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Scarface.

Q: 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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Q: iPhone 4s Battery Life?

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  • by Sticktron,

    Sticktron Sticktron Nov 16, 2011 3:21 AM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 3:21 AM in response to Scarface.

    Also, I'm an extreme on the spectrum of usage. I work off my phone, I play off my phone, all day, every day.

    Dumping headers reading compiling things testing private frameworks, extending Apple's fantastically extendable OS.

     

    Did you know you can Change Any system Behaviour quite easily thanks tovavfeature of the objective-c runtime?

     

    (sorry for letters-instead-of-spaces: example of a problem for me personally, that i can fix in a half hour by trivially drawing the hotspots on top of the keys, then allowing you to resize/reposition them.) Objectivec makes that possible, with any of my own code, just some private frameworks and duct tape.

  • by Gstar1119,

    Gstar1119 Gstar1119 Nov 16, 2011 3:37 AM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 3:37 AM in response to Scarface.

    Hey all,

    Prior to installing the 5.0.1 patch my battery life was stellar. Now I can barely go 20 hours on an average days use before fully draining the battery. I understand that if I shut off some features I could improve this, but the fact is, I shouldn't have to compromise what features I use when everything was fine a few days ago (pre-update).

    I'm not sure if it's nested somewhere in the 370+ pages of this post, but my next step is to try to restore to 5.0 and keep my apps and settings intact. I just wanted to add myself to the list of dissatisfied iPhone users-- hopefully this issue keeps its traction.

  • by parish_chap,

    parish_chap parish_chap Nov 16, 2011 3:38 AM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 3:38 AM in response to Scarface.

    I've had an idea what may be causing poor battery life - at least for me...

     

    For the first few weeks after getting my 4S my battery life was excellent, the suddenly it went bad...

     

    Originally:

     

    Charged to 100% at night, ~95% in the morning, and ~35% when I got home from work

     

    Now:

     

    Charged to 100% at night, ~80% in the morning, and ~20% when I got home from work

     

    Been trying everything, and doing some serious head scratching. Then I realized that the daytime usage was the same - ~60% - for both scenarios so the big drain was only overnight

     

    At home I have Wi-Fi, but during the day at work only 2G cellular.

     

    So, it seems to only be a problem when on Wi-Fi

     

    Finally, I worked out that I didn't enable iTunes Wi-Fi Sync until I'd had the phone a few weeks (it's disabled by default) although I can't be certain that the change in battery drain coincided with enabling iTunes WiFi sync, but it was certainly around the same time.

     

    I'm now thinking that my phone is searching for my MBP (which is turned off) all night trying to sync to iTunes. This would explain the big overnight drain.

     

    Tonight I'm going to disable Wi-Fi Sync (has to be done from iTunes) and see if the battery drain rate goes back to how it was.

     

    Does anyone else with poor battery life have Wi-Fi Sync enabled?

     

    I would guess that if you have any Wi-Fi connection then it will try to sync, even if it's not your own home W-Fi - which may explain why some people have really massive battery drain as they may have a Wi-Fi connection at work etc.

  • by CharlesJanssen,

    CharlesJanssen CharlesJanssen Nov 16, 2011 3:47 AM in response to parish_chap
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 3:47 AM in response to parish_chap

    Yes, the problem with the iphone 4S battery is the wifi sync option in iTunes. Deselect it, ( don't forget to press 'sync) and your battery problems are over.

     

    Currently testing to see if you can reselect it again and effectively reset something in IOS 5.0.1 in combination with iCloud/iTunes.

     

    More info about this workaround and work in progress at buxbusters

  • by Lameth,

    Lameth Lameth Nov 16, 2011 3:50 AM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 3:50 AM in response to Scarface.

    I also have battery life problems. On top of that I have the bad microSIM problem, causing my phone loosing the carrier network all the time.

     

    I am wondering if the SIM problem can be the origin of the battery life problem.

    Since the phone fights a lot to keep in touch with the network, it seems reasonable to think that trying to querry the network all the time all day long is very much battery consuming. my 2 cents..

     

    Lameth

  • by troelsit,

    troelsit troelsit Nov 16, 2011 3:54 AM in response to Scarface.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 3:54 AM in response to Scarface.

    I was wondring about the specified times from Apple.

