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Mindblowerz Author

Level 1

0 points

IOS 4.2.1 battery drain

Anyone noticed any battery drain so far on IOS 4.2.1?

iPhone 4, iOS 4

Posted on Nov 23, 2010 10:19 PM

526 replies

Mar 11, 2011 1:56 AM in response to Mindblowerz

SOLUTION:

I had the same problems.
Battery empty within 5-6 hours.
After removing my Exchange account and adding it again the problem was solved.

Mar 14, 2011 3:45 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

I have a question about the first stage:

"1. Go to Settings/General/Reset: Erase All Content and Settings."

Doesnt this do the same as restoring the phone in Itunes except I tunes erases all content?

Mar 14, 2011 3:51 PM in response to richardc1983

No, it's not the same as a Restore. A Restore overwrites any existing settings with default ones, but there is memory that is not used in the previous release that may contain have random data. If this memory is used in the newer release, or falls into an apps memory footprint, it can have unexpected results. Erasing the phone eliminates this possibility. It is unlikely but possible that random values can cause problems; this eliminates that possibility.

Mar 14, 2011 4:59 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Then can you do a restore from a backup file in Itunes after you have done this as I dont want to lose all my app data?

Mar 14, 2011 5:07 PM in response to richardc1983

If you have a current backup you can restore it. If it brings the problem back you will have to restore and lose your app data, unless the app has provided a way to save it via WiFi or cable.

Mar 16, 2011 8:36 PM in response to Mindblowerz

Yes I have very much so.

Mar 20, 2011 5:42 AM in response to garystephen1996@yahoo.com

I had the same problem, but it was solved by switching the iPhone off completely and restarting. However, I feel very reluctant now to install the next update, because also with that update there seems to be a comparable problem.

Mar 28, 2011 7:19 AM in response to Mindblowerz

After upgrading to 4.2.1 I have been experiencing random severe battery drain episodes on iPhone 4, sometimes driving battery to zero. After synchronizing with iTunes the problem vanished for about 2 weeks, then it. Another sync, another two weeks of normal operation. Hope this help Apple people find the problem.

mchoy

Level 1

4 points

Mar 28, 2011 8:59 PM in response to 850T5

Hi 850T5,

I have the same problem too when my phone goes roaming. The went to Singapore from Hong Kong and the phone heat up with no reason. Battery drained after one evening. Like you I was able to re-create the problem while I was in Singapore. The phone was back to normal once it is back to "home country" - Hong Kong.

Will be on another trip next week and check if it happens again. But indeed it's a very annoying problem.

Did you manage to find out any fix for this? Thanks!

Cheers,
Martina

Ganymebe

Level 1

0 points

Apr 13, 2011 11:38 AM in response to Concertpix

Just to add one more "success" story... I went to IOS 4.3 and started having rapid battery drains. I was losing 10% per hour, even if I didn't use the phone. I tried all of the suggestions of turning off this or restricting that. No help. I tried "Reset - Erase all Content and Settings". No help. Then IOS 4.31 came out. No help. I tried a Restore from Backup. Same problem.

Finally I took the painful step of Restore - New Phone. This is very painful because it loses everything: all your settings, accounts, favorites, app organization, game progress,.... It will take me weeks to get everything back the way I like it.

However, my phone has been on with light use and WiFi on for six hours, and I am only down to 97%. So, like others before me have posted, if all else fails, Restore as a New Phone.

Of course the other answer would be for Apple to get off their ***** and figure out how to identify and correct this problem without such dire efforts. It would sure be nice to have an IOS utility that analyzed what app or process was causing the problem and give you a way to eradicate it.

Message was edited by: Ganymebe

NiHao

Level 1

0 points

Apr 14, 2011 1:11 AM in response to Ganymebe

Logout of your Apple account and problem solved.
It works on OS 4.2.1, 4.3 & 4.3.1

Ganymebe

Level 1

0 points

Apr 14, 2011 7:36 AM in response to Ganymebe

Another quick update from yesterday. After my Reset - New Phone, I am now at 24 hours with WiFi on, but almost no calls, and I have only gone from 100% down to 87%.

As for the append above, I was one who logged out of my Apple Account and it had absolutely no effect on 4.3 or 4.3.1. Also tried other suggestions, like Restricting Ping, Restricting Multiplayer games, turning off Location Services, manual fetch on mail, ...

Now it is back to the way the phone was designed. Leave everything on. Restrict nothing. Use the phone. It lasts for days.

Jun 26, 2011 4:41 PM in response to Ganymebe

Well, my phone has started dying quickly too....I have 4.3.3....and I've done everything in all the posts except wipe out all content - full restore, full reset, hard reset, itunes restore then a back up restore....I guess my next choice is to try to fix to restore/new phone

Jul 18, 2011 12:47 AM in response to joeCommenter

I tried a number things incuding upgrading the software to the newly releasd fix for pdf vunerabilities. All were not helpfull. The likely culprit was Exchange mail for me. I noticed that while in All Mailboxes that ever few secnds the activity icn was indicating activity. I turned off my exchange mail account and it stopped and so did the excessive battery drain . A check of the usage tab in general settings confirmed that this was the culprit as activity droped to near zero .

I then deleted and reinstalled the Exchange Mail account . As soon as it started the problem continued. i then went into the mail settings for Exchange Mail and under folders to push I checked each folder, ie. sent, deleted etc. . when I checked the sent mail folder i heard the sound as id an email had been sent . I then set up the acount so that only the inbox was pushed .

I don't have a technical background for these things, but i can only guess that during the upgrade process on of my sent emails got stuck or caught in a loop. activating push on that folder freed it, causing the software tostop trying to send it.

I imagine the problem could potentially happen with gmail ornother types of email accounts In the future I will set my phone in airplane mode with the wireless turned off before attempting to upgrade rhe software on the phone .

Aug 26, 2011 8:35 AM in response to Mindblowerz

This and more!

I am currently running itunes 10.4.1.10

IOS 4.3.5

Win 7 32 bit sp1

All had been working fine. I had tried repetedly to upgrade to win 7 sp1 using the updater but it always failed. Eventually I downloaded the update file from Microsoft web site (just the one for my version) and ran it - that worked fine.

I connected up my iphone 3GS (first time I'd synchronised for a while and my calendars were getting out of date). I was offered and accepted an update to the IOS. Synching worked fine. I synched several times then (kept adding some music to the library) over the course of an hour or so.

That night I noticed that the battery on the iphone ran down really quickly. I charged it up from the wall but afterwards could almost watch the %charge dropping. Also the phone was getting really hot. I also noticed that the iphone performance was really sluggish.

I did a google search and tried a number of things including closing down multitasked apps and eventually the battery life improved a little - not back to where it had been but better. App performance was still sluggish. I put up with this for about a week before I decided to resynch and see if that might help. I then discovered that itunes does not see my iphone anymore.

I have tried everything suggested on the threads apart from uninstalling sp1 which I will try today nothing worked. I'm really posting to firstly say that it's not just a 64bit problem and also to ask if anyone else has had the problem with battery life and sluggish apps.

Update - have now uninstalled sp1 and....it made no difference. I could cry. I have spent the best part of 2 days trying to resolve this problem and got nowhere.

IOS 4.2.1 battery drain