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Level 1

4 points

How I fixed my 4S battery problem

I do understand that most people will not have the time or will not bother reading through all the advice given in the massive battery problem thread. So I just want to repeat my experience here and I hope it will help someone.

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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 (google for 'iphone boot recovery mode' to learn how to do this). After which I started from scratch (using a 4S backup should work as well) and disabled the often mentioned notifications (disable calendar) and location services (disable time zone) 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: General > Reset > Reset All Settings), disabled the usual notifications and location services again (see above).

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%

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Latest update:

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

8hrs later with fairly heavy use (emails, calls, text) and mast jumping (driving), notifications, Siri and location services switched ON.

Battery 80%

Posted on Nov 2, 2011 7:40 AM

59 replies

Core23

Level 1

34 points

Dec 22, 2011 2:37 PM in response to ycooreman

Hmm. I downloaded Battery Doctor Pro, to try it out. However I am wondering....why under status does it list apps and services I don't have, or ever have used?

Kindle Reader - Not installed, yet 15hr 25 min

Airplane Mode - Never used, yet 67hr 20 min

Hotspot - Never used, yet 7hr 3 min

EDIT:

I found that you can uncheck them, but still does not explain were the numbers come from.

Core23

Level 1

34 points

Dec 23, 2011 6:05 AM in response to Core23

Ahh..I guess they are estimates for total time to use a feature.

Dec 24, 2011 9:44 AM in response to Core23

My iphone 4s battery hasn't been great with ios5, but it didn't seem as bad as what many people were experiencing, especially on standby. Until a couple of days ago I was only losing about 4% on standby overnight (about 7 hours), but suddenly yesterday it got dramatically worse. Last night I lost 24% overnight on standby. I hadn't downloaded anything new or changed anything, but even more bizarrely since I recharged it this morning my usage time and standby time are exctly mirroring each other! I have tried "reset all settings" and turned off Siri, location services, most notifications and my emails download manually only. But still my usage and standby times are exactly mirroring each other, currently both reading 6 hours 40 minutes.

Has anybody else experienced anything similar? Not sure what to do.

Vormund

Level 1

0 points

Jan 18, 2012 7:54 PM in response to ycooreman

Going to try this when I get back home tonight.

ycooreman, your iphone 4s battery life sounds amazing. Hope it can help me and others as well. Will try and keep this post updated 🙂

Core23

Level 1

34 points

Jan 18, 2012 8:08 PM in response to ycooreman

Tried this program....made no impact on my battery life. Stuck with 6 hours or less all the time total use.

ycooreman Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 19, 2012 1:41 AM in response to ycooreman

I have to write an update to this, which maybe sets some people's mind at ease a bit..

Ever since I updated to 5.01 battery life went down the drain and this time none of the things that worked before have worked since.

My battery will now drain almost 20% overnight, even in airplane mode. I hardly get to the afternoon doing a medium amount of calling, browsing and email checking without loosing 50% battery life. Which, officially, makes t worse than that horrible Nexus I had for a few months last year. Well done Apple, you made something worse than Android.

I guess, on the bright side, this is obviously a software problem as, before the update, everything was perfect for me.

I do have to admit, if the next update doesn't fix the battery problem, I will drop the iPhone as I already can't use it as a business phone anymore. I just can't trust it to last the day. Actually, not even half a day on business use.

I better start checking out other phones, just in case.

Core23

Level 1

34 points

Jan 19, 2012 5:58 AM in response to ycooreman

20% overnight is not right. I drain 2-5% at most. It's just the standard phone use that drains down very quickly. I used to get upset my 1st generation Droid only lasted 24 hours before it needed to be charged.

As far as I know, all the battery fixes were to address the constant drain when not in use.

Personally I leave bluetooth off, turned off iCloud photo stream, turned off Ping under Restrictions, and turned off all System services Locations.

Mail is set for Push off, and fetch hourly. I get 5-6 hours of general use out of the phone total.

Vormund

Level 1

0 points

Jan 29, 2012 6:50 PM in response to Core23

My Settings:

Location: OFF

Data: OFF

WiFi: OFF

Siri: OFF

Notifications: ON

Mail: Manual, no Push.

iCloud: Not signed in.

Bluetooth: OFF

Set Time Zone automatically: OFF

Overnight, from 12am - 8am: Lost about 2-5% like Core23.

Around 10-12 hours of usage and 16hours+++ of standby for a total of 100% battery.

Is it ok? 😮

Core23

Level 1

34 points

Jan 29, 2012 7:59 PM in response to Vormund

How do you use your phone with both Data & WiFi off?

ycooreman Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 30, 2012 1:32 AM in response to ycooreman

My battery life is still unacceptable under 5.0.1 but I have seen improvement by uninstaling Facebook. It constantly pings even when shut down it seems.

Vormund

Level 1

0 points

Jan 30, 2012 1:33 AM in response to Core23

I had both of them off just to test out the battery drainage overnight.

I usually have EITHER WiFi or Data on, depends whichever is available first.

Feb 1, 2012 4:06 PM in response to ycooreman

Hi,

I was having some issues with my 4S which I bought sim free from the USA (I live in the UK). It's never been too bad but in standby I would sometimes lose 3-5% battery. I have just completed the reset as you described in your first post and it has seemed to have made the battery life better. I am now draining 0.5% on average. I'll see how it gets on tomorrow.

Sep 4, 2013 11:51 AM in response to ycooreman

Hola tengo un iphone 4s con la ultima actualizacion del sotfware, pero ultimamente esta que se carga completa y cuando esta por un 80% o 90% se apaga solo, que le pasara? Necesito ayuda por favor.

Core23

Level 1

34 points

Sep 4, 2013 12:06 PM in response to noelia perez

At this point I would simply upgrade the phone. Next iPhone will be anounced on Sept 10th, making the iPhone 4s 2 versions old.

How I fixed my 4S battery problem