     

    THey states 6 hours safari on 3g and 9 hours safari on WIFI

     

    What if you are using safari on WIFI - and at the same time you are listening to music and eventually also use some different location services (GPS) within safari.


    Then it will probably dramatically drain the battery and will maybe last for what? 3-4 hours?

     

    Let me know your experiences and/or thoughts about this

  • by CharlesJanssen,

    CharlesJanssen CharlesJanssen Nov 16, 2011 4:00 AM in response to Lameth
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 4:00 AM in response to Lameth

    Hi Lameth :

     

    With regards to the battery usage : deselect wifi sync in itunes and press sync. See what this does for your battery performance and post your experiences here.

    With regards to your phone loosing carrier network : a new simcard solved this problem for a friend of mine with exactly the same problem. Ask your provider.

  • by Lameth,

    Lameth Lameth Nov 16, 2011 4:06 AM in response to CharlesJanssen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 4:06 AM in response to CharlesJanssen

    Hi Charles,

     

    what if I don't use wifi sync? I mean, I never connected my iphone to my computer since I am running Linux and I don't have itunes installed on it. Does my iphone still try to sync?

     

    Lameth

  • by prkgs982,

    prkgs982 prkgs982 Nov 16, 2011 4:07 AM in response to miless
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 4:07 AM in response to miless

    Sorry for this post in the forum. It will be a topic out of discussion

    @miless

    I really like your post and I think you contributed a great deal about temporary fixes of iP 4S battery issues. It is sure so much frustration for anybody who was on the unfortunate road. I experienced that. Did everything by following the suggestions from this forum. On fortunate thing for me was I could return the phone and waited a little by still using my backup phone to let this madness calm down. I like your post about the arguement of evolution. If there was not any evolution from each century (thanks to the mind of great people), we would not be where we are now. The world is constantly moving and changing. If you want to stay in one place, then you are moving backward. So everyday is a learning experience. Take the iPhone 4S for example. Nobody in their right mind wants to buy a phone with so many great features and turning off a lot of them in order to accommodate for the essential part of the phone. But because of the issues of the battery, a lot of people here in this forum become a great help through their experience of the iPhone4S to probably over 400K people out there to keep their phone working probably until there is a true fix. Is that called EVOLUTION? To me it surely is. Does this phone issue provide people a lot of experience in buying new products, thinking about Apple's product, frustrating about Apple? Definitely. But it is also called learning in life. I definitely enjoy this learning part and really appreciate your contribution to the forum.

     

    @1AppleADayNoWay

    You are also a teach savvy person and aslo contributed some help to the people here in the forum. Probably like me you also like to read what people said here regarding to the battery of the iPhone 4S. However, sometimes I could see you were out of your line in trying to protect your points of view. It is just the choice you make in life. You are free to live your life the way you want it. Nobody can take that right from you. So we are in the 21st century, but if you want to live your life in the 19 or 20 thcentury, it is fine with anybody else. It also means there is nothing wrong with other people enjoy anything new coming out in the market. If there was no yesterday, then there was no today. People know that. We respect the past but that does not mean we don't want to move on to a better future. The past was the past. We live at the present and look for the future. So I think it is irrelevant to say which one is better than others. Take the iPhone4S. You don't own the iPhone, You don't know how frustrated people are about this battery issues. It doesn't mean that other smartphones are not great but this is Apple's product and Apple's forums. People come here to contribute their experience, let out their frustration, and hope in vain that Apple can fix this issue permanently and fast.

    However, technology takes time to develop and go through different stages. Of course, Apple tested their products before they let it out in the market. But there will and always be a small change that there are some bugs in software, faulty hardward, and faulty device. It alsways happens.

     

    So please only contribute to the issue in hand that people are so mad right now with the battery of their phones and please  do not comment on how people live or want in their lives or use their phones because that what they want and that is their lives. And please do not feel upset about what I said, it is just my observation. Thanks

  • by parish_chap,

    parish_chap parish_chap Nov 16, 2011 4:09 AM in response to CharlesJanssen
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 4:09 AM in response to CharlesJanssen

    CharlesJanssen wrote:

     

    Yes, the problem with the iphone 4S battery is the wifi sync option in iTunes. Deselect it, ( don't forget to press 'sync) and your battery problems are over.

     


     

    Thanks for confirming.

     

    This make iTunes Wi-Fi Sync useless. You either put up with very poor battery life, or you don't use it.

