Q: iOS 8.1.3 - Battery draining very quickly

Thank you bjmcmurry!.

After many days of troubleshooting and frustration, resetting my iCloud password resolved my iPhone 5S battery drain issue. Now my iPhone 5S battery drain is back to my 'normal' rate of discharge.

At first, this did not seem logical (who cares, its working now...). But as part of troubleshooting this issue I had also noted that my iPad Air 2 was also using a unusual rate of battery use while on standby.

In any case, independent of the actual root cause (let Apple engineers figure it out) resetting the iCloud password worked for me.

Before the problem occurred, my typical - low-daily-usage, my iP5S battery lasted at least 1.5 days.

After the 8.1.3 update (or close to that time) my iP5S phone was discharging at about 5% per hour without being used much and did not make it before day's end.

Here is a list of things that DID NOT WORK.

1. Replaced the battery myself
2. Had the battery replaced by local smart phone fix-it shop (assumed that my replaced battery was also defective)
3. Restored (2x) from iTunes
4. Restored from iCloud
5. Setting > Reset Network Settings
6. Settings > Reset All Settings
7. Settings > Erase All Content and Settings (set iPhone 5S to basic factory default) . Did this 2x and only installed 2 apps for basic functionality
8. Turned OFF background apps and processes, including:
   Settings > Notifications (turned OFF in each app setting)
   Settings > General > Siri
   Settings > General > Handoff & Suggested Apps (Handoff, My Apps, App Store)
   Settings > General > Background App Refresh
   Settings > Privacy. Turned OFF all apps services, and most System Services
   
   
   

Here is a list of things that DID WORK in reducing unusual battery drain rate.

1. Turned OFF phone (pun intended)
2. Put in Airplane Mode and turned OFF Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (pun intended)
3. Reset iCoud password. IT WORKED! , also my iPad Air 2 was no longer using unusual amount of battery use when set to Standby.

When you guys say you "reset" your iCloud password, does that mean you logged out and back in, or did you create a whole new iCloud ID and account and re-log in using the new Account info?

I changed (updated) my password via this link:

https://appleid.apple.com/us/en

Then clicked on the 'Reset your password' link and followed the prompts ...

I did not create a new iCloud ID. As a last resort I did consider creating a new ID based on some of the threads in other discussions that it could solve the battery drain issue. But from what I understand, if a new ID is created, then you'll loose all access to previously purchased apps.

A simple 'Reset your password' worked for me...

Thanks. With being completely logged out of iCloud, I have only used 10% of the battery in 8 hours. I wonder if Apple thinks/understands that there is a problem with iCloud and battery drain for some

This is bjmcmurry logged in under a different Apple ID.  Sorry for any confusion.  I'm trying now to be careful to use just one on these boards. 

I hope the password change sticks for you. I thought it worked for me. But, it only offered a reprieve for about three days.  Actually, there has been a few times that I've been fooled.  The only thing that has worked for me has been to log out of my iCloud account.

I've found the most reliable way for me to identify when the problem of my battery draining quickly is happening is to monitor the cell data usage. Therefore, I'm running with WiFi OFF which forces all data communications with the iCloud server to be done through cell services which provides the convienience of stats to compare between test conditions. When I am not experiencing a problem, my Settings>Cellular>system services documents & sync runs at a rate of .5 Mb per day. When I have a problem, the same stat is running at a rate of anywhere between 13 to 44 Mb per HOUR.

I realize that everyone here is focused on battery drain.  And, it maybe caused by different reasons than mine. Consequently, tracking cell data usage may not be a good barometer for you.

My battery will last for days with everything turned off.  But, generally, as soon as I log into iCloud and only have Cell Data turned on, even will all iCloud services turned off, the battery will be dead in about 5 hours on either my iPhone 5 or 5s.  I've successfully replicated this problem on an iPhone 5, 5s and just recently, a one day old iPhone 6.  After my most recent test of 18 hours on the 6, I burned at a rate of .61 Gb per day (about 25 Mb per hour). But, the battery was still at 49%, a length of time that would never be achieve with either the 5 or the 5s.

