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IOS-5 battery power drain issue

Did somebody notice a major power drain issue after iOS5 upgrade on iPhone4? Last night at midnight, it was ~90% charged. In the morning, it was 37% charged. By noon, it was dead. I didn't make even 1 call during this time. Connected to Wi-Fi at home and strong 3G signal. Bluetooth is off, location services are off, all that stuff. The same phone's battery would last for 40 hours with my normal usage with IOS 4.3.5. Anybody knows if any specific feature of iOS5 is causing this battery drain?

iPhone 4, iOS 5

Posted on Oct 14, 2011 1:16 PM

Reply
225 replies

Nov 13, 2011 7:23 PM in response to RakeshPDX

I don't know if this has been covered elsewhere. In case it hasn't, I've seen this battery issue on two phones with iOS5. One was a 4s the other a 3GS.


In both cases, the issue was fixed without really turning anything off. The only setting that needed to be changed was to set the carrier setting from automatic, to manually selecting your carrier. I think for the majority of people this setting wouldn't change anyway.


I don't know if it will work for others, just thought I'd share my experience. It seems like the battery is drained by constantly searching for other networks or soemthing. Anyway, worked for me on two phones.


Settings > Carrier > Automatic = Off.

Nov 13, 2011 8:59 PM in response to Above3

I'd definitely turn personal hotspot off if you're not using it.


I was referring to disabling automatically searching for a carrier. Availlable Carriers (your phone company) will vary from country to country.


Again, the setting may be unavailable on your iPhone due to some carrier restriction or something. Your phone may need to be unlocked or something depending on where you are in the world.

Nov 13, 2011 9:41 PM in response to beejster

@beejster I've never had a problem myself. I know of two other people, one with a 3GS and one with a 4S that were having the issue and the carrier setting fixed it for them.


I'm not saying it's a sure fire fix for everyone, or that 5.0.1 wouldn't fix it. Just figured I'd share my experience in case it was useful as there are still a lot of reports around that people are still having battery issues even after installing 5.0.1.


If 5.0.1 fixes it for people, great. If not, it's just something else to try.

Nov 13, 2011 9:55 PM in response to dotcom78

After my husband urged me to move to iOS 5, I upgraded my 4G iPhone to iOS 5.0.1 on Friday. Since then, my formerly great battery depletes in about 10-12 hours with fairly minimal usage. I turned off most apps that I normally run, including turning off WIFI when I'm out of the house and 3G when I'm in the house.

Also, the finger touch is way less sensitive in many apps than it used to be.


This is very frustrating for me - a fix that was supposed to fix some people's battery issues causes battery problems that were not there before.


I don't know what to do. I do not have Carrier option in settings, FWIW.

Nov 13, 2011 11:22 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

I disagree with those here who say (claim?) that Apple isn't monitoring these forums, because they sure do, and occasionally delete the odd comment they deem detrimental to their company, but that's another subject.


As most of you in this thread, I've upgraded to iOS 5.0.1 on Friday, and kept the phone plugged in USB to my MacBook Pro until it read 100%. I haven't called or texted much over the weekend, but right now, my battery reads 69%. On the same charge as Friday's.


With iOS 5.0, I wouldn't have made it past Sunday afternoon. With this update, I'll make it last until tomorrow morning, at least (I live in France). I've disabled push and most localization apps, though I still get the little compass arrow every time I take a picture.


Bottom line is, this update works for me, and I'm perfectly happy with my phone.

IOS-5 battery power drain issue

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