5.0.1 update--even worse battery life

My battery life before the update wasn't great but it now drains extra fast. With no usage, at 100% charge in the morning, by that evening I've lost 60%+ of my charge. This is my first iPhone and I'm sadly disappointed.

Agree with everything you said, TPev!! I have tried every single fix suggested. I have locations services, iCloud, push turned off. I eliminated my email account. No apps running in background. My 4S was at 100% at 11:00 pm. Woke up at 7:00 am and battery was at 73%!!!! Two hours later, it is at 61% and I had done NOTHING with the phone! Was just on a 3 minute call and battery is at 51%.

I could go 2 full days without a charge on iOS 5.0. All of my problems started when I updated to 5.0.1. What happened between 5.0 and 5.0.1 that destroyed perfectly great battery life?

My question to Apple: How can a smartphone be smart if we have to turn everything off, and then still lose battery life doing nothing? I know it is a rhetorical question but this is just beyond pathetic!!

My iPhone 4 battery life would last me almost 2.5 days without charge prior to iOS 5.0.1 (2 days ago) update, now I'll be luck if I can get close to 2 days. I know that after a full day without charge, I normally have about 74-77% left, now it has been averaging about 64-66%. I know that I did not do anything different with my phone before or after the update ... this is very puzzling and frustrating.

Unlike many, I had NO battery issues prior to 5.0.1, however once I updated my software to 5.0.1 I now have battery issues. At 7AM I'm at 100%, and I'm below 50% by lunch. Prior to the upgrade my battery power had no noticeable issues....70% typicaly by end-of-day. Surely someone else is having the same issue. I've told my wife NOT to update her 4S.

I DEFINITELY would urge anyone NOT to 'upgrade' to 5.0.1 until this issue is resolved. My battery life wasn't the greatest with iOS 5, but it's much worse with 5.0.1.

And it might not be user error. I (almost compulsively) prevent the running of apps in background; do NOT use push notifications; NOT using Location Services; and I FOR SURE am having excessive battery drain compared to iOS 5. Oh...and I have NO interest in bandwagons.

something seems strange with my usage since last full charge....

5 hours 46 minutes for both usage and standby with the screen locked for at least 3.5 of those hours.

seems like usage should be much less since I have hardly used my phone, checked two emails and calendar on the way to work and have not used it since....

Does anyone know if Apple has responded to this situation?

shawn, you found your problem .. usage and standby should not be the same. i had the same problem and fixed the problem with a complete reload. i did not choose to restore from backup because i wanted to be %100 sure it was a fresh load of the software, so i setup as a new iphone.

background: i upgraded from v4 to v5.0.1 a few days ago and started having battery issues. i went to the apple store and they did some diag test on my phone/battery and said everything checks out good. they said my options were to buy a new battery or drain my existing batter to zero, let it set for two hours, then recharge to %100 again and see if it fixes my problem (it did not). the kid at the apple store ask me if that sounded like a good plan, i said no, does not make much sense, but i will try the recharge and see what happens. anyway, i was back to square one and then a friend told me about the usage/standy thing . maybe this is a bug in the software when you do the upgrade (or at least for me) and v5.0.1 works fine from a fresh install. my phone battery is working great now. looking at my usage stats now, i have 1 hour, 19 minutes usage and 3 hours, 17 minutes standby, and %90 battery

Yeah mine kinda does the same thing. I don't get it. Sometimes it will stay at 100% for a while with or without use. But I swear when It starts draining, IT STARTS DRAINING. The app system activity monitor used to read my battery correctly, now itll over estimate every time with 5.1.

I've got a 3GS. It was working fine on iOS 5.0. In fact, it seemed like it was charging faster than it used to. But since I updated to 5.0.1, not only has my battery started draining quickly, but now it's also taking quite a long time to charge it back up again. I wouldn't mind the battery draining so much if it still recharged quickly, but the fact that the recharging has gotten so painfully slow makes me rather unhappy ...

Anyone else noticing slower recharge times with 5.0.1?

Oh, by the way, I inadvertantly let my phone's battery drain to 0 and it took ages to charge back to full and hasn't helped with battery life at all.

German site Macerkopf reports [Google translation] that Apple is working on two separate software updates for iOS 5, looking at both near-term battery fixes and longer-term improvements to Siri. Macerkopf tells us:

iOS 5.0.2 coming very soon, solving the battery bugs. Should arrive before the end of next week. Apple is working hard on the update. In addition Apple ist working on the first big iOS 5 Update (iOS 5.1), bringing some siri-extensions. Also the Siri hardware-control is in work "take a picture", "make a video", "switch on/off WiFi", "switch on/off BT" and more.

According to the report, a new update presumably coming as iOS 5.0.2 is set to be released "no later than next week" to address continued battery life issues even after last week's release of iOS 5.0.1 intended to target those problems. A release next week would be a fast turnaround given that there has not yet been any sign of developer testing for an iOS 5.0.2, although iOS 5.0.1 spent only about a week in testing as Apple rushed to release the update to the public.

Beyond the near-term battery fixes, the source also suggests that Apple is working hard on enhancements to the Siri functionality of the iPhone 4S, with the update apparently set to come early next year in a more significant software update probably dubbed iOS 5.1. The report points to Apple's Siri FAQ to note that additional language support and expansion of maps and local search to new countries will be included in the update. In addition, Apple is said to be looking at a significant expansion of Siri's capabilities for controlling iOS devices, implementing commands for such tasks as taking photos and videos, and turning connectivity such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on and off.
Macerkopf has not been a frequent source of rumors regarding Apple's plans, and thus the report should be taken with some skepticism, but the claims do seem to line up with Apple's priorities of addressing continuing battery issues and increasing the functionality of the flagship feature of the new iPhone 4S.

5.1 was only tested for a week. Really? so if they plan on releasing 5.2 sometime next week how long are they testing that. 2 days?

I had a call from apple regarding the issue. I was like very happy with theresponse from apple.

They had asked me few questions regarding the battery drain, and they hadinstalled a battery profile on my device to monitor typical usage of batteryand cause for the drain. I used my mobile as usual for 24 hours, after whichthey called me again to retrieve the log.

Now waiting for the next version as mentioned by wrendace.

Thanks Apple, you give a lot of importance to your customers.

Same issue as many. I have a 4s and battery life was okay at best with 5.0 but after loading 5.01 I can watch my battery drain in real time. Last week it even drained completely overnight and so my alarm didn't go off. Almost missed my appointment! I have already done a complete reset and set up as new phone however I feel that this has made matters even worse. I continue to delete app after app just to see if the draining will slow down. Have a call into Apple Support but I am not hopeful since I have read others have gone into the Apple Stores and have been told their phones are fine. Perhaps I can make a YouTube video of my battery draining and show Apple this is a REAL problem.