Q: iOS 6 iPhone 4s battery drain

I think I might be the only one who didn't face a battery issue. I have a 4s and I updated OTA. My battery before updating was already not the best though. I lose anywhere from 2-4% per hour on standby. Getting 5 hours of usage out of my phone is probably the best I see. Although the day after updating to iOS 6 I got just over 6 hours so I kind of thought my drainage issue was fixed, but I kind of noticed over the next few days that it didn't seem better, but it also didn't seem worse. I'm also currently traveling in Canada (and have been for 6 months) so I don't know if my battery drainage has anything to do with the fact that I'm roaming. I'd really love a second opinion on that actually. A genius at the apple store told me that roaming wouldn't have anything to do with my battery draining but I've heard differently from a couple people. So if anyone can answer that question for me I'd really appreciate it.

just a few updates.

Went from full charge to 0 in just over 2 hours.  No direct use from me during this time.

Went on a short trip and had the phone plugged into the car charger and it had about a 25% charge,  the maps app used more power than the charger could keep up with.  Ended up shutting down after about 30 minutes.

Also, changed all email account to fetch and it still seems to be allowing email to push to the iphone.  Keeps alerting me to emails whan phone is off. 

Seems like the problem may be on one of these 2 areas.

Wish so much that i could go back to ios5

OK, four hours in since clean restore on 4S fromiTunes. Excellent battery life so far.  Here's what I did:

1.  DId a clean restore and set up as new phone.  Confirmed Wifi network connection. Added my work e-mail through Exchange and Yahoo mail.  Also added about 900 songs and 10 podcasts (all via cable and not Wifi). Charged to 100%. Sent a couple of e-mails to and from to confirm e-mail works. DID NOT add any Apps (as I suspect this is where the problem is).

2. From Hour 0 to Hour 2, iPhone in stand by mode most of time.  Other than a couple of checks of lock screen to see battery level, no use.  Battery at 100%.

3. Hour 2 to 3.  Took a photo and sent by e-mail.  Battery at 99%.

4. Hour 3-3.5.  Set up Bluetooth connection to car, played one song at 80% volume on iPhone internal speaker.  Battery at 98%.

5. Hour 3.5. Added NY Times and Boston.com Apps via cable to Itunes (not Wifi).  Read one story in each. Charged battery back to 100%. Back of phone a tiny bit warm from what feels like ordinary use of processor.  Shut both apps and locked screened phone.

6.  Hour 3.75.  Phone on standy by for last 15 minutes.  Back of case is cold. Battery at 100%.  Will continue to add back apps one or two at a time.

Working Hypothesis:  One or more of my Apps has a compatibility issue with iOS6, It keeps crashing and restarting, keeping processor going until battery drained.  Will avoid testing Facebook (several posters have pointed to this as potential culprit) until I have reloaded and confirmed that all of my "every day" apps are working.

Same issue here. Ripped through my battery in a couple of hours without even actively using it.

(See post above for details on how I handled reinstallation following clean restore).

Update:

8 hours since clean restore. Still have good battery life. I have been adding Apps back on at a rate of about 2 per hour.  All have been added via docuking cable and not Wi-Fi. I run each as they are added and then leave the phone alone for 1/2 an hour, followed by light use for 1/2 hour. 11 Apps added so far. So far battery life is fine and within normal performance. I  have not added back Facebook yet.

I tried voice directions on Apple Maps to make sure that wasn't the problem App.  It wasn't.

An update to my previous post 3 days ago. (sorry it is long)