     

    You can't enable/disable it from the phone so enabling it only when you want to sync is not possible - you have to enable it from iTunes when the phone is connected via USB, which defeats the object.

  • by CharlesJanssen,

    CharlesJanssen CharlesJanssen Nov 16, 2011 4:12 AM in response to Lameth
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 4:12 AM in response to Lameth

    Hi Lameth,

     

    The problem pops up when migrating from a previous iphone save. If you had the option for wifi sync selected, this setting will also migrate to your new setup. This setup will show the battery bug.

    If you have never used iTunes you won't have wifi sync on since you can only switch it on when connected via a cable to iTunes. You therefore won't have the battery bug.

     

    Like mentioned before : more info on buxbusters

  • by CharlesJanssen,

    CharlesJanssen CharlesJanssen Nov 16, 2011 4:15 AM in response to parish_chap
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 4:15 AM in response to parish_chap

    Hi parish_chap.

     

    Currently I am testing to see if you can select , sync and reselect sync the wifi sync option again to see if this would 'reset' something in iTunes/IOS/iCloud . You would then be free of the battery bug and still have wifi sync.

     

    Like mentioned before : this bug shows when migrating from a previous iPhone save. If you have the wifi sync option enabled in your save, it will be enabled in your new setup as well. Then the bug shows up.

     

    Results will be online in a few hours here : buxbusters

  • by parish_chap,

    parish_chap parish_chap Nov 16, 2011 4:48 AM in response to CharlesJanssen
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 4:48 AM in response to CharlesJanssen

    CharlesJanssen wrote:

     

    Hi parish_chap.

     

    Currently I am testing to see if you can select , sync and reselect sync the wifi sync option again to see if this would 'reset' something in iTunes/IOS/iCloud . You would then be free of the battery bug and still have wifi sync.

     

    Like mentioned before : this bug shows when migrating from a previous iPhone save. If you have the wifi sync option enabled in your save, it will be enabled in your new setup as well. Then the bug shows up.

     

    Results will be online in a few hours here : buxbusters

     

    I've just realized a flaw in my rationale. The iTunes Sync is only supposed to happen when the iPhone is connected to the charger - so it shouldn't be trying to sync when the phone is left overnight but not on charge. Or is this what the bug is?

     

    EDIT: I think I've answered my own question. If my MBP is on and itunes is running then my iPhone connects to iTunes even if it's not on charge, it just doesn't actuallly perform a sync so, it is still looking for my MBP overnight.

  • by rishan,

    rishan rishan Nov 16, 2011 4:45 AM in response to mojofromhickok
    Level 1 (6 points)
    iPhone
    Nov 16, 2011 4:45 AM in response to mojofromhickok

    mojofromhickok wrote:

     

    Well my iPhone is on iOS 5 ( not updated )and its running fine. Lasts two days 10 hours without charge and still at 21%.

    After reading your posts, I'd rather wait for 5.0.2 or 5.2 or whatever it is you guys call it

    Btw usage time is 22 hours 21 mins as of this moment

     

    OMG that is awesome. Currently my standby time is 54hrs since the last charge and battery level is at 50% at the moment. But my usage time is only 4 hrs. Though I'm getting a good standby time, when I start using the phone battery drains pretty quickly. The highest usage time that I have got so far is 8hrs. Also I have switched off everything 3G, Wifi, Location, Siri, Notification (Except for messages and phone), bluetooth etc.

     

    What are the settings of your phone? Did you changed anything to get that kind of a usage time?

     

    iPhone 4S, 16 GB, iOS 5.0.1

  • by davidch,

    davidch davidch Nov 16, 2011 4:48 AM in response to cls24
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 4:48 AM in response to cls24

    cls24 wrote:

     

    Has anyone figured anythiing out yet?  I did a full w/trickle charge last night to 100%  Today I used the phone maybe 1/2 hour or 45 minutes and I am down to 35% charge.  On my iPhone 4 I would charge every few days.  Seems with the iPhone 4s I will have to charge it every night or more.

     

    Go through these steps to address the battery after updating to iOS 5.0.1:

     

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

     

    2. 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)

     

    3. Turn off system location services timezone and iAd

     

    4. Fully discharge battery  (tilll it shuts off with the spinning wheel)

     

    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!

     

    More details on my thread here if needed: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3484755?start=0&tstart=0

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