I am absolutely blown away at the number of posts on this thread - 90%+ of which are pure uninformed speculation, accusations, and disgruntled people who wouldn't be content of our phones could be used heavily and contstantly for a week at a time without a recharge... the question would then be "why won't this piece of junk last two weeks?".
Seriously - if anyone actually took the time to read through the posts on this thread (if the issue is that important, then read through), one would find a handfull of helpful posts that really do help to identify if you have one of the relatively small portion of iPhone 4s devices that DO indeed have battery issues.
Lets all keep in mind - "battery life" is measured based on the initial test units, and just like every other electronics measure or estimates, is based on ideal conditions and "best-case" scenario. In other words - If you have good wifi coverage, flawless 3G, have no additional software (and especially hacks), and essentiall use the phone as a phone. This is much akin to how you can go out and buy a new laptop that claims "up to 5 hours of battery life"... that is assuming screen brightness is turned WAY down, processor is throttled WAY back, no upgraded/faster hard drives, no extra peripherals, no high-demand processes (and those PC stats NEVER include the drain of constant-monitoring/running anti-malware). I have never seen a laptop that actually lasted the length of time claimed with full-blown use (not even Apple, though my experience with Apple laptops - especially my old iBook, that thing had great battery life, even after hundreds of cycles...but I digress).
It goes back to reasonable expectations. In my experience (and with several friends who always buy the latest Android-based top-of-the-line phones) - smart phones from any manufacturer NEVER achieve anything like the claimed use/standby time. Some do a bit better than others, but in general, Android phones don't come close, nor do Windows-based phones.
But again - if someone were to actually try some of the common sense steps posted repeatedly, ad nauseum, in the previous 751 pages to see if it really is a battery issue, or something else going on (corrupt firmware, software, hacks, or other trouble), then there would be a lot less confusion.
3G coverage can create serious battery life issues in ALL phones. 3G is flakey, even where it has been firmly established for a long time. Urban areas, even with lots of towers sees some serious signal issues with constant switching of towers as signals bounce around.
Other issues that affect battery life - extreme temperatures (heat and cold). Heat has a permanent impact, cold more temporary, but also more dramatic (cold batteries drain MUCH faster in all devices and uses).
From many posts, it appears any even remotely serious complaint of battery life results in Apple replacing phones. I don't see how this is bad service. Replacing phones with a simple suspicion of battery trouble would seem to be taking ownership. How man iPhone 4s have been made? Millions and millions. No battery manufacturer has a perfect record. even a 1% failure/refect rate (which would actually be below the industry average), still results in a WHOLE BUNCH of batteries with issues. Anybody ever bought a car battery that died before the warranty ran out? Sure - many of us have. The battery was quite possibly defective from the get go. A small portion of those early-failed automotive batteries may have failed due to other issues (alternator, electrical short, or "mystery drain" which some vehicles show -). There are lots of pitfalls to "hurt" batteries, on top of the percentage that will always come out defective.
No app, short of possibly some kind of high-tech hack into the iOS to change how the device actually DOES the charging, can increase battery life magically. It might help you see what activities and useage patterns do to your battery life. They might even help you to understand WHAT is going on "in" your device.
But I will repeat what I posted previously - we ask our smartphones to do a LOT - far more than our big and bulky laptops of a not-so-distant past. The price of our devices sets us up to have high expectations. If someone cannot live with charging their device daily -then they are likely going to be disappointed with any brand/OS/model. Do some iPhone 4s users get 2 days+ of use between charges? Maybe so, I don't know all the details of how and where they use their phones, or the quality of service in their area.
I have LOTS running on my iPhone 4s, purchased about a month ago - location services turned on for the apps that I use frequently, a few with notifications turned on. Not much "push", email checks every 30 minutes. Screen brightness about 40% (unless I'm in a very bright location). I probably make/receive a handful of actual calls, totally 30-40 minutes. I spend significant time using Safari, TwitPal, a bit updating/checking facebook, quite a few texts, take a few photos, etc. Sometimes I even pick up my phone instead of my MacBook Pro (which is probably better suited) to do some quick google searches. I use this iPhone more than my previous iPhone 4, and the 3g before that. Yesterday, since I didn't go in to the office, my phone was used a bit more. By the time I plugged it up when I went to bed, it was down to just under 10%. It was "off the plug" for 15 hours.
I am unsubscribing from this thread - 20-40 inane and mostly unhelpful posts every day is driving me nuts.
Scarface.
Level 1
(86 points)
Jason L
Community Specialists
