device - that goes without saying. Yet you expect too much of your beloved company because they can't even advise their users to reset their phones and drain them after a patch or implement it in the install process. In some instances, it took something as simple as that to bring further value to some user who wasn't having his money's worth - and with all the stuff they need turned "on". Of interest is that you don't have any real drain with your device, however unsatisfied you may be, so it's easy to blame others for wanting more. There may be some delusion, sometimes, but that's only human. If you wait for Apple to give you a pedicure, it won't happen - they're general practitionners, to use a metaphor from the same field as yours. They're not going to do surgery for each test case scenario - it has to do with their ecosystem and apps too. I'm not even talking about the drivel you wrote about in your prior posts about functionnality not being accessible to the end user and hardware and software going together and being right because you've used Apple's product for 20+ years. Authority makes for poor arguments. There are such things as "good practices", "common sense", "fine tuning", "education" and "information", and if you were to open your mind slightly more you would see that some of the issues are about that too.

     

    Good luck then!

  • by FiniteAffinity,

    FiniteAffinity FiniteAffinity Nov 28, 2011 4:26 PM in response to owh786
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Nov 28, 2011 4:26 PM in response to owh786

    Hi Everyone.

    I figured something out today and thought I should share it with you. It has taken me a very long time, and lots of experimenting, to come to this conclusion.

    Some batches of iPhone 4S seem to have SIM readers that have compatibility issues with certain SIM cards (here in the UK, specifically TMobile - I have verified that O2UK and Three UK SIMs work fine in an "affected" phone, and the battery drain STOPS).

    My advice if you have the battery drain problem, is first check if your problem is SIM related or not.

    The best way to do this, is see if the draining stops with the SIM removed, or with a SIM from another provider inserted (I know this isn't always feasible), but keep wifi enabled etc, to allow other processes to keep running. If the draining stops, this suggests a SIM related problem.

    Further to this, you could do a complete factory restore - if the problem persists without putting any personal settings onto your iPhone, then this also suggests the problem is SIM related (or other hardware problem).

     

    Once you verify this is the problem, go and get a replacement iPhone! It may take a few attempts, because there does seem to be a significant number of iPhones around with these "incompatible" SIM readers. Good Luck!

    One more test - if you have the "SIM Applications" menu available, under "Settings"->"Phone", then see if any of these work properly, or if they simply light up blue and do nothing when you press them. If they do nothing like this, you definitely have the SIM reader incompatibility problem. This can also manifest itself by causing the phone to hang when you input your SIM PIN number. All related to the same problem.

     

    Sorry about the long post. I hope these insights can solve your problem. I can confirm that not all iPhones have this incompatibility issue, because I found one that my TMobile SIM works fine in.

  • by drStrangeP0rk,

    drStrangeP0rk drStrangeP0rk Nov 28, 2011 5:41 PM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2011 5:41 PM in response to Scarface.

    Well seems like that rumor of iOS 5.0.1 is finally gone the way of the dogs since developers got a beta of 5.1. So as stated earlier I suspect if you are filling up this thread with false post you are wasting your time. Press is not going to touch the story due to poor or inacurate sources on this thread.  

     

     

    The original solution still stands.

    • Install 5.0.1 on your iPhone 4s.
    • Make sure you use a new Sim.
    • Reset the device doing a hard reset and software reset.
    • Let battery drain and then charge for the full cycle, which is 24 hours.

     

     

    best of luck, and thanks

  • by AlexJang,

    AlexJang AlexJang Nov 28, 2011 5:42 PM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2011 5:42 PM in response to Scarface.

    Same here plz have look at my profile pciture

    Bettery gones 1% per min...

    I better bring my laptop !

  • by Johnbrad181,

    Johnbrad181 Johnbrad181 Nov 28, 2011 5:56 PM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2011 5:56 PM in response to Scarface.

    I have an iphone4 not a S and since updating to the iOS 5.0.1 the battery usage is woeful. I did not have any problems with ios 4 or iOS 5.0.0. Just thought that might help.

  • by Leonard1818,

    Leonard1818 Leonard1818 Nov 28, 2011 6:07 PM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2011 6:07 PM in response to Scarface.

