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

Jan 4, 2012 8:12 AM in response to Beetch18

Depending in the current location of your 4S, it could be that the effects of all the electricity, wireless and other wave lenght going around had an effect.


It's mathematically proven that if your iPhone 4S was in an horizontal position in the city it would spend more battery than if it would be vertically in the middle of the forest.


Then obviously, I am not even talking about the current position of the moon which could also affect it.


To summarize... I have no idea and it seems like nobody, not even Apple knows.

Jan 4, 2012 8:14 AM in response to mcmmotorsports

mcmmotorsports wrote:


Something that has worked for me, may work for you. Now, I did restore to 9A406 but I think what really fixed me up is this: Let the phone drain all the way till the phone shuts off itself. Then, simply recharge overnight. Doing so allowed me to get 1 day, 2 hours of standby with over 7 hours of usage. That, in my opinion, has me satisfied with this device now. Give it a try.did


did you charged it overnight turned on? or off? anyone have tried this and effective?

Jan 4, 2012 8:26 AM in response to marc-man

I am not sure just how the iPhone measures 'usage'. If it means when any app that YOU installed is running, then the usage might be correct, should you leave one active that actually consumes CPU (or worse GPS) power when the screen is off. Note that the iPhone is not 'off' unless you do the power off bit. Otherwise, it is in what they call 'sleep mode'. When in sleep mode, we KNOW it checks for mail, checks to see if alarms are due, also for notifications, and reminders, and checks to see if text messages have come in. In short, the only thing it doesn't do is keep the screen on. It's a small computer, and it is never really idle.

A word about the cell network. If you live in an area where tall buildings may affect your signal, the phone may be ramping up the power on your transmitter trying to maintain an active 3G connection. This can cause pretty unpredictable power usage. When I travel to areas where there are few ATT towers, my power usage goes way up.

My phone has Photostream and Find my iPhone turned on in the cloud, email checking is manual. Location apps are active. My average use is about 20% battery power for each day. I recharge once a day.

Jan 4, 2012 8:35 AM in response to Tamarillo

I did NOT say I charge the phone at every opportunity. I charge once a day, or before I go somewhere I won't be able to recharge in case I am gone longer than planned.

I think lithium ion batteries are more dependent on the total use pattern than the number of recharges. Generally, they are good for about 3 years, unless they are deep discharged (which the iPhone won't allow), or suffer damage from shorting, or excessive heat.

An MANY users don't know that apps you minimize with the 'home' button still continue to take up some RAM, and CPU time on the iPhone 4 and 4S. Multi-tasking is relative new to the iPhone, and many users aren't aware that those some of those apps still continue to run when minimized. Also, many, if not most, users aren't aware of the programs that continue to run in the phone even when it is in standby, and which you only see if you install an app that shows this information.

Jan 4, 2012 8:55 AM in response to rphunte42

I've just done an iTunes restore without backup. I've done the set-up procedure and left locations and siri off. I'm not installing any apps at all, or using anything for contacts, calendars or mail so there is nothing on it that can be deemed as corrupted. As soon as my battery has fully discharged I will do a full recharge and then see how the battery fairs over night in standby.

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iPhone 4s Battery Life?

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