iOS 5.0.1 - Made my iPhone 4S battery performance worse!

Just a quick addition to the note above, when I was gettting good battery life (with iOS 5.0.1 and before), I had location services on for several apps, system location services were on, cellular data and wifi were both on pretty much always, and iCloud was on after iOS 5.0.

Now I have to keep most of that stuff off to get my battery to last a day. I still had BlueTooth and push email and notifications off back then, but that was about all I had to turn off.

Likewise so I truly believe there is something wrong with the last update and turning off features is not a solution!

I can't agree more. Great tips from others on how to conserve battery given all the issues, but I didn't buy a phone to turn all the features off.

I also just updated over the weekend ( Iphone4 ) and my battery is dropping fast. Even when i shut it off at night it depletes . I have everything turned off that I can and it still depletes... What gives APPLE ???

FYI there is nobody from Apple moderating or listening. They stopped doing it in 2006.

Untrue because I and a number of us got a call from Apple about our battery performance post on this forum.

Yeah So this is my first Iphone (4S). I have been an avid Droid user for years and always had great luck with them (battery, OS, ect). So I decided a week ago March 25th 2012 to take the plunge and get an iphone family plan with my significant other, assuming "what the heck, everyone says the battery life is the best thing about the phone". From day one this phone has been dog**** battery-wise. Not only is my phone affected, but my girlfriend's same model phone is the same exact way. So let me get to it already:

I consider myself a tech-savy person and thought hey I can figure this out, man have I been wrong, along with 98% of 4S users. So the phone came stocked with iOS 5.0.1 I think. After suffering bad battery life for two days, with realistic/perfect charging to condition the battery, I assumed it was either a bad battery or iOS issue. I realized there was an update due for iOS 5.1 that noted bugs and fixes for battery issues. I proceeded to DL and Install once I had a full battery charge, while being plugged in. I thought to myself, "this is great, finally!" but to no avail; the battery life was still terrible... No Gain or Loss compared to before. Let me elaborate a bit...

*Stock Phone out of box iOS 5.0.1 (03/26/12)

-Day 1 with 100% charge, everything set to default, wifi off when not in use. I unplug from charger at 515am to get ready for work and lay the phone on my desk downstairs and continue to get ready for work. Leave for work and arrive at 7am, phone is at 88-90% (not even touched yet). By 12pm I leave for luch and I am anywhere between 35-40% on battery with on average 3 websites viewed and maybe, just maybe one phone call made. If I made it home at 4pm without my phone dying I don't remember.

-Day 2 (same exact scenario for the most part)

-Day 3 (same scenario) except this time I was proactive after reading about shutting off all the extra background services, apps, siri, ect, but nothing seemed to help at all! Literally if I saved 1-2% I didnt notice.

*Upgraded to iOS 5.1 (03/29/12)

-Day 4. Discovered update that noted bugs and fixes for battery issues and dove in as soon as my phone was at 100% charge. I thought I was finally free form the grips of this...nope. Everything back to default running on 5.1 I had no gain or loss in battery performance. I figured I would again try disabling all the background services listed before, but nothing would help. Sometimes it would drain a lil faster than other, but for the most part I was losing 10-15% an hour at least with the most minimal of use.

-Day 5. I called Apple and their Sr. Advisor acted suprised, as if she hadnt heard of this issue really 😐, and set me up an appointment with the "Genius Bar". Sooo I wait for that appointment hoping for a new update or patch to resolve this issue so I would'nt have to drive 2hrs to the closest apple store.

-Day 6 and 7 resolve nothing other than reading forums and trying to educate myself on the issue.

-Day 8. (04/02/12) I go to the Apple Store. The "Apple Genius" does a diagnostic scan on my phone and determines the battery and hardware seem healthy, but becomes aware of the giant loss in battery as we sat there for 10mins and it dropped over 10%. He was shocked 😐 and said "this def is not normal". He proceeded with options, such as "I can wipe the phone clean and give you a new battery or I can just give you a brand new phone". I wanted to rule out hardware entirely so opted for the new handset replacement so I could start from scratch. So we moved forward and I went on my way back home with my 2nd iphone 4S with the original 5.0.1 on it. Charge conditioned it and didnt put any apps at all on it or upgrades. I wanted to see what the culprit was. It still was draining after giving it a lil use (10mins of soft web surfing and a 4min phone call). I seemed to be in the same boat again and dissapointed. I was right to feel that way because my battery issue was there exactly the same as before, except I had an empty phone I had to start all over with again...

-Day 9. (04/03/12) Decided to upgrade new handset to 5.1 hoping for the best, assuming it really just needed that bug fix through the upgrade. Pretty much started my work day at 7am with iOS 5.1 on the new handset with no apps or customizations. Battery life still the same. I could not believe it, so again I disabled all the services listed before to see if it would help along with some other troubleshooting I read about over the weekend... Nothing would help. I could not find the culprit! Battery was still draining at an alarming rate.

