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 8, 2012 1:03 PM in response to MKZA

@MKZA



MKZA wrote:


I agree hunting down the culprit is already proving to be fruitless, I've already proven location services (in my case anyway) is not the cause. Hoping next update will rectify.

Already almost three months have passed and no software/firmware update fixed the battery life issue in iPhone 4S!


Also one should look to the history:

- iOS 5.0 beta => battery life issue was not fixed

- iOS 5.0 => battery life issue was not fixed

- iOS 5.0.1 beta => battery life issue was not fixed

- iOS 5.0.1 build 1 => battery life issue was not fixed

- iOS 5.0.1 build 2 => battery life issue was not fixed

- iOS 5.1 beta 1=> battery life issue was not fixed

- iOS 5.1 beta 2 => battery life issue was not fixed


Why one expects that iOS 5.1 will fix the battery life issue if it has not been fixed in the last 7 iOS updates?

How many more iOS updates are necessary to fix the battery life issue?

Jan 8, 2012 1:13 PM in response to tutin12

tutin12 wrote:


You really can't read, can you? How did you view this thread since it hit the 100k mark if you can't understand the meaning behind the letters? I DID NOT MAKE 40 minutes of calls, the phone generates activity (USAGE) on it's own and yes, the difference is drastic just by turning celldata off. At least with me. Stop behaving like a ***** in virtual freeland!


For your proof,AND A REFERENCE TO WHOEVER IS INTERESTED, here's a screenshot of my device today with over 1 day of standby and 1h 34m usage (which is NOT realistic, I have barely called and did NOT use the phone at all for the purpose of this test. I recon I have no more than 30-35 minutes of calls and NO other usage).


Granted I didn`t properly read. You didn`t make 40 mins of calls, you made 30-35. I`m really off the mark. But you can`t read either - background processing counts as usage so your 1 hour on top of those 34 mins comes from that i.e. a few mins per hour for 24hrs of standby. This will be autochecking of email and other apps polling through your wifi. It is clear you don`t have any standby drain issues with that setup, but you also don`t have a 3G smartphone with that setup so I fail to see the point. I mean, you now have a wifi phone. Bravo! And good luck with that!


p.s. thought I`d paste the definition from the link you didn`t read:


Usage: Amount of time iPhone has been awake and in use since the last full charge. The phone is awake when you’re on a call, using email, listening to music, browsing the web, or sending and receiving text messages, or during certain background tasks such as auto-checking email.

Jan 8, 2012 2:17 PM in response to rphunte42

rphunte42 wrote:


It seems to me that something is running in the background to generate that usage number. Trying to track down just what that is may be a job for someone with a lot of technical expertise.


Well, actually I sort of disagree on this one in the sense that the battery indicator behaves in a non linear way... if overall it ends up being 16-17% for the hour then it`s within spec - it`s 3G internet. Real time monitoring is useless with such a flaky indicator. On the other hand, if Apple included for free a system process monitor with the device and greater logging facilities, that would go a long way. Then if they included a terminal, the only thing you`d need to do is ps -A then killall (processname) and that would be the end of it. It`s not great technical expertise, it`s basic maintenance. If it were to crash the device how bad could that be really - it respawns and that`s it. But the Apple `experience` is one where you don`t get to have such `power`. It`s supposed to work out of the box but when it doesn`t you`re stuck guessing. A shame. I wish for a more empowering experience.

Jan 8, 2012 4:23 PM in response to enx23

🙂 I am over this so this is the last post for me. I was simply saying I COULD state those numbers based on 10 people like the10 you mentioned in the article. Unlike you I would not try and quote a total number of iPhones in the world that are good or bad based on 10 or 15 friends I know. Also only Apple has the capacity and knowledge to do so. That would not be an easy task even for them considering there are literly millions (multi-millions) of iPhones sold worldwide. So you can believe what you want and I will believe what I want and we will just leave it at that.


For others here, disregard any statements about this % or that % that have static or battery or any other issues and problems as anyone posting such is simply stating an opinion and there is no such evidence to support it.


BTW I cant confirm how many 4s's have been sold but with 4million sold the first weekend I would guess a safe guess would be 10 million (probably way low) and I an assure you if 80% of 10 million iPhones had the problems you descibed I would bet there would be a bit more more about it going on and Apple would most likely stop delivering them them until it was resolved.

enx23 wrote:


@sbailey4


What is your estimation of the iPhones 4s which are affected by the static noise issue? It is easy to write that something is nonsense and sit and wait for god to give you the most correct percentage!


You quote your friends. I quote my friends and a newspaper!


If I take the mean of your estimate, which is ~0, and my estimate ~80% then one has that 40% of iPhones 4s have the static noise issue which is a hardware issue! 40% is still a huge number of iPhones 4s with faulty components!


Also this forum has ~830 000 views. Let one assume that from these 25% have the battery problem with iPhone 4s. This gives that there are at least ~200 000 iPhones 4s with battery problems (in USA, Canada, and UK alone) which is a huge number! Also one should keep in mind that that the 830 000 views are coming mostly from USA, Canada, and UK!!! How ever you turn the numbers around they still look bad for iPhone 4s!