I am currently using the 6 and logged into the problem account. But, for some reason yet to be determined, the burn rate is currently normal. my approach now is to identify the trigger. I'm currently working with Apple Engineering by way of a senior AppleCare advisor to remedy this problem.  The last suggestion from them was to 'TRY' the 8.2 update as they think there might have been a fix included that might address my issue.  Well, I updated and tested on both the 5s and the 6.  Didn't work for me.  During my latest test, the 5s and 6 are burning 43 Mb and 35 Mb per hour, respectively.

Thanks for the heads up...

I have been doing OK for the past three days after the 'Reset your password' update iTunes/iCloud. Hope stays good going forward.

Seems that you and Gator500e have issues with battery drain and iCloud being turned on.

FYI... In my iPhone 5s ... Settings > iCloud ... I have MAIL and Passbook turned OFF. I do not need that iCloud functionality at this time since my Mail works just fine (Yahoo and Gmail accounts not any Apply iCloud email accounts).

Still hoping you'be eliminated the cause for you. However, I want you to know the I have tested with every feature in iCloud turned off and still experienced the runaway data usage and consequential battery drain.

I don't think just turning everything off is enough. I think you have to log out of iCloud completely to gain the battery benefit. I tried turning everything off. Something in the background still was using the phone. Thus my standby and usage times were very close. After logg out of iCloud my standby times was far greater than my usage tim, as it should be, I think. You've got nothing to lose by trying it. You can always log back in If it doesn't work for you.

Understand that turning ON iCloud, even with all iCloud services OFF did not help you...

Hope a real fix is found for your devices/account soon. These smart devices have become so addictive for some - like me  and many others - that we can't live w/o them and expect them to be working as expected at all times.

BTW, I liked the method you are using to zero-in the data usage by just enabling Cellular and monitoring data usage using built-in techniques.

For what is worth, since you seem technically savvy, I bought an iPhone app 'System Status - activity monitor - By Techet'  that has capabilities to look at actual running processes (like Mac 'Activity Monitor' and Win 'Task Manager'). It also has Cellular and Wi-Fi data rate/usage in 'real-time'. This app provided lots of information, but w/o an in-depth knowledge of these processes - need to be a developer or an Apple Engineer with low level innards knowledge of iOS - It did not really helped me (it was overwhelming because there were over 80 processes running in my iPhone 5s w/o any app launched).

This app could be of interest to some that have lots of iOS internal knowledge, and lots of time, to possible figure out what processes might be taxing the system/devices.

Agreed, that was the point of my comment.  I have ruled out that everything being turned off in iCloud did not precude the undesired results for my issue.

I'm working towards zeroing in on the trigger.

I think I'm going to look into the program, system status, mentioned by rafael.

Hi, I arrived here because I was searching answers and possibly a 'cure' for this annoying problem. I've try all the tricks and all the options. But today I'll try this ones, regarding to the icloud account, I'll post tomorrow an status and how mi iphone (5s) is running. Because after the update (even to ios 8.2) the battery drains around 10% each hour only in stand-by, without app, no wifi, no localization services.

I love apple stuffs but this is annoying I'm really disappointed of apple with this. I don't want to return to android so please apple show yourself and say something about this, because so many people around the world having this problem... is not normal.

If the reset password on icloud is the solution then congratulation guys!

Regards.

Please note that we are not claiming these techniques (Reset Password and iCloud OFF) will actually resolve your issues.

But who knows, it could help you. After all, we cannot locate an 'official Apple fix for this'.

I have been running OK for the past three days after 'Reset your password'. Before that I had tried so many ON/OFF process settings combinations that I began to log what I was doing. However, there are so many setting combinations that can be done that it becomes a futile exercise in Black Box testing, specially since it takes some time determining if 'fix' was effective.