    Well, Despite having had an eye on this thread since page 60-something, I ordered a 4s.  I really like the phone so far (from what I can tell) but my battery life seems to be a bit different than everyone elses....

     

    When it's on standby it's totally fine.  Ive been bench-testing it for the last couple of hours or so and I have everything set to fetch every 15 mins.  When I check every 15 mins, my "useage" goes up by 1 min (as I would guess it would with the only use being a fetch).  The standby goes up by 15 (as expected) and battery life drops *maybe* 1/2 percent every 30 mins (acceptable IMO).

     

    The problem is, as soon as I keep it awake and start using it for ANYTHING, the battery life plumits before my eyes.  I mean anything... today, so far, I have:

     

    -- Made a phone call

    -- Tried out Siri briefly

    -- Tried out facetime

    -- sent a slew of texts.

    -- Done some research on the web.

     

    It seems like no matter what the activity is, the battery just bombs.

     

    Granted, I have only unboxed the phone, let it drain from the ~65% that it came with to 9%, charged fully, and now I'm still on the first full charge.  But man, I wouldn't think for a phone that can handle standby and only lose about .75% per hour on average, sending 8 txts will kill ~1.5% of battery! 

     

    What gives?  Do I just need to do some drain/fill cycles or something?  Or is this normal?  FWIW I haven't gone to 5.0.1 yet only because I heard it takes quite a while and I'd like to do a few drain/fill cycles before jumping to 5.0.1 (which will charge the phone in the process of updating).

     

    So right now, as I stand, I have 73% battery left showing useage of 1h 53m and standby of 4h 55m.  As mentioned, the useage only seems to go up as expected (if left alone goes up by 1min every 15 min assuming it's fetching).

     

    Thanks!

  • by Kobester,

    Kobester Kobester Nov 28, 2011 6:24 PM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2011 6:24 PM in response to Scarface.

    Ok.. Here is the semi solution for the iPhone 4S battery issue that worked for me.

     

    I just got the phone last week. Played around with it and it was great.  Battery lasted a day or so.  But couple of days go I ran into the same issue most you guys are having which was 1% every 2-3 mins either use or standby.

     

    Issue is that when you are using an application (any application even Settings) and "quit" them by pressing the home button.  But simply doing this doesnt kill the application.  It is still running in the background and sucking up the juice like there is no tomorrow.

     

    To save on battery you must kill the application completely!!!!

     

    To do this:

    1) Unlock your phone (go to home screen)

    2) Press the home button twice and you will see "task manager" with all the applications running

              (if you have never done this --> you will see that pretty much all the application you have ever used are           running in the background)

    3) Press on any of them and hold until icons start shaking (like you are moving the icons around in the home screen)

    4) once they start moving you will see Red band circle thingy on top left of the application

    5) go through each of them and start killing them

    6) Turn off your phone completely and turn it back on!

     

    This doesnt excuse apple from having crappy battery life but it has improved my battery life like the day i bought it.

     

    and Yes you have to do this every time you want to kill an application!!! except for step 6.

     

    Good Luck!!

  • by iBLUE,

    iBLUE iBLUE Nov 28, 2011 7:44 PM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2011 7:44 PM in response to Scarface.

    I originally bought the 4S (my first ever smartphone) on Oct. 15 from the Apple store but ended up returning it on Nov. 14 due to the unacceptable battery life.  Even with the update of the software becoming available, I didn't want to take any chances of the situation getting worse, as it seems to be a hit or miss on the battery fix for some people.  My battery life, to be fair, wasn't nearly as bad as some people have been experiencing on this forum.  The best stat I've achieved are as follows: 6 hours usage, 1 day 22 hours standby, battery percentage 32%.   When I did charge the phone in the evening, after nearly 8 hours, the battery percentage would drop to 98%, in some instance, to 96%.  On average, when on standby after light usage (web browsing, 2 to 5 min. phone call), I would be losing 1% every hour to hour and a half.  And this is after turning off all the common settings people disable.

