iPhone 5 battery life is way worse than iPhone 4

I had this issue as well, but seems to be doing much better now after a couple of resets to all settings. I truly believe that it is just a glitch somewhere in the OS which gives a false reading on the battery.

I also let the battery died completely and recharged it to 100%, and that probably reset the gauge. I now have been using my phone since 8 this morning. It is now 4 pm and still have about 50% battery life left. Before I did this, I had to charge my phone 2 to 3 times per day just for normal usage.

It was crazy that only one of my two new iPhone 5 did this.

Have you been mostly connected to a wifi network?

I'm ready to give up troubleshooting. So, I completed 3 24-hour periods on standby with everything off except the phone and the number is forwarded. No 3g/lte, cellular, bluetooth, wi-fi, or even screen activity and look at this mess:

day 1 lost 4 % battery (100% to 96%)

day 2 lost 8 % battery (96% to 88%)

day 3 lost 11% battery (88% to 77%)

I can't tie the phone up any longer, so I'll have to abort.

What does this mean. Is this saying that the battery decline accelerates as it loses charge. Has anyone an alternative way to measure battery strength?

OK, Germanfrommd, I'll try a couple resets here and top it off. I hope it does some good.

Seriously.... It means nothing! Turn on what you want on, then measure battery life using the phone the way you want to use it. That's really all that matters,right?

Then go out and buy a car charger and a USB cable to carry around with you to charge when you can. Once younger used to charging whenever you have the opportunity, it's not all that bad.

Others may jump in and scream, cry and whine about this, but at this point, it's charge when you can, let it die, or but a RAZR MAXX. I have chosen the extra chargers option!

Interesting. Thanks for this information. I do have bluetooth, push on, etc. and my problem not as bad as yours. I wish you luck.

Yes it's disgusting having to troubleshoot this. You'd think that if it's better than 4 it's BETTER than 4 without having to baby the phone in any way.

It amazes me the people in here making excuses and telling people to do this, do that. We should have to do NOTHING. Out of the box. The phone has been on the market for over a month now. You couldn't get them on the first day. They should be shipping WORKING.

I agree with whoever said that Apple is letting us pay them to beta test for the phone in no-LTE areas then WHY ARE THEY SHIPPING THEPHONE WITH LTE TURNED ON. Seems a bit unfair, doesn't it?

I will add to your diagnostic. When I sent a usage diagnostic to Apple one morning after maybe surfing for 30 minutes and talking for 5 minutes, my battery was down 12%. The fellow at Apple Care said the diagnostic my phone sent him said NO USAGE AT ALL but 12% down. I said, if you guys are relying on this diagnostic to say whether or not there is a battery problem, how come the diagnostic missed 30 minutes of surfing and 5 minutes of talking? He said, well, it's just an estimate not exact.

So let me get this straight...the diagnostic is quoted when it is in Apple's favor, but when it is not, they tell us it's just an estimate? So...the diagnostic is there for Apple to use only in their favor.

To their credit, I do agree with the poster who said he felt they were reading from a script blah blah blah. I know these smart people on the other end can't really believe the stuff they're saying sometime. But it insults our collective intelligences.

Fortunately I was given a second 5 and it is better, but still not as good as my 4 was. I will try draining it all the way and see if that helps.

Good luck to you!

The above answer was for stephenray's battery diagnostic where he said there was bluetooth usage even though bluetooth was turned off.

Hello guys, didnt read all the pages but just to tell you what i experienced with 2 iphone 5: wife's one and mine...

So we bought 2 new iphone 5, 16 and 32 (mine). Black to home let both charge to 100% before doing anything else.

Then i decided to use mine as a brand new iphone and she decided to use it with a backup from her iphone4...

I did reinstall all the apps manualy and strated to use it... Used the rest of the day then i went to bed, on the morning i woke up and the second i unlocked the phone (was at 9%) it just shut down... I was like, Huh? Tried to restart it but the battery was out it seems... Put it back ni charge and the phone strated back with 9%... Then i never had the same problem but... Iphone from my wife have a much better battery life... So i decided to make some test..

