IPhone 3G battery dies quickly after 3.0 software update

Exact Same Problem. My iPhone refuse to retain a charge. Keeps draining out of power. Also heats a lot more than before. Should i give to the local Vodafone store... I don't really trust them with my phone as the don't really seem to know a lot.

I had the same problem with my 3G and I managed to localized the problem.

Now this might sound crazy but here's how I worked around it. I figured out that it was the radio(s) and not the CPU that was the problem. Turning off all of the radios (Flight Mode) did solve the problem but who wants a phone with no radio. Anyway, shutting off everything except the radio didn't fix it (Push email, WiFi, bluetooth). The only thing left were push notifications, but I couldn't get to the settings section because I didn't have an app that used them. So I installed the AP news app and THEN shut off the notifications (they appear after installing an app that uses them). Turned everything else back on and boom I'm back to normal (Battery wise anyways). I can only guess that there are two problems here, One, there are major problems with push notifications (On some phones anyways) and Two, that darned things are enabled initially whether you have an app that uses them or not.

I solved the problem for now. Go to Settings>Mail,Contacts,Calendars>Fetch New Data>Push - TURN IT OFF. Now Battery life and charge is back to normal. Until the matter is fixed buy Apple, it seems to me to be the only way you can use your iPhone without the battery drain problems experienced.

Turn off Fetch, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when you arent using it. Adjust the brightness, and auto lock your phone when you arent using it. Also, some applications do run in the background so, try to sign out of them when you arent using them or done with them.

It's a bad OS update. After talking with Apple support, they had me restore the OS. The process wipes your phone clean, forces a re-activation, and restores your original settings (not your music or apps).

I had been getting 5 hours a charge sitting idle, not taking a call, just doing nothing. That made it nearly a paperweight for me.

Today, so far... normal battery usage.

Other things you can do to slow down the battery consumption are covered in the following Apple article. They helped me slow down battery consumption beyond solving this bad OS update.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html

Best of luck to you all 🙂

You know whats funny? That was my first time looking at the article. I have been doing just about all of the things it said. Some of which I didnt know. Thanks for the article. I hope Apple makes a new OS soon or give us new 3GS'!!! Holding my breath and connected to a defib!

Doing a restore seems to have fixed almost all of my issues with 3.0 on my 3g - most certainly the hot operation, short battery life, messed up app icons, and failure to detect WiFi hotspots are fixed. It still seems to drop a WiFi connection after power-off, but I can live with this. I did have an error message during my initial upgrade procedure, something about a SIM registration failure, but I ignored it as the phone seemed to work (albeit with the issues above). Doing the restore seems to have fixed almost everything for me, and I hope for some of you'all as well.

John F

Hi Im from India.
I had the same battery issue immediately after i updated my phone to OS 3.0.
Now heres the weird part. If u keep ur phone near a speaker, ul hear it emitting signals continuously, even though u arent sending or recieving any data/sms/calls!!
i have Edge n wifi. Even tho i have iPhone 3G, 3G facility is not yet activated in India. Whats also weird, is that, i have a prepaid account thru my cellular network carrier Vodafone. When my credit was over, i did not experience battery issues!! my phone gave me a usage of 6hrs n stand by of 22hrs!! but the next day when i topped up my credit i again faced extremely poor battery life! It seems to me that the new update OS 3.0 (which btw also came along with a cellular network update) is causing the phone to continuously emit signals.
Ppl, i strongly urge u guys esp those in the USA to talk to Apple (not AT&T or other carriers) about this issue asap since there isn't any Apple outlet in India.
I am sure that the issue with the poor battery life is the phone emitting signals CONTINUOUSLY after the 3.0 software update. U can check this out for yourself. If u go to settings n check out usage/standby data, ul observe that even if u sparingly use your phone, your usage is almost equal to the standby time. This never used to happen before the update. And if you put your phone in airplane mode, ul not see this. This only prooves that the phone is emitting signals unwantedly.
Only if u guys urge Apple, will it come out with a further update to resolve this issue at the earliest. If possible get some media coverage on this.
p.s- this issue of poor battery isnt a new one. its happened before when 2.2 was released and thats why apple came out wid 2.2.1!!!

Yes. It's a given when it come to the radio waves or network connections. Like that of a Laptop on Wi-Fi, u connect to a AP or Router, even if you arent using it, its still getting Windows Updates, Time updates and other background updates. The phone will always stay connected to the network to be readily available to make and receive data and calls. If not, most or all calls would go to Voicemail. If its an issue with radio signals and constantly using the power to connect to antennas, they there is no way for Apple, AT&T, DOD and other companies to use the Big Brother act!So, I guess we all need the iPhone 3GS! I dont know about you, but i like receiving calls! Apple might have to come up with a better battery instead of the current one. I dont see how the network connection will change, unless you turn on your phone and it links with the network or does like more computers, wake-on-LAN in other words. The phone will standby from all functions, until info is sent or received!

same problem here... iPhone seems dead after 3.0
I've tried everything under the sun. I suggest go back to 2.2 till further updates.

how do you restore the old operating system though.

All of my Wi-Fi and Bluetooth comm's have locked up and it is as if my phone does not have these facilities anymore. in the about screen the Wi-Fi just says N/A and blue tooth has a 00:00:00:00:00:00 address.

worst thing is I have only had the phone a week and now Am thinking my N95 was not a bad phone after all.
at least it worked, and I have not seen any apple techs on any message board replying to any of the comments..

Yups dont see any Apple techs replying either. This problem is getting very annoying. I have access to 3 iPhones in total and 2 out of 3 are having problems big time. One seems unharmed currently, hopefully it stays that way.

http://www.quickpwn.com/2008/11/firmware-22-download-links.html
Might wanna check out this link? Might help you downgrade to 2.2 if you wish to. Not too sure if the ipsw file there works but they've got instructions and the 2.2 firmware download is available in a few places

hi all,

i also experienced the same thing, actually the com centre change my unit. But still im having problem (battery life, hot , not charging). What i did was i follow some advice from the discussions here. i try to turn OFF the fetch new data and try to set it manually. so far the first day that i change the setting the battery life last longer. one of the help desk was instructing me to do something (tim) but i want to observe first. maybe this can help others. but same thing with the version before we never encounter this kind of problem

I have the 3gs. The battery life is no where near what my first gen iphone used to be.

By the way I'm comparing battery life with my 2 year old iphone that has been used extensively.