Q: iPhone 4s Battery Life?

We all saw the results of trying to rush out a fix with 5.01.....   As I understand it, iOS5.1 is in the hands of developers for testing.   Let's hope they take enough time to ensure that the fixes actually work and this issue is corrected, instead of rushing out another "not ready for primetime" band-aid.

John.Lindley wrote:

 

This is ridiculous.  The iPhone 4s has been out for almost two months and no fix.  My iPhone 4, running the same iOS lasts three times as long on the same battery charge/usage.  There is a problem and Apple needs to formally admit it and let us know they are working on it.  This discussion is 455 pages long filled with people suggesting/trying anything that is thrown at them, but no one getting anywhere.  Not to mention the several other discussions on the exact same topic.

 

Had I really believed that Apple wouldn't have a fix after two months I would have returned, cancelled, and continued to use my iPhone 4.  Now 30 days has passed and I'm stuck with this 4 hour phone and 20 hour paperweight.  In my time as an iPhone user (every phone Apple has produced) I've never had to think about how much, when, and is it worth using my phone.  Now before I wake it from sleep I think ahead to if I will need it later or will I be able to charge it later.  That's sad.

 

Come on Apple.

 

/end_rant

I, like so many of you, am in EXACTLY the same boat - a BRAND new customer who has paid a premium for essentially a crippled device that can't even provide a full days use. 

This is really beyond ridiculous, the problem seems to be epidemic levels. Apple have really dropped the ball with this one and what makes it worse (like so many have said before) we are seeing little to no acknowledgement and no guarentees that the upcoming 5.1 is gonna fix anything. In fact the few reports that are trickling in from beta adopters is saying not to hold your breath.  What if the problem can't be fixed via software update, does this mean we have all paid top dollar for a brand new device which in the real world is practically unusable?

I just got a iphone 4s on a 24 month contract, last week. It is the first time I have bought an apple product (not really sold on the hype) and so far my experience has been so underwhelming its not funny.I have had the phone for a total of 5 days now and like so many here, the brand new phone, out of the box, drops approximately 70% battery life in approximately 7 hours of use. I am losing approx 10 - 15% per hour in standby, no calls, nothing.

After searching for answers I came across this forum and disturbingly found out its not just me, but by the looks of it pretty much the majority of new 4s buyers! I have tried all the reccomended things (factory resets, disabling location services and all the other jazz mentioned a million times here) with no luck. The fact that so many of us are getting the exact same problem points to one thing --> Apple messed up.

If apple think it is acceptable to leave their customers with half a days use on a brand new mobile device, there is something seriously wrong here. I hope they do have a class action taken against them because this is effectively highway robbery.

What happens to all of us who have signed up on contracts and are now locked into two years with this piece of junk that doesn't even work as advertised?

How this situation could be seen as acceptable by any standards is beyond me. I am taking my phone back first chance I get and demanding a refund.

I am also staying away from the apple hype from now on. After never giving into the fanboy hype this is the first apple product I have given a go and it has failed miserably. I would take my nokia e71 which makes reliable calls, has a FREE GPS system with turn by turn navigation (and does not rely on a data connection) a tactile keyboard that I can actually use intuitively with one hand and oh yeah AT LEAST 2-3 days of HEAVY use on only one charge - over this glorified retina coated piece of hype - ANY day of the week.

Shame on apple for releasing a faulty product and letting customers hang like this for so long, its disgusting practice for a company that prides itself so much on the end user experience they claim to be able to provide.

I, like so many of you, am in EXACTLY the same boat - a BRAND new customer who has paid a premium for essentially a crippled device that can't even provide a full days use. 

 

This is really beyond ridiculous, the problem seems to be epidemic levels. Apple have really dropped the ball with this one and what makes it worse (like so many have said before) we are seeing little to no acknowledgement and no guarentees that the upcoming 5.1 is gonna fix anything. In fact the few reports that are trickling in from beta adopters is saying not to hold your breath.  What if the problem can't be fixed via software update, does this mean we have all paid top dollar for a brand new device which in the real world is practically unusable?

