Q: iPhone 4s Battery Life?

Is wi-fi a significant cause of battery drain? I basically have everything turned off- location services (except cell search & compass calibration), notifications/push notifications, bluetooth, icloud. I wonder why you've experienced a much greater battery life than i have

Well I swore I was finished with this 'Apple is the devil BS posts". However,  the advertising is much like a cars sticker aluding to gas mileage. They ALL state way better mileage than anyone would ever get in the real world. All based on IDEAL conditions. If you have a sports car and drive the **** out of it it will get WAY less MPG, Unless you are in the same conditions that the mfg had in the lab you wont get their proclaimed MPG. If you have a phone and turn on every single feature it can do with hundreds of add on 3rd party apps all wanting to report notifications and locations and blah blah its not going to function like the ones in Apples Lab either or live up to the "specs". Face it, ALL manufacturers post best case under ideal conditions what it "can" do specs. There is no way Apple or anyone else is going to know how many or what kinds of apps you are going to install, what features each single person needs, (everyone dont need everything just because the phone has a switch that can be turned on) or how every single user is going to use the phone to state a written in stone spec. I think they cover it in stating  UP TO:

• Talk time: Up to 8 hours on 3G, up to 14 hours on 2G (GSM)
• Standby time: Up to 200 hours
• Internet use: Up to 6 hours on 3G, up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi
• Video playback: Up to 10 hours
• Audio playback: Up to 40 hours

Now I am sure some out there are having issues, I have personally helped a LOT of them. Not by just turning off every feature but reparing corrupted settings and uninstalling apps written for iOS 1. And I do believe there are some inherient issues left with iOS 5 that Apple is hard at work on. However, stating the spec and compairing it to the micro second with ALL features turned wide open is just foolish. If you really believe it get a lawyer, provide the above stated specs and see what he tells you. UP TO means you probably wont get MORE than that.

Tamarillo wrote:

 

Hi rphunte42,

what do you think about Apple's behavior...i mean advertising features i have to switch off...i mean no support...i mean no information?

I

guitardude7 wrote:

 

Is wi-fi a significant cause of battery drain? I basically have everything turned off- location services (except cell search & compass calibration), notifications/push notifications, bluetooth, icloud. I wonder why you've experienced a much greater battery life than i have

Wi-fi can drain your battery if there is now wi-fi in the area, because it's searching for wi-fi connection and 3G is also running. Oh...disable bluetooth too when not using it. It can cause battery drain too. These suggestions r usually found in most cell phone and smart phone manuals. Good luck!!

When i do use wi-fi i have the "ask to join networks" feature turned off though. Do you think it still searches for networks when that feature is off?

I just discharged the battery completely and fully recharged it, and I noticed something sort of odd, not sure if any of you have experienced this. When I took it off the charger, I used it for 33 minutes straight before it dropped to 99%. Then it dropped to 98% after 4 more minutes, which is the same 1% every 4 minutes that I had been experiencing normally. Does this mean anything??

I have the same issue, very exact same thing. Sometimes the phone will stay at 100% for like 4 hours then drop to 98% then from there goes down hill fast....

I really think the whole battery meter and usage meter is screwy anyway. I had 30 minutes of usage showing and 14hr 25 minutes standby showing today. But I was actually on phone calls for 60 minutes. I saw that in the phone call history when I looked because I knew I used the phone more than 30 minutes today just for phone calls alone so I went and looked. Downloaded an app and fooled with it for a short bit plus normal stuff text message or two, e-mail. So 30 minutes of usage is just completely incorrect.

Maybe that's the whole deal with the battery issues, folks here are really getting the 200 std by and 8 hr phone and 40 music and 6 Internet and just don't really know it cause the stupid usage gauge is telling them they have only 25 min usage and battery is dead so they think there is a problem ....... (Kidding) But really it could be at least a part of the issue because like I said if I were comparing my battery life I have gotten with what was being reported today for usage it would appear MUCH worse. I just happen to know I used the phone more than 30 minutes and have 60 min proof in call logs alone.

i don't think it's the battery meter, cause if just use your phone lightly throughout the day, and by evening it's dead, somethings really wrong...

@rphunte42

rphunte42 wrote:

 

It's kind of funny, since if you did a search for my name, you would find me under Apple Haters.  I have never liked Apple, as a company, but decided to buy the 4S because of experience with my wife's 3GS, and the iPhone 4 I used for a month (long story).  It is simply head and shoulders above anything else in the market.

This what I thought too that iPhone 4S must be better than iPhone 4 but obviously I was wrong! The majority  (>80%) of iPhone 4S are affected by hardware issue like for example static noise.

rphunte42, have you checked you iPhone 4S for the static issue? I am pretty sure that you have it!

I am not anti-consumer, but I see little benefit in attacking a company you want to help you. 

Yes, it helps complaining when a company does not do it job properly and it sells miserable phones! In the end that company will have even to help me even that I complained! Do you suggest that a company should not help its customers because they complain?

I'm sorry some people have battery issues...

Again you got it wrong! People do not have battery issues!!!! The iPhone 4S has battery issues! iPhone 4S has hardware issue regarding the static noise due to a faulty chipset. Apple has issues with its iPhone 4S!

I'm sorry some people expect too much of the phone.

