Q: iPhone 4s Battery Life?

I should also add - now my iPhone has ALMOST the same horrible battery life that my Galaxy S does.  Maybe this is some new marketing scheme where Apple doesn't want to COMPLETELY blow away the competition, but stay ahead, "just a little".

Jason_AU                           

"come on Apple, fix this issue.
im sure it's a ios5 issue, not a battery issue."

I agree.

I work 12-hour shifts and listen to podcasts all day.

Before the IOS5 update, and after 8 hours, my 3GS would be down to about 73%.

After the update under the same conditions, it would be down to about 45%

With the 4S that I just started using last week, it wouldn't even last eight hours.

It would suck if I had to take BOTH iPhones to work to survive the day because of crappy battery life.

I just don't get what is happening, last night my 4s lost 40% power just on standy from 11pm to 6.30am this morning. So i've fully charged the phone again and its only lost 1% in the last 2 hours!!! I've used it a couple of times to make a call....

I do understand that most people will not have the time or will not bother to ready through all the advice given in this thread. But I want to repeat my experience and I hope it will help some people.

To add to the comments below: I did my second trickle charge yesterday evening. Went to bed (battery 100%) woke up in the morning with the battery still showing 100%

-------------------------------

Ok, my 4S is now working completely as expected.

I'm not sure which step did it in the end, so I'll just repeat my experience.

FIRST ATTEMPT:

I did the 'recovery mode' restore first. After which I started from scratch and disabled the often mentioned notifications and location services that seem to cause trouble.

After that I did a full discharge and charge of the phone.

That made a huge difference. The phone still discharged too quickly but it was A LOT better than before, especially when actually using it (as opposed to it being on standby during the night)

SECOND ATTEMPT:

And this is where the magic probably happened.

I did a 'restore settings' (which doesn't wipe the phone), disabled the usual notifications and location services again.

I then used 'Battery Doctor Pro' to do a charge with trickle charge.

Went to bed, phone 100%.

Woke up, phone 98%

4hrs later with moderate use (email, texting) but lot's of driving (so network searching)

Phone 93%

Latest update: see begnning of this post

Moogerz:

"I just don't get what is happening, last night my 4s lost 40% power just on standy from 11pm to 6.30am this morning. So i've fully charged the phone again and its only lost 1% in the last 2 hours!!! I've used it a couple of times to make a call...."

Almost the same thing happened to me last night/this morning. Please keep us updated on the battery drain.

Had very poor battery the first week with my 4s (first iPhone, Sprint). Have played with some of the settings. After a few full discharge and recharge cycles things seem to get better. First few days were horrible.

But, its nowhere near where the specs say they should be.

Gmail as Exchange

Calendar and Contacts on, Push

2 other emails - 1 IMAP, 1 POP, set to Fetch, every hour, unless I manually check.

Disabled Siri lift to talk

Disabled Time Zone, iAds, etc.

Only a handful of Apps - SalesForce, Maps, DropBox, GoogleAuthenticator, Flicker, etc.

I do not use location based reminders.

Currently

Usage 1h 3m

Standby 3h 8m

Am down to 80% @ 10am.

Took it off the charger @ ~7am, 10 minutes light browsing, 1 text, then locked as I got the kids ready for school.Started in the office @ 8:15am. 3) 5 minute phone calls, Some emails that popped up while computer rebooted.

Is this normal?

I'm coming from a BlackBerry Tour (great battery life, horrible trackball, etc.) to an HTC EVO (charge mid day while listening to music then again overnight...) to the 4S.

Best I've seen since getting the phone is 14h 20m standby with 4h 20m usage. That was down to 2-3% before bed and I put it on thh charger.

I am having the exact same success as ycooreman with Battery Doctor Pro!   Ran my phone down to 11% last night, then opened up BDP and plugged in.   This morning I was at 100% when unplugged.   I am now at 34min usage and 5 hours standby at 93%.   That puts me on pace for ~~71 hours of battery life.   I'm feeling much better about this phone.

64gb 4s black.

EVERYTHING.   I have disabled no sevices

Push email for my office exchange acct and Yahoo mail

fetch for gmail

ycooreman wrote:

 

I do understand that most people will not have the time or will not bother to ready through all the advice given in this thread. But I want to repeat my experience and I hope it will help some people.