1. I downloaded iOS6 straight from itunes on 9/20. Turned down the brightness. Switched off wifi, bluetooth, location services, and cellular (didnt need to use it). Everything else i didnt change.
2. My phone started to get very warm even on standby, draining 1% every 3-4 mins. Phone died that night just on standby.
3. 9/21 afternoon I did a reset through settings and that didnt help.
4. I switched off even more functions:  location services, siri, passbook. photostream, and imessage. Also closed all running background apps. (Wifi, bluetooth, cellular, location are still off).
5. Let my phone fully drain and charged it. Still kept draining 1% every 4 mins.
6. Full drain and charge again. Then did a reset by pressing the home and power button together right afterwards. Didnt work.
7. Charged it at night to 100% and went to sleep. Phone died during the night just on standby.
8. 9/22 it was draining 1% every 5 mins, warm to touch, not much difference. Had to shut down my phone for awhile since it was burning up.
9. Then i deleted facebook app in the evening thinking maybe it could help. Plus i am in China right now so i cant even go on fb through the phone. I noticed my phone wasnt super warm anymore and the battery was not draining so quickly.
10. I started playing games, checking photos, taking photos, using flashlight etc. Let the battery go down to 10% and charged it to 99% around 2am. Went to sleep with no background apps running, switched off services still off.
11. Woke up this morning at 10am with 96% and the phone wasnt warm to the touch.
12. Now 1.5 hr has passed and it is at 92%. I was playing apps, checking calendar events, etc. Battery life is finally stabilizing.

Conclusion: I think facebook app was the issue for me or it could be after the many times of full recharge it finally decided to work. Thanks for reading.

Your got me thinking so I checked my Internet usage and it shows at 12 am a couple of nights ago that I used over 3mb. Not possible considering I was asleep! Checked my linked phone, also a 4s on iOS6 and it showed the same but a little later.... Checked our history and that never happens to us... Glad I have unlimited data or I really would be ******.....

THIS FIXED MY BATTERY DRAINAGE ISSUE:

1. Sync iPhone to iTunes. Sync contacts in iCloud.

2. Do a DFU restore, procedure and description can be found here and here. Make sure to setup as a new phone. This will take at least an hour, possibly more depending on your download rate. It will also wipe your iPhone settings, your music, photos, a good portion of your application data, etc. So you'll need to spend some time afterward restoring these.

3. After you restore as a new phone, sync with iTunes to restore your apps.

4. Unplug and let your battery drain all the way. If your bluetooth is off, turn it on; go to youtube (in Safari), find yourself a free movie, and let it run. The point is simply to deplete your battery.

5. Charge overnight, all the way to 100%. Keep it plugged in for a while - I unplugged mine after a total 7 hours of sleep.

My iPhone was back to normal after steps 1-5. Yours might be, too. If all looks okay, restore all your app data, music, etc.

7am this morning my phone was charged to 100%. 2 hours usage + 16 hours standby later, I have 63% battery. Usage was Safari (WiFi and cell network), Maps, a few apps using location services, etc. Notification center has Weather, Reminders, & Calendar. My phone is legitimately back to normal.

Settings > General > About > Diagnostics & Usage > Diagnostics & Usage Data

Search there if your curious as to which apps are crashing and any memory issues.

I'm hoping apple does something to fix this quickly because I'm not happy with IOS 6. Now I have to walk around with a charger.

There's more speculation in this thread than a Bioware forum.

Look it's simple, this is not user related. Disabling any features of the phone is not a solution it's a break down in service expectations when people buy the phone.

So the simple fact is this; before the BBC gets wind of this debacle have Apple formally acknowledged they have released (again) a buggy major update that ***** the life out of the battery like a technology vampire or are we still left to run around like headless chickens disabling our software that we need to use?

ಠ_ಠ Can we stop tolerating inefficient coding and start en masse emailing Apple?

I agree with everybody, theres something goin on with ios 6 causing battery drain.but for now-temporarily, Pls turn off location services for MAPS and down  in the notification section (settings>notification>government alerts>turn off AMBER alerts and Emergency alerts, unless you have to really keep that on to stay alerted. There should be another app for government alerts in the appstore. My battery has improved tremendously. try it for yourself. I hope this helps. Anybody with improvement in their phone's battery. pls let your other friends with ios6 know.

Only turn on maps location services when you need to use it.

I figure it out, turn off the cellular data usage under settings  to iCloud books and what ever its there, fixed the problem phone was dying fast after update which leaves them on automatically , also if you repower   It phone off and on some of them comes back on and have to turn them off again 

Location only makes your phone runs slower , what's killing the battery after update is under cellular use access under settings to FaceTime which constantly runs, iCloud books iTunes and what ever else turn off and your good to go, like post if it works for you. Thanks