iPhone 3GS Battery Issue (iOS 5)

I have been experiencing the exact same problems as everyone else here on my iPhone 3GS 16GB with iOS 5.

I charge it to full, seems to stay at 100% for an hour or so. Then the last time that I checked the power it was between 80-90% and shortly after that it appears that it has completely drained.

The phone is quite warm as well, it's like the phone is literally burning the power.

A charge seems to last for about 6-8 hours. I can't make it through a working day now without having to charge it.

I didn't have any of these problems before iOS 5.

My phone started failing after the upgrade if i pressed the screen too hard or it would not come on sometimes when i took it out my pocket. I tested it with the phone plugged in to the charger and it would not happen. Just had a update notification and downloaded it and gave it a test. It seems my problems are solved. Lucky because I only just ordered a 4s from my service provider because i thought i damaged my phone but because of the short supply i haven't received it yet and will cancel.

There is a new upgrade available that "addresses" the battery issues. It is 5.0.1...I have installed it and now only time will tell if it fixes my issues!!

Well, I am sad to say it appears at first glance that the IOS 5.0.1 did not fix the shut down issue with my 3GS....I have only used it for one night after the upgrade but again my phone continues to shut down at around 30% battery life...My next steps are to reset it, if that does not work it looks like I will have to visit the apple store and get a new battery or phone since im still under warrenty...

Same here. 5.0.1 didn't fix anything. I also did a soft reset, a hard reset, and a complete reset (data and all settings). Resetting data and all settings first seemed to have solved the issue. The 3GS battery capacity could be used for several hours watching videos and doing GPS stuff. After a complete decharge and recharge the same problems exist :-/

I wonder if this problem was returning due to the complete decharge...

Next thing to try is replacing the battery (already ordered a new one on eBay)

I'm having the same issues with my 3GS. Generally it shuts off at around 30%, but I have had it shut down at higher numbers such as 60-80. I do notice my phone being warm from time to time, but I can't judge it compared to before as I don't use a case on it currently (old one broke shortly before). I had thoguht the new patch has somewhat fixed it as it seemed my phone lasted much longer on a charge, but my phone just cut off just about 10 mins ago at 31%. I've tried plugging it in, booting it and trying to see if it'll drain past 30%, but it won't.

Yeah, as I promised...I reset my iPhone and amazingly screwed things up more....it wouldn't connect to I cloud and I had to manually put in all my contacts again....and the battery still was not fixed! On top of that I couldn't just register my proof of apple care, I had to email receipts to them proving I bought it! What is this!?!? Once they review my receipts in going to the store and demanding a new 3GS without IOS 5........I like it and I like apple but I'm beginning to think IOS5 just isn't compatible with the 3GS....

As mentioned previously I also did a full reset (wiping setttings and data) and it didn't help.

However, currently things seem to work again :-) What I did is replace the battery. In fact I replaced the battery with the original one that came with the 3GS. So now, everything is back to normal and in addition the battery seems to last much longer.

In numbers, I charged my iPhone more than 50 hours ago and the capacity is still at 63% with WIFI enabled. So, either this number is wrong (will report back on it) or then replacing the battery somehow reset the power management with the effect that the battery now lasts longer.

Before I replaced the original battery (under IOS 4.3) it lasted about 1.5 days. So it is strange but fortunate that the same battery now seems to last more than two days and still has more than half of the charge (if one can believe the number reported by the 3GS).

Hi have the same problem after upgrading 3GS to iOS 5, the phone usually dies at about 20-25% without giving any warning. It is very annoying. Please fix it Apple.

Same issues here. 3GS. Upgraded to 5.0.1 and I still crash after a short period. I just replaced the battery with a new one and I just crashed again. Says it is 80% then crashed. I boot up again and it says 0% only to jump to 80 or higher. What gives? Was perfect before 5.0

I am having all of the same issues with my 3GS since upgrading to iOS5 and even after installing the 5.1 I am still having the same troubles. My battery will drain completely in 4 hours on standby with minimal use. My apps are slow to open, web pages having trouble loading even in wifi. Some of my apps no longer work at all and shut down as soon as I try to open them. Even when I lock my screen there is a lag.

I have tried removing and resetting all my email accounts as I had found in other forum posts regarding the same battery issues, and that did nothing to help the situation.

I am no longer under warranty with my device, so any new ideas would be much appreciated. I never had any of these issues until iOS5. It would be great if my phone would work properly again.

For me (3GS, iOS 5.01), disabling Location Services has made the biggest difference--my phone works *pretty* well after giving up this fairly significant feature. I still have more periodic crashes, but at least I can still use my phone for email/browsing the web/phone calls... very discouraged by the whole experience, but just sharing this so that you might at least be able to get around for a day on a charge. Turning off Location Services has hobbled my iPhone's usefulness, but at least I'm not holding a completely useless device.

Has anyone gotten a good answer at the Genius Bar at their local Apple store? As mentioned above, my battery issues started BEFORE iOS 5. I took mine in 3 weeks ago, but we weren't able to get good data re: my issue because I had recently done a restore. I'm going to make an appointment after the holiday and hopefully get some resolution and will provide an update.

I can confirm that. Deactivating Location Services improves battery lifetime enourmously. I would estimate by a factor 2-3 on my 3GS.

UPDATE

No solution from my Genius Bar appointment. The diagnostic showed that my battery was fine. The person I spoke with was as puzzled as I am regarding the issue my 3GS has of imporper battery level (see above posts). Since the prior restores as new and install of iOS5 did not fix the problem, he figured it was a hardware issue. I am a year and 5 months out of warranty and no apple care program. Good luck everyone!