-Day 10. (TODAY! 04/04/12) Did my usual 7am-4pm workshift. While at work my battery showed signs of no hope once again, but I decided to get over it for a few minutes and finally use the smartphone portion of my purchase and redownloaded my apps one by one and see how the battery reacted; nothing seemed to help or hinder the battery life.

So here I am at 8pm trying to help the cause by giving the steps I have taken. Sorry if I have left out important details, but I am exhausted over it, so feel free to reply with extensive questioning. My only hope is to shed some light for apple and its iphone users. Too many places I have read that people werent doing enough or were doing too much, which annoyed me because I could relate to every single one of the issues and I know you guys can to. So enough from you guys who say try this, try that, stop using the phone so hard, swap it out at apple, upgrade, restore from itunes, restore from scratch, put it in the oven, put it in the freezer, because NONE of that has worked for me on any level as of yet. Same for my girlfriends phone. None of these steps have helped my battery life and I know there are other in the same boat which is deflating.

Currently my iphone 4S is a white 32gb with iOS 5.1 installed.

I am on Sprint and generally have 4-5 bars of service all the time, including 3G.

My serial number is starts with DQGH12V*****

Model MD246LL

Version 5.1 (9B179)

Let's crush this rediculus issue that has gone on for far too long.

Hi phonytony,

Sorry to hear about all the trouble you are having. I feel for you.

In earlier post BryGuy had a great temporary "bandage" to help while we wait for APPLE to get off their

Butts and fix this...and for the few that chimed in and complained it wasn't a fix...it was never implied it was.

So after saying this I did what BryGuy did and YES! the battery drain majorly slowed down.

I have told my friends and they have seen the same results after doing what was "suggested".

After I did changes and charged it up fully, I have been on the same charge for 2 days and that's using

My phone normally..ie texting, calls, Internet, iTunes, music, apps.

Again this is suggestion that helped...not a permanent fix....only APPLE can do that.

So heres what you can do....

GO TO: Settings / Location Services ( LEAVE IT ON)/ press it to open next window/ Scroll Down

To very bottom to : SYSTEM SERVICES/ press that to open next window.

You will see:

Cell network search/compass calibration/diagnostic &usage/ location-base iAds / setting time zone/

And traffic.

TURN THEM ALL OFF

This DOES NOT affect the operations of your phone. PROMISE.

What this is, is a way Apple and your cell phone carrier keep track of how you use your phone, where

You are...ect. It's a marketing thing.

It constantly sends out signals and that's what's draining the battery the most.

Again,,I've done it, my friends have done it, my family and the charge on the battery has now been

GREAT.

Hope this helps

Okay, Important realtime update!

-Day 11. I went to sleep last night at 1030pm with my phone unplugged at 93% and just woke up at 515am to grab it at 90% and currently at 6am it is still at 90%, this is huge for me, but actually realistic...

What did I do different? It it basically in tandem with what a few other dudes were saying on here: the 3G.

I looked on Sprint to see my coverage area (work and home) and it looked good, I am even two houses or so down from excellent service. That said, my phones service bars and data service reflect that considering I get pretty quick upload and download speeds.

So to the difference:

Location Services: ON

System Services: OFF (not that this should be a factor because it never helped before)

WIFI: ON

Cellular Data Services (3G): OFFFFF!!!!

-Nothing else dissabled and bam.

So with the culprit pointing to the 3G antenna I am going redirect my focus today, but this is the only positive feedback I have been given in the 10 days I have been hammering away at this phone. Apple needs to put us on their payrolls for this?

With all that said, I have not been able to get any momentum the entire time whatsoever with any troubleshooting tactic until now, with just turning off cellular data (3G). I am even running WIFI and tons of apps to push the phone a lil and it isnt budging battery-wise. Like other have said, this def doesnt "fix" the issue 😠, but it is a slight work around that will set your battery life back to the stone age of good batteries.

Go ahead:

Setting>General>Network>Cellular Data (OFF!)

Now this is redic considering your biggest monthly cellphone plan cost is generally your data, but it seems to me it's better temporarily than to have a totally dead phone. I am pretty sure apple has installed some shotty antennas in some of the handsets that is constantly pinging the network hard and it probably has something to do with iOS 5 being 4G ready... This is EPIC FAILURE for this company I think. I think they know it to, but like the original 4S issue it should get solved, but I am sure the flawless iphone 5 will come out then, since they seem preoccupied by it rather than fixing this issue within 6-7 months. I can only hope they knock off $400 dollars at trade in with this phone for the new one at minimum.

Hit me with any other questions.

