Q: iPhone 4s Battery Life?

i have spoken to tech and the guy saaid its definitely a software issue since before i did update my battery life was fine. i can do a reset back to 5.0 but its a pain in the rump. so i guess i will have to suck it up and ait for another stupid update. i just recently switched from an android and i guess software issues are always gonna be a problem with everyone...

See,

That's the thing. Too many variables.

My phone has been sitting here for an hour at 51%. I guess the phantom drain is not an issue.

BUT, why am I down to 51% in 12 hours when I haven't talked on it, or streamed video, or any other power eating activity?

I have checked email, looked at some apps, checked more email, but didn't write any all on wi-fi. So, what is eating 49% of the battery capacity? Especially if it's not draining on "idle"?

James said: See, this is the problem. Apple's specs can't take into account every users' habits. Someone may have 50 apps, 20 using location services, while streaming music via 3G, which I would imagine, would drain much faster than the specs say.

Me: that's why I say that a user's best meter is...their own phone's performance in the past. People know when their own phone is performing substantially worse than, say...yesterday. I know that, given my own, unique, personal phone setup, use and habits, my battery lasted upwards of a day and a half on a full charge. That is why I know that because my phone now dies within 5-8 hours...something isn't right.

Update: Over 30 minutes and haven't lost ONE percent of battery power. This is looking good!

James said: BUT, why am I down to 51% in 12 hours when I haven't talked on it, or streamed video, or any other power eating activity?

Me: I'm thinking that the new features included in the update have just resulted in more battery use over all. Maybe it requires more battery...but some kink has caused it to completely drain batteries until you implement some kind of "fix"...either by wiping or hard reboots, etc. Again, just speculation.

I mean, I do realize that more functionality will likely result in more battery usage...just not as much as I was experiencing at first. I do think that it's encouraging that at idle, you are not draining. That's what was bugging me the most.

I got off the phone with apple and supposedly a IOS 5.0.2 is going to be pushed very quickly at least thats what i got from the phone call

Sign,

If you get a free battery monitor app, like Boost Magic, or Battery Magic (there are loads), it will tell you how much time you can do "things" with the battery life you have left.

So, for instance, I'm 51% right now. Boost Magic says I can talk on 3G for 4 hours, Standby for 150 hours, go on the internet for 5 hours on wi-fi or 3:30 hours on 3G, audio playback for 20 hours, etc. These estimates are based on Apple's current draw algorithims.

Now, if I talk for 1 hour and my battery capacity drops to 15% then it's not meeting the expected current draw. The spec should be about 12.5% per hour of talk time. If it drops 35%, well, something ain't right.

Either there is too much current draw, or not enough battery capacity.

But I also want to be clear, I AIN'T no techie. LOL Everything I know about iPhones I've learned in the 2 weeks I've had it. My previous phone was a wonderful LG 8300 not-smart phone.

But I do see a real problem with people reporting their issues without really putting them in context.

Yes darobman, I rare use blue tooth, do not talk much over the air so you are correct. Great, thanks for pointing this out.

Blue tooth if on does show the icon, grayed out.

How can it NOT be iCloud?

My phone started behaving when I shut off iCloud.

Hmmmmmm.

Good Point, so it is similar to the old PRAM jam...

Sometimes you got to give it five to make sure to clear all that jive....

Will, time to watch and Airplane marrathon on my next flight.

Well, if that is the case developers will see it first and all that seems to be up on deck is iTunes Match. Note to say that there is not more to come but it seems that specifics are triggering it.

Are most of the people having the problem on older phones or the 4s? What models and ram, etc?

Have the devices ever been jail broken?

James said: So, for instance, I'm 51% right now. Boost Magic says I can talk on 3G for 4 hours, Standby for 150 hours, go on the internet for 5 hours on wi-fi or 3:30 hours on 3G, audio playback for 20 hours, etc. These estimates are based on Apple's current draw algorithims.

Me: Hi, James! I'm going to play devil's advocate again. LOL. Okay...so it says how much time you have left depending upon where you are now...but, that's assuming that conditions will be the same the more you use the phone. That's why I am leary about those "meters". I mean, under what conditions were those parameters set? If it says I have 3 hours left of talk time on 3G...does that include if my YahooIM is open and FB is linked? Does that factor in if I'm using vibrate, but the ringer is on silent? Or does it factor those things in real time and based upon what's open and running now...THAT is how much time I have left?

Update: It's been nearly an hour and I've lost 4% battery life on standby. That's better than before, but I still recall having my phone only losing a percent or two over multiple hours time on standby. But, it's better than before.

I got my iphone replaced due to battery problem

i charged my new one to 100 %  few hours ago and now testing the battery with new software update..

Everything is turned on

Right now my battery is at 87% remaining

usage time :  1 hour 23 minutes

Standby time : 2 hours 52 minutes

what you guys think about my battery  at this stage..

I understand everyone's frustration with the battery issue and wanting to solve it yourself.  I have seen many of the solutions and am not convinced of their validity.  I do believe a " hard reset" will help alleviate battery drain but there is an equal less drastic way to accomplish the same result without chancing data loss.  You can manually close down all apps by double clicking the home button and then holding one app till the "x" appears so you can shut it down. Close down every app including the phone app.  I believe there is a "runaway" app which is using extra CPU cycles and draining the battery.  I suspect the mail app but have nothing to back it up.  Please don't use the hard reset unless your phone has become completely unresponsive.  It is the equal of ripping the power cord from the wall outlet on your home computer.  I certainly hope an update, 5.0.2 is out soon but I am not holding my breath.  I say this because I have not seen any indication posted by developers saying there is a 5.0.2 beta.  Common sense solutions such as turning off unneeded push alerts, screen brightness, and unneeded location services on individual apps could not hurt.  I have not experienced what some of you are describing such as a two hour battery life.  I admit iOS 5 is not as "battery power sipping" as 4.x was previously but I can still make it through most days of moderate use without a charge.

Sign,

Okay...so it says how much time you have left depending upon where you are now...but, that's assuming that conditions will be the same the more you use the phone. That's why I am leary about those "meters". I mean, under what conditions were those parameters set? If it says I have 3 hours left of talk time on 3G...does that include if my YahooIM is open and FB is linked?

Well, yes. Since the Apps don't run in the background, they aren't using up the juice. (Except for audio and GPS which keep running).

Once you start talking, everything else should be idle. (Of course, I don't know what happens if you are on the internet AND talking, like in the ATT commercials. I'm on Verizon, I can't do that.) Maybe the location services keep going too, not sure.

But again, it's a TEST of capacity. Is the current draw close to Apple's specs? Try it and see.

Last night I was SHOCKED to find out that my 45 min conversation used up pretty much exactly what the specs said it should use.

I want to test it again, but I can't think of anyone I want to talk to for an hour. Or even 15 minutes at the moment! LOL

My XGF could always be counted on to call and talk about herself for hours. Where is she when I need her? LOL

just following up on my previous post- i have re-enabled wi-fi and turned OFF the option for iTunes wi-fi syncing.  This has completely eliminated battery drain and the phone is standing by as normal, losing only 1% or less per hour. Something is very very wrong with the wi-fi sync option as it was causing my phone to lose 10%/hr battery power.