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iPhone 4s Battery Life?

My iPhone 4s battery seems terrible! Almost equivalent to my 3GS and it's terrible battery life. When I got my iPhone yesterday and restored from backup I noticed nothing really changed with minimal usage and standby! Is this normal or should I consider setting it up as a new phone because maybe something is running in the background that's causing it to drop a percentage every few minutes under light usage? Input would be great!

Posted on Oct 15, 2011 7:14 AM

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12,787 replies

Oct 20, 2011 2:43 PM in response to Scarface.

Like everyone else here, I am having battery life problems.


I still have my old iPhone 4 (which has identical applications and settings as my iPhone 4S). I charged both to 100% and left them overnight (no apps running, nothing).


Woke up 7 hours later and the iPhone 4 was down to 97% whilst my iPhone 4s was at 64%. Another hour has passed and the 4S is now 55% and the iPhone 4 is at 96%.


After a day's normal usage, my old iPhone 4 would finish at around 70% but the 4S is virtually dead.


I don't use push for email etc, and the settings on both phones is exactly the same (other than Siri).


I will try to drop in and see a Genius. I do hope this is a software thing with the 4S and can be fixed with the next upgrade

Oct 20, 2011 2:51 PM in response to xenolalia1

I done this fix below at 20.30 and the phone was on charge at the time, battery was 55% while on charge, I disconnected the phone and it dropped to 54% straight away so assumed the battery was just settling down after being un plugged,


I have used the phone a few times for texting in the last 2 hours and the battery is now showing 51%


Just to recap on what it was like before the fix, 6am this morning it had been on charge all night and showed 100% by 8.30am battery showed 87% I done far less usage of the phone than normal and by 4pm it was showing 20% and in red


I will leave it OFF charge over night, ( now 22.40) and see what it is like in the morning.


The fix I tried was on about page 5 I think, its the one that starts off with a network reset and then deleting all mail accounts.


I just done a few more texts and in last 2 hours 20 mins its dropped from 54% to 50% how does that fair ? seems better don't you think?


I will report back tomorrow morning.

Oct 20, 2011 3:04 PM in response to Snowwolfwarrior

I preordered the 4S from Verizon, right now I have a Blackberry.


It hasn't arrived yet, so I can still cancel and get a regular 4, or just cancel and wait until this Apple addresses the problem.


If any of you were in my shoes right now, would you cancel and wait, or stick with the phone? From everyone's posts, it seems like some peoples' battery problems are working themselves out after a few charge/recharge cycles


Also, I don't think I have any use for iCloud. If I never use it and never even set it up, will that save me from the problems you guys are experiencing?

Oct 20, 2011 4:05 PM in response to Community User

77% @ 4pm (with the settings listed previously on Page 21)... much better then previous days, but still crap that ya gotta "tweak" everything to get decent results (why aren't they default settings if that's what it takes to get better battery life from the device)!?

Oct 20, 2011 4:26 PM in response to Scarface.

Ok so it seems that the biggest issue here is the fact that people didnt give enough time for the phone to calibrate.. Everyone should give the phone a couple FULL Recharges. By FULL i mean 20/10/0% to 100% charge..Do that at-least 3-4 times and then report results here.. I feel after a couple of good charges the phone lasts longer now...

Yes, some friends got the phone and automatically have good battery but sometimes phones work differently. I went to the Genius twice and they told me about indexing etc and how sometimes with new phones they really need to figure out how things work etc. The fact that it is new is the reason it probably overheats etc, after a few days or weeks of having it, it should work itself in. Otherwise if it doesn't, we just need to wait for an update to iOS, because this is not a hardware issue....

Oct 20, 2011 4:45 PM in response to Scarface.

I've had my 4S up and running for about four days, I can't believe how fast the battery drops.

My 3G never ran out of juice this fast and I'm not doing anything different. SIRI is off.


Someone suggested that you turn a wack of stuff off. Why? This is an obvious issue and Apple needs to address it. My 4S is going back to the store.


I apologize for the handle, I have no idea why it's showing as Apple_sucking. I never selected that and I can't seem to find the page to change it.

Oct 20, 2011 4:51 PM in response to NC Kishore

NC Kishore - how long does it take for the 4s to recharge? (Mine hasn't arrived yet, but I want to be ready when it does).


I read somewhere there are applications I can download to make the battery drain faster (like a flashlight app), so I can get the drain/recharge cycles done faster.... but how long does it take to charge back up from zero?

Oct 20, 2011 4:59 PM in response to John 637

Hi John 637: Honestly I have not timed it. But approximately from 0% to 100% it might take over 45 min to an hour provided you plug this into the wall socket NOT your laptop. Laptop charging takes much longer.


Yes, to drain it faster get the free flash light app you will notice the battery drop almost 1% per 40sec or so when the light is ON.

Oct 20, 2011 5:14 PM in response to Scarface.

.w


Excellentposts folks!


Oneof the things that I found that is could be significant is:


Chargethe iPhone 4S by USB only!


The heat buildup by charging with the A/C adapter has to be harmful to the battery: indeed “heat” is a one of the primary cause of ashortened battery life


One must also condition” the battery: .i.e.to assure a long life: let your 4S discharge nearly fully then chargefully...at least once a month. Please see extensive discussions on this issue of conditioning a battery by myself and other forum members under “MacBook Pro” forum.


I have two (at the moment) iPhone 4S(64GB)'s and a new 17” MB Pro and I don't plan on having to replace battery(ies) for lack of knowledge on this issue.


Let 'er rip and...


cheers

Oct 20, 2011 5:27 PM in response to Scarface.

I exchanged a 3GS for a 4S and my battery life is terrible! I have disabled all location services, most of my notifcations, try to limit my use of the phone and by the end of my work day (with my phone simply being idle most of the day, my battery is 35%)


Currently my usage time is 1 hour 48 minutes and standby 11 hours 6 minutes battery life = 38%



I am very dissapointed with this. I feel like I have been ripped off, I have turned off everything that makes my iPhone 4S a 4S and the battery is worse than my old 3GS


My old 3GS would stay charged for three days with the same amount of usage.

iPhone 4s Battery Life?

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