For anyone new to the thread be sure to go through these steps to address the battery standby drain after updating to iOS 5.0.1 or 5.1:

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

2 a. 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)

2 b. If you do not get the complete new setup screen with language setup and setup as new phone or restore from iTune/iCloud backup, be sure to go back to #1 and reset all settings again (it should happen the second time)

3. Turn off system location services timezone and iAd (settings -> location services -> system services)

4. Fully discharge battery (until you get the spinning wheel and it shuts off)

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!

You can check details on my thread along with numerous successes here:https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3484755

Yeah So this is my first Iphone (4S). I have been an avid Droid user for years and always had great luck with them (battery, OS, ect). So I decided a week ago March 25th 2012 to take the plunge and get an iphone family plan with my significant other, assuming "what the heck, everyone says the battery life is the best thing about the phone". From day one this phone has been dog**** battery-wise. Not only is my phone affected, but my girlfriend's same model phone is the same exact way. So let me get to it already:

I consider myself a tech-savy person and thought hey I can figure this out, man have I been wrong, along with 98% of 4S users. So the phone came stocked with iOS 5.0.1 I think. After suffering bad battery life for two days, with realistic/perfect charging to condition the battery, I assumed it was either a bad battery or iOS issue. I realized there was an update due for iOS 5.1 that noted bugs and fixes for battery issues. I proceeded to DL and Install once I had a full battery charge, while being plugged in. I thought to myself, "this is great, finally!" but to no avail; the battery life was still terrible... No Gain or Loss compared to before. Let me elaborate a bit...

*Stock Phone out of box iOS 5.0.1 (03/26/12)

-Day 1 with 100% charge, everything set to default, wifi off when not in use. I unplug from charger at 515am to get ready for work and lay the phone on my desk downstairs and continue to get ready for work. Leave for work and arrive at 7am, phone is at 88-90% (not even touched yet). By 12pm I leave for luch and I am anywhere between 35-40% on battery with on average 3 websites viewed and maybe, just maybe one phone call made. If I made it home at 4pm without my phone dying I don't remember.

-Day 2 (same exact scenario for the most part)

-Day 3 (same scenario) except this time I was proactive after reading about shutting off all the extra background services, apps, siri, ect, but nothing seemed to help at all! Literally if I saved 1-2% I didnt notice.

*Upgraded to iOS 5.1 (03/29/12)

-Day 4. Discovered update that noted bugs and fixes for battery issues and dove in as soon as my phone was at 100% charge. I thought I was finally free form the grips of this...nope. Everything back to default running on 5.1 I had no gain or loss in battery performance. I figured I would again try disabling all the background services listed before, but nothing would help. Sometimes it would drain a lil faster than other, but for the most part I was losing 10-15% an hour at least with the most minimal of use.

-Day 5. I called Apple and their Sr. Advisor acted suprised, as if she hadnt heard of this issue really , and set me up an appointment with the "Genius Bar". Sooo I wait for that appointment hoping for a new update or patch to resolve this issue so I would'nt have to drive 2hrs to the closest apple store.

-Day 6 and 7 resolve nothing other than reading forums and trying to educate myself on the issue.

-Day 8. (04/02/12) I go to the Apple Store. The "Apple Genius" does a diagnostic scan on my phone and determines the battery and hardware seem healthy, but becomes aware of the giant loss in battery as we sat there for 10mins and it dropped over 10%. He was shocked and said "this def is not normal". He proceeded with options, such as "I can wipe the phone clean and give you a new battery or I can just give you a brand new phone". I wanted to rule out hardware entirely so opted for the new handset replacement so I could start from scratch. So we moved forward and I went on my way back home with my 2nd iphone 4S with the original 5.0.1 on it. Charge conditioned it and didnt put any apps at all on it or upgrades. I wanted to see what the culprit was. It still was draining after giving it a lil use (10mins of soft web surfing and a 4min phone call). I seemed to be in the same boat again and dissapointed. I was right to feel that way because my battery issue was there exactly the same as before, except I had an empty phone I had to start all over with again...

-Day 9. (04/03/12) Decided to upgrade new handset to 5.1 hoping for the best, assuming it really just needed that bug fix through the upgrade. Pretty much started my work day at 7am with iOS 5.1 on the new handset with no apps or customizations. Battery life still the same. I could not believe it, so again I disabled all the services listed before to see if it would help along with some other troubleshooting I read about over the weekend... Nothing would help. I could not find the culprit! Battery was still draining at an alarming rate.

-Day 10. (TODAY! 04/04/12) Did my usual 7am-4pm workshift. While at work my battery showed signs of no hope once again, but I decided to get over it for a few minutes and finally use the smartphone portion of my purchase and redownloaded my apps one by one and see how the battery reacted; nothing seemed to help or hinder the battery life.