 

I just got a iphone 4s on a 24 month contract, last week. It is the first time I have bought an apple product (not really sold on the hype) and so far my experience has been so underwhelming its not funny.I have had the phone for a total of 5 days now and like so many here, the brand new phone, out of the box, drops approximately 70% battery life in approximately 7 hours of use. I am losing approx 10 - 15% per hour in standby, no calls, nothing.

 

After searching for answers I came across this forum and disturbingly found out its not just me, but by the looks of it pretty much the majority of new 4s buyers! I have tried all the reccomended things (factory resets, disabling location services and all the other jazz mentioned a million times here) with no luck. The fact that so many of us are getting the exact same problem points to one thing --> Apple messed up.

 

If apple think it is acceptable to leave their customers with half a days use on a brand new mobile device, there is something seriously wrong here. I hope they do have a class action taken against them because this is effectively highway robbery.

 

What happens to all of us who have signed up on contracts and are now locked into two years with this piece of junk that doesn't even work as advertised?

 

How this situation could be seen as acceptable by any standards is beyond me. I am taking my phone back first chance I get and demanding a refund.

 

I am also staying away from the apple hype from now on. After never giving into the fanboy hype this is the first apple product I have given a go and it has failed miserably. I would take my nokia e71 which makes reliable calls, has a FREE GPS system with turn by turn navigation (and does not rely on a data connection) a tactile keyboard that I can actually use intuitively with one hand and oh yeah AT LEAST 2-3 days of HEAVY use on only one charge - over this glorified retina coated piece of hype - ANY day of the week.

I quote every single word.

Can we downgrade from this ios version back to 4.x.x?

If so, how?

I tried everything you all proposed, and still have the baterry lfe of less than half a day. everything worked great on my iphone 4 even with ios 5.0.1

Iphone 4s is catastrophic, and I have a baterry drainage of 9% per hour on standby...with everything turned of(push, location services, multitasking, restored it and configured it like a new phone...nothing worked!

I too am a first time Apple purchaser and have been following this and other threads for weeks. My wife and I purchased the 4s's back in November with Verizon being our carrier (U.S.A). FWIW, neither of us have seen the "battery problem". We seem to obtain the advertised battery life.

Briefly, our pertinent specs are (both are 16GB iPhones):

1. Serial numbers starts with DN

2. Siri on (raise to talk is off)

3. Wife has an Exchange account set to Manual fetch, I have a regular email account also set to Manual fetch

4. Location Services: Time Zone is off, iAds is off

5. Verizon is CMDA - we have no Sim cards installed at this time (for global use)

In my mind there is no question that there is an issue - most likely software which will not be fixed until Apple release a software patch. It also appears that all the suggestions offered up on this forum are viable temporary "workarounds" that can help a number of people.

While Apple has been remiss in offering up information (as bad or worse then most of the Android manufacturers), I don't see how they can now ignore the problem and/or fail to provide a solution - too much publicity. With respect to those who have concerns regarding long term contracts with a questionable product, the following link may be useful:

http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implied_warranty

I'm from Canada and I have the same problem as well

I'm losing about 1% every 3-4 minutes

Did any body find what the problem is?

Is it a manufacturer issue?

Mine is 64 GB and i have to charge it at least twice a day

KSOUQI wrote:

 

I'm from Canada and I have the same problem as well

I'm losing about 1% every 3-4 minutes

Did any body find what the problem is?

Is it a manufacturer issue?

Mine is 64 GB and i have to charge it at least twice a day

Be sure to go through these steps to address the battery after updating to iOS 5.0.1:

1. Reset all settings (settings app-> general-> reset)

2. Go through initial setup steps (lang, wifi, siri, enable location, etc) and choose setup as new phone (don't worry your apps, data, contacts, mail will still be there). Do NOT restore from iCloud or iTunes (It can copy back corrupt settings)

3. Turn off system location services timezone and iAd

4. Fully discharge battery (until you get the spinning wheel and it shuts off)

5. Fully recharge battery (overnight if possible)

In my experience this improves the Standby battery drain issue significantly in most cases.  It reduces drain from 2-4% or more per hr to 0.5% or less. It has worked for many, many users now. If it does not work after a few try's you may have a real battery or hardware issue and should contact Apple.  Good Luck!