People do not expect too much from a phone! People expect what are they told about a phone! If one sells a phone and states that the battery lasts 200 hours and in real life lasts ~36 hours which is ~18%. As I said Nokia E52 lasts easily 5-6 days of usage (and it is smart enough to switch from 3G to 2G network when necessary to save energy; iPhone 4S is "dumb" enough to stays on 3G network even if it has one bar coverage and five bars coverage for 2G [please note that here 3G is different than cellular data]).

I anticipated that the phone would use more battery power than the 4, but after turning off the things I didn't want, or need, and installing 5.01, I have very good battery life.

You just wrote in one of your posts that you charge your iPhone 4S every time thru the day when you have an opportunity! Therefore the battery life (good or bad) has no much relevance in your case so saying "I have a very good battery life" is not very credible!

They WON'T be corrected by legal action, but by talented technologists.

Yes, they can be corrected by legal action! The talented technologists are just doing what are they being told by the management at Apple which in this case is ignoring the issues of iPhone 4s and and still sell a phone with a miserable battery life and with a proven hardware issue! This is a very recent example how Apple got slapped for mishaving:

Italy fines Apple $1.2M over warranty issues

http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/27/apple-italy-fine/

@sbailey4

sbailey4 wrote:

 

I really think the whole battery meter and usage meter is screwy anyway. I had 30 minutes of usage showing and 14hr 25 minutes standby showing today. But I was actually on phone calls for 60 minutes. I saw that in the phone call history when I looked because I knew I used the phone more than 30 minutes today just for phone calls alone so I went and looked. Downloaded an app and fooled with it for a short bit plus normal stuff text message or two, e-mail. So 30 minutes of usage is just completely incorrect.

 

Maybe that's the whole deal with the battery issues, folks here are really getting the 200 std by and 8 hr phone and 40 music and 6 Internet and just don't really know it cause the stupid usage gauge is telling them they have only 25 min usage and battery is dead so they think there is a problem ....... (Kidding) But really it could be at least a part of the issue because like I said if I were comparing my battery life I have gotten with what was being reported today for usage it would appear MUCH worse. I just happen to know I used the phone more than 30 minutes and have 60 min proof in call logs alone.

Indeed that battery meter on iPhone 4s is not behaving linearly:

- on 98%-100% range it takes a very long time,

- on 98%-90% range it takes long time,

- on 90%-50% range is dropping fast

- on 50%-20% range is dropping very fast

Anyway the point is that still the battery life of iPhone 4S is miserable and this means that the time from the moment it is fully charged until the moment is discharged  is astonishgly short even that one has plenty of settings off. It is much shorter the time compared to iPhone 4!!!

@sbailey4

And I do believe there are some inherient issues left with iOS 5 that Apple is hard at work on.

Also, one should not forget that majority of  iPhone 4S have the static noise issue which is a hardware issue:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/17202604#17202604

However, stating the spec and compairing it to the micro second with ALL features turned wide open is just foolish.

Is it too much to have the email on push so one can be notified immediately when gets and email? I do not think so!

Is it too much to ask to have iCloud turned on? I do not think so!

Is it too much to ask to have Cellular Data on? I do not think so!

Is it too much to ask to have Wifi on? I do not think so?

Is it too much to ask to have Notifications on for Calendar, Emails, Messages, iMessages, Weather? I do not think so!

Is it too much to ask to have Locations on for some Apps? I do not think so!

@Cyberman04

Cyberman04 wrote:

 

Yes...I am using Verizon.

enx23 wrote:

 

@Cyberman04

 

 

Cyberman04 wrote:

 

I found that battery life on any cell phone or smartphone will depend on the usage and how the user has it set up. My iPhone 4S battery has lasted me 2.5 days without charging and was down to 1/4 charge by then. That's pretty good battery life. I recommend (if you want to extend battery life) disable location features, auto-checking of email, and either turn off iCloud or just have one item in it activated, such as documents or something. I prefer to sync directly to my mac then having something stored or transfered from and outside source. I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

Are you on Verizon?

I have noticed in this forum that iPhone 4s behaves much better on CDMA networks (probably it switches more efficiently between 2G and 3G network) than on GSM networks.

At least it looks like thru these posts and also on my GSM network the iPhone 4S stays on the 3G network even that in the same spot I have 5 bars for 2G network!!!!

@rphunte42

rphunte42 wrote:

 

OK.  You went 1 whole day, with almost 7 hours of usage, and you still have 5% battery left.

I think that this is pretty bad compared to iPhone 4!!!!

That would seem adequate for most users.

This does not seem adequate for most of users!! It is not even close to adequate! Just imagine in a year when the battery will be worn down that in the same situation the iPhone 4S will not last even a full day and one would have a fix phone from Apple named iPhone 4S!!!!

One should keep in mind that the battery wears down and in a year one will not get not even close to the same battery life as one gets one the phone is new!

Yesterday I was watching a 45min streamed show over wifi

(3g data BT and Siri off) when my battry was on 9%

I've ended watching the show with battery on 1%

Seems ok for me

Conclusion : problem with 3G nothing else

I recently went from my home in AZ to TX; I was there for three weeks.  I had fairly good battery life in AZ.  I would get two days on the battery.  I have a wi-fi computer at my desk and my iPhone sits at my desk 90% of the time.  As soon as we left on the 2 day driving trip, I noticed that the battery life was much less.  It continued to be much less the entire time I was in TX. I was charging it two to three times a day.  I was in a home that had no wi-fi.  Once I returned home my battery went back to lasting two days before it needed charging;  I feel certain that the wi-fi made the difference.  Perhaps someone could test my theory and see if they get the same results.