     

    It really is too bad Apple overlooked the battery problem before the release of the phone, as well as not being able to come out with a permanent fix to the battery issue.   Anyway, I ended up getting a gently used iphone 4 16GB model on eBay that is only 5 months old; it is currently running IOS 5.0, and I have no plan updating it to 5.0.1.  I don't regret purchasing it.  In fact, I coudn't be happier.  Battery life is exceptional.  It's been now 3 days since I last charged the phone, and I still have 50% battery life left.  The icing on the cake is I'm not locked in a 2-year contract.    If a new iphone comes out next summer with a completey redesigned phone, I might upgrade.  Otherwise, my iphone 4 rocks!

  • by James Cohen,

    James Cohen James Cohen Nov 28, 2011 8:12 PM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 28, 2011 8:12 PM in response to Scarface.

    *New Update*

     

    The last week  my 4S would last more than 12 hours before running out of juice. Yesterday with moderate internet use and a couple of hours of talk, it was down to 15% at 14 hours.

     

    Today, with moderate to heavey internet (more than yesterday) and less talk, it's at 65% after 14 hours. ???????????

     

    There was little difference between the 2 days in terms of activity and location. Nothing to explain how I only used 35% today when I used 95% at this point yesterday. Actually I was using it a lot to monitor the stock market today.

     

    Go figure.

     

    This is obviously a tough problem to pin down with many variables involved. And it's also can be an intermittent problem, which always makes troubleshoothing difficult.

     

    And again, I'm on Verizon, which is CDMA and does not use a SIMM.

     

    Looking forward to the time that Apple fixes this and I can have 65% at the end of every day!

     

    Now if they can just fix Safari 5.1 so that it's usable.....

  • by noelafromperth,

    noelafromperth noelafromperth Nov 28, 2011 8:15 PM in response to Kobester
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2011 8:15 PM in response to Kobester

    Trying this fix and hoping to see improvement!

  • by Flopakq,

    Flopakq Flopakq Nov 28, 2011 11:28 PM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2011 11:28 PM in response to Scarface.

    After years and years of being a loyal BB user, I finnally caved and got an iphone 4s on att.  The iphone came with all the latest software 5.0.1 and I enjoy the phone, HOWEVER, the battery on the phone drains at 15% to 20% per hour with minimal usuage.  My wifi is off, siri off, locations off, everything is off and it still doesnt help.  It is amazing to me that people rave about this phone, which I must admit has great features, however whats the point in having these features unless you are near an outlet every 3 hours.   I will try doing a complete wipe of the phone however the company should realize that they are shipping phones that are defective meanwhile people are waiting on long lines and paying big dollars while they are doing nothing to solve the matter. The frustrating part is if you call ATT on the issue they offer to send you a refurb which is unacceptable considering I just bought the phone two days ago.   

  • by raveclem,

    raveclem raveclem Nov 29, 2011 2:44 AM in response to cls24
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 29, 2011 2:44 AM in response to cls24

    I got the 4s factory unlocked and the battery life *****.

    The factory unlocked came with 5.0.1 pre installed, so I am going to restore it with a new software update downloaded from apple.

    I hope it works.

    I will keep this post updated.

  • by raveclem,

    raveclem raveclem Nov 29, 2011 3:01 AM in response to raveclem
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 29, 2011 3:01 AM in response to raveclem

    Ok this might be too soon but I think a normal restore from the newly downloaded ios 5.0.1 update solved my issue. I have been using iphone 4s for the past 10 mins setting things up and my battery still is at 100%.

    I have a feeling that a reset has solved my problem.

    I would confirm my findings tomorrow after a days use.

  • by K. Mark,

    K. Mark K. Mark Nov 29, 2011 3:47 AM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 29, 2011 3:47 AM in response to Scarface.

    95%

    Usage 23min

    Standby 10hrs 54mins

     

    Most of that usage is probably because of Notification Center and Calendar app, which probably syncs every so often and counts as 'usage'.  Turned that off to see if it will stop.  So far so good, battery life is great in standby and is also good when I'm using it, I experience the most drain when using 3G and leaving the screen on all the time when viewing photos...but that's to be expected.

     

    Bluetooth on

    Location services on (only for map apps, everything else is off including system services)

    WiFi off

    Calendar in Notification Center (now turned off to test)

    Screen brightness 1/4, auto-brightness off

    Siri off (for testing purposes, will turn it on after I finish this Calendar Notification test)

    iCloud off (no acct setup)

    Signed out of App Store

    Push GMail exchange account

    iMessage off (for testing)

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