won't hold a charge

you need a new battery my friend not expensive at all.

It may need a new battery, but can you describe the symptoms in more detail?

I am having the same problem! It was working fine and all of a sudden my battery would run out by lunch; I would charge it then it will run out again around dinner; then it will be time to charge again at bedtime......very sudden.

My iPhone 4 won't hold a charge either and this was a sudden thing. I disconnected it after a full charge and it discharged to 50% in two hours on standby and it always feels warm. I've done everything, closed all apps, etc. to no avail. The phone is not old--maybe 1 year. I'm seeing a lot of this same problem in a lot of forums. This is not my first iPhone, but this is the first time I've ever had any problems with an iPhone. I took it into an Apple store and the only thing they would tell me was that I needed an appointment to talk to a technician and they didn't have any available. 😕

Either you have a bad battery, or, more likely, an app that is stuck sending data or trying to send and failing. If you've seen the problem in this and other forums if you read a little further you will see solutions for it also.

You can make an appointment to see a technician at an Apple store at www.apple.com/retail.

If you want to try self-diagnosis start with the Mail app if you have an Exchange email account. Delete the account or turn it off in Settings, then reset the phone by holding HOME and SLEEP until an Apple logo appears. When it comes back up add the account back or turn it on.

Facebook is an app that has problems sometimes also, along with all of the other social media apps. For Facebook FIRST turn off notifications to it in Settings, then kill it in the quick-launch ribbon, then reboot the phone. If that fixes the problem turn Notifications back on for FB.

Another common solution is to let the battery run all the way down until the phone shuts off, then charge for 4 hours with the wall charger (even if it shows 100% in less time). This effectively kills all processes, including the ones that automatically restart when killed (mail, contacts, calendar, weather, stocks, iTunes store, app store, etc) and also recalibrates the battery gauge.

I think it's the software update. It completely ran out of juice overnight. I hope I don't have to get a new phone. Nothing I've tried is working and this problem suddenly happening seems to be common.

Mine did the same thing. It was a sudden change and not gradual like a defective battery would demonstrate. I took my phone to the apple store and it was my springboard. All they had to do was reset my phone to its factory settings. It was covered by my iCare. When you take your phone in to be reset, be sure to back it up before you do.