So here I am at 8pm trying to help the cause by giving the steps I have taken. Sorry if I have left out important details, but I am exhausted over it, so feel free to reply with extensive questioning. My only hope is to shed some light for apple and its iphone users. Too many places I have read that people werent doing enough or were doing too much, which annoyed me because I could relate to every single one of the issues and I know you guys can to. So enough from you guys who say try this, try that, stop using the phone so hard, swap it out at apple, upgrade, restore from itunes, restore from scratch, put it in the oven, put it in the freezer, because NONE of that has worked for me on any level as of yet. Same for my girlfriends phone. None of these steps have helped my battery life and I know there are other in the same boat which is deflating.

Currently my iphone 4S is a white 32gb with iOS 5.1 installed.

I am on Sprint and generally have 4-5 bars of service all the time, including 3G.

My serial number is starts with DQGH12V*****

Model MD246LL

Version 5.1 (9B179)

Let's crush this rediculus issue that has gone on for far too long.

Okay, Important realtime update!

-Day 11. I went to sleep last night at 1030pm with my phone unplugged at 93% and just woke up at 515am to grab it at 90% and currently at 6am it is still at 90%, this is huge for me, but actually realistic...

What did I do different? It it basically in tandem with what a few other dudes were saying on here: the 3G.

I looked on Sprint to see my coverage area (work and home) and it looked good, I am even two houses or so down from excellent service. That said, my phones service bars and data service reflect that considering I get pretty quick upload and download speeds.

So to the difference:

Location Services: ON

System Services: OFF (not that this should be a factor because it never helped before)

WIFI: ON

Cellular Data Services (3G): OFFFFF!!!!

-Nothing else dissabled and bam.

So with the culprit pointing to the 3G antenna I am going redirect my focus today, but this is the only positive feedback I have been given in the 10 days I have been hammering away at this phone. Apple needs to put us on their payrolls for this?

With all that said, I have not been able to get any momentum the entire time whatsoever with any troubleshooting tactic until now, with just turning off cellular data (3G). I am even running WIFI and tons of apps to push the phone a lil and it isnt budging battery-wise. Like other have said, this def doesnt "fix" the issue , but it is a slight work around that will set your battery life back to the stone age of good batteries.

Go ahead:

Setting>General>Network>Cellular Data (OFF!)

Now this is redic considering your biggest monthly cellphone plan cost is generally your data, but it seems to me it's better temporarily than to have a totally dead phone. I am pretty sure apple has installed some shotty antennas in some of the handsets that is constantly pinging the network hard and it probably has something to do with iOS 5 being 4G ready... This is EPIC FAILURE for this company I think. I think they know it to, but like the original 4S issue it should get solved, but I am sure the flawless iphone 5 will come out then, since they seem preoccupied by it rather than fixing this issue within 6-7 months. I can only hope they knock off $400 dollars at trade in with this phone for the new one at minimum.

Hit me with any other questions.

Another update!!!!

Thanks, I only want to get to the bottom of this like everyone else...

Another side note. I decided to turn on cellular data (3G) about 5mins ago at work, since I don't have wifi, to see how'd she hold up. Keep in mind I was at 89% at 7am when I arrived at work. I am now at 81%. I dropped 7% in 5mins with cellular data turned back on. This is def the main issue by far.

Any thoughts?

phonytony wrote:

Any thoughts?

it seems you are having some extraordinary issues. i work in mobile technology field (engineering and support, but not for apple) and have seen these battery issues on 5-15% of the total iPhone users running 5.x.x. in almost every case, the issue is cleared up by clearing the users data, recalibrating the battery, and/or resetting/turning off a few system services by following my process above. i have also seen a few cases where a corrupt mail account or application was causing issue. the few remaining did have a bad iphone and/or battery but that was rare. if you have tried my process and also replaced your phone, without success, it may be time to move onto another brand of phone, especially considering the amount of time you seem to have put into it.

So I've had my iPhone 4s for a few months now and had excellent luck with battery life... usually only use 20-40% in the course of an entire day. Since yesterday I can barely go a few hours before the battery is entirely drained... went from ~80% to dead in roughly 3 hours last night with no usage (other than 1 facebook post) and this morning I've gone from fully charged to 33% in 3:30 hours with very little usage (couple emails and texts and all while on wifi). From what I'm gathering according to all this I have to completely reset my phone and re-install all my apps and all my email accounts? This seems pretty ludicrous that after a few months you have to factory reset your phone because it starts disharging the battery at an extraordinary rate.

Here is the proof that my battery life on iphone 4s ios 5.1 improved very much after updating to ios 5.1

Yeah, without using 3G. That's the whole point... 3G is still the biggest battery drain since 5.1. This morning I took a 16 mile drive (30 minutes). Battery drops from 99% to 91% without touching it. If I take the same route without 3G the battery only drops 0 to 1% in 30 minutes. Never had that with 5.0.1.

With the system's Location Services turned off the battery is better, but 3G still takes the battery down in no-time.