For me the last actions that got me to 'my normal battery drain rate' (after exhausting many of the suggestions about the 'obvious' things to do) were:

1. Restored iPhone 5s from an early iTunes backup dated early January 2015, before iOS update 8.1.3. Note that this restore only restored the settings and apps because even thought this was an 8.1.2 backup, at the end of the restore, it was set to 8.1.3.
   Note: did same on my iPad Air 2.
2. Reset iTunes/iCloud password using Web browser in Macbook Pro.
3. Rebooted iPhone 5s (Home/Power held until Apple Logo appears) to reset all services from scratch. Note: did same reboot in iPad Air 2 that was also using excessive usage using same iTunes/ICloud account.

My iPhone 5s and iPad Air 2 are still working as expected (knock-on-wood). That is;  Settings > General > Usage > Battery Usage (for Usage and Standby) actually make sense. Before this 'fix' (w/o documented Root Cause), Usage was close to the Standby use w/o actually using the phone much.

After this fiasco, I have been much more diligent before allowing apps using any background and notification services. I did a full review of all apps and turned OFF most services to apps and iOS that are non-essential for my daily iPhone use.

P.S. My wife has an iPhone 5 and iPad Mini2 using same Wi-Fi and Cell networks with her own iTunes account set to firmware 8.1.3. Her devices have not exhibited the problems I had with my iPhone 5s and iPad Air 2.

She has been very reluctant when I grab her phone to 'see her settings' because she is concerned that I, or Apple, will mess up her devices.  I don't blame her for that.

RafaelZfromCC wrote:

 

Please note that we are not claiming these techniques (Reset Password and iCloud OFF) will actually resolve your issues.

But who knows, it could help you. After all, we cannot locate an 'official Apple fix for this'.

 

There will never be an "official Apple fix" because it isn't one problem. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of possible causes of battery drain, just like there have been for over 7 years. Abnormal battery usage is a symptom, not a disease. And, just like in medicine, a symptom can have many causes. This thread has identified several already.

I agree with you that unusual battery drain can be caused by a large number of possibilities.

In my previous comment I was trying to zero-in in a 'limited' set of variables that were currently being discussed in the thread and should not be taken as the 'only ones' to resolve the battery drain issues, specifically:

1. 8.1.3 Firmware Update (as per original thread) . In my case and others this could just be a coincidence and not the cause.
2. Reset of password (still working for me). Logically, it does not make sense that this would save battery. This sound more like a logic bug not even related to a setting or app in the phone.
3. ICloud setting ON/OFF. Given the number of settings there, this by itself makes the number of possibilities no longer 'limited'.

So, the 'official Apple fix' was meant to be around the three times above and not all inclusive of all battery drain possibilities - that would not be practical.

[Editorial comment] Also, given that today's 'Software Release Notes' as so vague, e.g. 'stability improvements',  it leaves the end user only with hope, and not actual facts that their actual issues are being resolved and shotgun approaches are used - like update to 8.2 - in trying to resolve specific issues.

I also agree that this thread has identified many possibilities for battery drain issues (many seem to be battery saving techniques rather than battery draining logic bugs fixes) and they have been helpful to me and many others.

OK guys.  This the final post for me. It's getting a little repetitive.  I said (and believe) this problem is idiopathic.  iOS has a problem that nobody understands that allows the battery to drain.  It may be that the interface between hardware and software has multiple leaks. Who knows?  We are sitting here with symptoms but no  user manual, no source code, and precious little help from Apple. If you all want to continue to yap at the problem like terriers around a rogue elephant,  I wish you well.  For me this little box it supposed to be my servant, not visa versa.  In the end,  only Apple can  solve this problem and they will only listen when they hear loudly and  firmly that their products are not performing.  Voting with your feet (and dollars) is a particularly powerful way of sending that message. Good luck on you quest.