 

To add to the comments below: I did my second trickle charge yesterday evening. Went to bed (battery 100%) woke up in the morning with the battery still showing 100%

 

-------------------------------

 

Ok, my 4S is now working completely as expected.

I'm not sure which step did it in the end, so I'll just repeat my experience.

 

FIRST ATTEMPT:

 

I did the 'recovery mode' restore first. After which I started from scratch and disabled the often mentioned notifications and location services that seem to cause trouble.

 

After that I did a full discharge and charge of the phone.

 

That made a huge difference. The phone still discharged too quickly but it was A LOT better than before, especially when actually using it (as opposed to it being on standby during the night)

 

SECOND ATTEMPT:

 

And this is where the magic probably happened.

 

I did a 'restore settings' (which doesn't wipe the phone), disabled the usual notifications and location services again.

 

I then used 'Battery Doctor Pro' to do a charge with trickle charge.

 

Went to bed, phone 100%.

Woke up, phone 98%

 

4hrs later with moderate use (email, texting) but lot's of driving (so network searching)

Phone 93%

 

Latest update: see begnning of this post

I'm with you, I solved my battery performance.  Not sure what ritual actually fixed it.  But it came from these forums.  Usage 7 hours, standby 2 days 18 hours and battery is now at 17%.  Maybe if there is a IOS5 bug fix, I'll get even better results.

When I go to Settings > General > About > Diagnostics & Usage > Diagnostics & Usage Data, I have several logs, and two of them is called LowBatteryLog. The first one is dated the day I received the phone (Monday), the other is dated today. Does the phone make a log every time the battery is low? Just wondering.

Sprint iphone 4S

Went to bed charged 100%

Woke up 100%

Sent 3 texts, 1 phone call, looked at facebook, CNN app, checked email (did not send)

Standby 930 hrs

usage 39 mins

Battery went down to 89%. I am not sure I used it for 39 mins either. I probably used it for 15 mins if anything. I have noticed that the phone can hold its initial 100% charge pretty well until I use it. Then once I use it, the battery starts to drop rapidly not only during use but also in standby. I dont know if that means anything, but just sharing my experience. Also, I was called by the apple engineer crew yesterday and they installed some battery logging app on my phone. Hopefully that will help come to a solution for everyone.

Apple must assume responsibility for releasing a defective product. After many months of wait time, it's poor business to release a defective device or operating system that is frustrating many loyal customers, let alone new ones. I do expect Apple to publicly admit the problem, just as they did with the antenna issue. I do expect Apple to own up to their responsiblity. Where is Jobs when you need him....Is this is how it's going to be with Cook?

Frustrated iPhone 4S owner....

You have a short memory......   This is being handled no differently than Antennagate was.   It took several weeks for APPLE to admit to the problem and deal with it.   I know patience is not easy, but hold on a while longer........

bennun wrote:

 

Apple must assume responsibility for releasing a defective product. After many months of wait time, it's poor business to release a defective device or operating system that is frustrating many loyal customers, let alone new ones. I do expect Apple to publicly admit the problem, just as they did with the antenna issue. I do expect Apple to own up to their responsiblity. Where is Jobs when you need him....Is this is how it's going to be with Cook?

 

Frustrated iPhone 4S owner....

Just as they did with the antenna issue?  I hope not.  If that's the case, it will be about 2 weeks of blaming the consumer, then 2 weeks later, they'll offer some kind of "bone" but they'll still insinuate that there's nothing wrong.

My phone is at 83% after 24 hours standby and 53 minutes usage... I just disabled cellular data when not needed and enable it when I do...

I have exhausted every possibility. The only way I get runtimes approaching (BUT definitely not at) advertised rates, is when I turn everything off and only turn on wifi when I want use internet related apps (mail etc). I am returning my 4s for an exchange in the unlikely event it is really a hardware issue. If that doesnt help I have done everything possible. I will follow up with any improvements or downgrades from the exchanged unit.

My singular frustration is not so much that the phone has reduced performance versus the iphone 4, or any other phone for that matter. My frustration is that the advertised tech specs from Apple for the 4s are no where near the performance for my phone. If those numbers are specsmanship or the 1% scenario where all radios off and no menaingful apps then a more realworld metric of runtime should be advertised. In my opinion it comes down to expectation management. If apple said Average standby is 100hours with a peak of 200hours with no radios etc., I could at least have made an informed decision ahead of the purchase recognizing what I should see on average.