Jan 8, 2012 4:37 PM in response to owh786

Technically they say "Up To 200 hrs". They state Up to for all the features in their specs not that it is x hrs. Also in the notes: "All battery claims depend on network configuration and many other factors; actual results will vary." Just saying this because 180hrs std by (mentioned earlier) is still with in their stated spec technically.


owh786 wrote:


But standby time is with the phone screen off so brightness won't matter. And neither do apps, they state WITH WiFi AND 3G ON the battery life in standby is 200 hours, so surely it must before with these two features off!!!

Jan 8, 2012 5:02 PM in response to MKZA

MKZA, First of all you dont have to wait til any date to check for updates. You can press the check for updates any time you want and it will set the auto check to a time later after doing so. However the new 5.0.1 version will NOT come down this way since its a controlled release.


Now to get the 9A406, (which is the latest version not sure what you mean folks with lots higher versions) you have to select restore (within itunes). It will offer to backup, download the new version then offee to restore. Here is information if you want to take a look.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4148

Also if you perform the "reset all settings", process posted below it may help. That process has helped a LOT of folks acheive normal battery life.


[Credit to DavidCH]

Follow my steps below and in the exact order as specified... good luck!


1. Reset all settings (settings app-> general-> reset)


2 a. Go through initial setup steps (lang, wifi, siri, enable location, etc) and choose setup as new phone (don't worry your apps, data, contacts, mail will still be there). Do NOT restore from iCloud or iTunes (It can copy back corrupt settings)


2 b. If you do not get the complete new setup screen with language setup and setup as new phone or restore from iTune/iCloud backup, be sure to go back to #1 and reset all settings again (it should happen the second time)


3. Turn off system location services timezone and iAd (settings -> location services -> system services)


4. Fully discharge battery (until you get the spinning wheel and it shuts off)


5. Fully recharge battery (overnight if possible)


In my experience this improves the Standby battery drain issue significantly in most cases. It reduces drain from 2-4% or more per hr to 0.5% or less. It has worked for many, many users now. If it does not work after a few try's you may have a real battery or hardware issue and should contact Apple. Good Luck!


MKZA wrote:


What irritates me is some users who have 5.0.1 report improved battery life while others have very VERY poor battery life. Then I discovered there's different versions of ios5.0.1 each ending with a different firmware number, mine is 9A405 and I've seen users posting here with much higher firmware numbers but apple gives no way for us to download the later version of 5.0.1. Annoying yes, silly most certainly. Why not let ALL users have access to the latest firmware then we can actually compare apples with apples (excuse the pun)


I'm now also told I must wait until iTunes decides to check again, apparently on the 11th to see if apple will grace me and many others here with the latest firmware. It 's so annoying because this phone is not even 9 days old and performed like this since the iOS 5.0.1 update the day we setup the phones. I know this phone has the ability of good battery life but it seems there's buggy versions of firmware and others that fix it.

Jan 8, 2012 4:58 PM in response to rphunte42

@ rphunte42


Hey, it says up to 8 days, I'm saying I need 3 days with WiFi and 3G ON because the stats say up to 8 days standby and I am only asking for less than half of that as standby with the other 50% on what I use normally. It should be more with WiFi and 3G OFF!!!

So I need it to be near those stats because apple have published those stats...

Jan 8, 2012 5:17 PM in response to owh786

🙂 Are you forgetting the part that the specs are not ALL features but either or? So maybe up to 200 hr std by IF you dont do any thing else. Certainly any internet use over 3g for example it going to drastically shorten your total std by for example since its using 16.6% per hour. Any other items you use will change it further. So its not really as simple as saying well if I use my phone only 50% of the time, then I should get 4 days standby. Its way more complicted that that. However here is some info you can put to use that should get you close if you track what you are doing. Remember Apple states UP TO so those are the max they are stating. They also state " "All battery claims depend on network configuration and many other factors; actual results will vary."

  • Talk time: Up to 8 hours on 3G, (100%/8hr = 12.5% per hr) Up to 8 hours on 2g (100%/14hr = 7.14% per hr)
  • Standby time: Up to 200 hours (100%/200hr = 0.5% per hr)
  • Internet use: Up to 6 hours on 3G, (100%/6hr = 16.6% per hr) Up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi (100%/9hr = 11.1% per hr)
  • Video playback: Up to 10 hours (100%/10hr = 10% per hr)
  • Audio playback: Up to 40 hours (100%/40hr = 2.5% per hr)


owh786 wrote:


@ rphunte42


Hey, it says up to 8 days, I'm saying I need 3 days with WiFi and 3G ON because the stats say up to 8 days standby and I am only asking for less than half of that as standby with the other 50% on what I use normally. It should be more with WiFi and 3G OFF!!!

So I need it to be near those stats because apple have published those stats...

Jan 8, 2012 5:32 PM in response to JonGoldman

im in the same boat here. Upgaded from my 3G and i have actually noticed the battery life on my 4S to be worse than the 3G. Its really odd, because i can't even depend on my phone. As of right now im losing about 12-15% an hour. I charge the phone to 100%, take a shower and by the time i come out i lose 10%!! On Standby?? This is ridiculous....the IOS update didnt help/resetting my system preferences did not help/turning off location services etc etc etc and i got nothing. I always delete 'backround' running apps after use.


This is actually pretty disappointing, esp considering an upgrade from a 3G should have been a relief...not the frustration of carrying the USB charger everywhere I go.

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iPhone 4s Battery Life?

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