More details on my thread here if needed:https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3484755

I have the same issue. 64 Gig iPhone 4s. This is my second one. Seemed I was ok for about 1-2 weeks and then all of a sudden, the phone started to get warmer than usual. The battery is draining at about 15% every hour with no use. I restored it to new iphone, with no apps and just my email and it still does this. I want to go to exchange it, but I think it will be the same exact issue again. Also, my wife has an identical iphone 4s but on ATT with no issues. I wonder if this is Verizon related?

I have had 2 IPhone 4S's. My first had great battery life. It would hardly use anything while listening to music. That phone got wet and was replaced with a phone that lasts a few hours, only playing music with nothing else running. I don't understand, if it is a software problem, why would one of my phones act totally different? This is my first Apple product and at first I was so happy, now i can't stand this piece of junk. I feel like activating my bug happy droid.....Either way i lose. I use Verizon, and like I said the first phone battery life was amazing. Not so much on the second phone.

I tried all of your steps with no luck but I'm glad they helped some, My phone was fine for about 2 weeks which is odd, had my phone checked out and the battery is fine, no hardware issues showing, tbh I think its software, I noticed I got a more juice by turning off live weather forecasts, and some apps drain the phone more than others, for one thing there is to much gps and location related stuff on this phone thats on as default, and also not not being able to turn off 3G is a real pain when you live in an area with no 3G at all, and I cannot see a magic bullet coming from Apple to change this, even with 5.1 coming etc, my battery now lasts a day, but still has odd phantom useage issues. Tbh its the worse product I have bought from Apple. iPhone 4S 64gb model. on O2 in the UK.

Being methodical helps for new users. Trying davidch procedure, going though a few charging cycles and understanding the usage spec for the device is most likely the first thing to do. Just forget about the 3GS or the 4. If you want those, then have those. Then if things don't work, look at the stuff here : https://discussions.apple.com/message/16850561#16850561 - check you have a proper sim, then maybe try a full reinstall of the 5.0.1 (800mb), and try to isolate the issue... that means having little stuff on the device at first i.e. manual mail, settings and building on a solid and stable base. Turn off network centric settings i.e. cloud, notifications etc that you don't need. Ask yourself what app you really want to use and need, and add them slowly to the device with some usage in between the adding in order to be able to weight the impact this is having. If you suspect an app is behaving unusually, don't hesitate to remove it, do a soft reset and add it again. If you're moving around and you notice you go somewhere and you have a sudden drain, try resetting or just shut off your device for a while. You'll survive. Try also closing background apps regularly and use airplane mode or shut off the device when you don't use it or when you charge... I guess that is what I would do. If you can't hit the spec under any of those scenarios, then have the device replaced or get a refund. Then buy a flip phone with a long battery life, something. I'd go for a pager and ask my friend for his/her phone for calling back, but hey, that's me lollll.

Good luck!

So with everything off and all directions followed we should be happy with 3-4 hours battery life with no use or go get a flip phone? Your a complete idiot. Did you even read any of this thread at all? "I guess that is what I would do." so you don't even have the problem but you know everything right? What a jerk to even jump in an add your nonsense. Get a life. It's obviously a problem and people have tried everything.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2011-11-02/apple-acknowledges-iphone-bat tery-problems/51049458/1

might want to look at this..........

Negative44 wrote:

 

So with everything off and all directions followed we should be happy with 3-4 hours battery life with no use or go get a flip phone? Your a complete idiot. Did you even read any of this thread at all? "I guess that is what I would do." so you don't even have the problem but you know everything right? What a jerk to even jump in an add your nonsense. Get a life. It's obviously a problem and people have tried everything.

Hey, I did create the thread I gave the link to, I saw many people hit the spec with some effort mind you. I've been reading the thread since page 128. Idiot. They acknowledged the issue a month a ago - your article dates from 11-02. You're not of the brightest kind. Obviously you've just landed from the nest and haven't read 2 pages back. The words I have for you are beyond what's allowed, but the intent remains.

< Edited By Host >

You can double click the home button and make sure all the apps in the background are closed. I'm sure many know this already. That's what they told me to do. My new phone the Battery is way better.