I did configure both the same way, wifi from home running and everything else off (no apps running in background)

We went to bed and on the morning... Her phone was at 98% and mine on 94... Her battery is just amazing and mine is just crap.. I did call Apple and i can go and change my iphone at a Genius Bar if i want... But should i? What if it get even worse with new one? :-/

Anyway was just to tell that the backup is maybe not the main reason on battery Life issues...

I've been ******** about the iPhone 5's horrible battery life and was so fed up that I had decided to totally ditch the iPhone for Android actually. So I was checking out the competition~ Wanted a Nexus 4 since it's guaranteed to have the latest firmware updates. And what do you know? Battery woes... Seems like getting 3.5hrs of screen time is the norm at the other camp as well, and people are actually considering switching to the iPhone lol~

So i guess the grass IS greener on the other side... Unless your phone is draining without any screen time (which you shoud get it exchanged), getting 10+hrs of standby with 4-5hrs of standby is considered pretty good if you're on cellular network.

We can all cross our fingers and hope Apple stops making silly products (like thin iMac without disc drives ***?!), and make more useable phones that are more function > form in the future I guess... The recent share price drop should be shaking some leaves 🙂

My iPhone 5 battery’s life issue was improved significantly

To all who are experiencing the battery unexplained drainage on the new iPhone 5. I had this issue as well when I first got my new iPhone 5, but seems to be doing much better now after a couple of resets to all settings (Settings, General, Reset, Reset All Settings). I truly believe that it is just a glitch somewhere in the OS which gives a false reading on the battery.

I also let the battery died completely and recharged it to 100% a couple of times (full cycle charge), and that probably reset the battery gauge. I now have been using my phone from 8am -11pm with no problems at all. Before I did this, I had to charge my phone 2 to 3 times per day just for normal usage. Every time I let it died completely and recharged it to 100%, it just got better.

It was crazy that this issue with the battery only happened with one of my two new iPhones 5.

I am now getting about the same amount of battery life that I used to get from my iPhone 4. I am using the battery until my phone dies everyday just to see if that will reset the battery gauge even more. So far I think it is getting better, and it is actually doing better than the one phone I thought had no issues.

Im with Jameson on this issue. I dont think this can be fixed with software updates. I've been posting here since about pg 97 & have seen ups and downs out of my battery. The best was like 7hr usage and was a mixture of wifi and 4g. I rarely use wifi on my phone, thats what the ipad 3rd Gen is for, and i average about 5hr of usage on 4g. Im currently running 6.1 beta 4 and was optimistic when i saw that one of the features of beta 3 was improved battery life on the 4S. Nevertheless, after 4 beta releases there has been no mention of the battery for the iphone 5.

A couple of threads back it was recognized that the battery was reading 1424mAh when it suppose to read 1440mAh. My question is, while alot of ppl are returning phones to the apple store for replacements, has anyone returned just to get a different battery as apposed to a different phone??? If i were to take a trip to the apple store (85mi from where i live), i think i wld request a new battery that is clearly stamped 3.8v 1440mAh on it as seen in the IFixit video teardown of the iphone 5 on Youtube. *Justa thought*

So my iphone battery just completely drains to 0% from a full charge.

Usage: 4 hours 10 mins (with wifi, youtube, facebook, web)

Standby: 1 day 23 hours

I know this looks pretty good but the battery still loses about 15% overnight (8 hours) with no apps running.

So, can Apply fix this or do I have to accept it as something any iPhone 5 owners would have to face?

I had a 4s which was "ruined" by the ios 6.0 upgrade, battery was scary bad till I turned off Siri still had to charge in afternoon. Got a 5 which for me on Sprint and being in Texas which has the LTE also, is a far superior phone than 4s. I came from having a HTC Evo which I had to charge by midday to have anything. The 5 last me all day. I have a car charger in case I need to charge while going on farm call. Being a veterinarian with the cell phone as my only phone I have always as habit charged my phone at night since I am on call 24 hours a day. I think the battery on the 5 does go down with use but it takes work to make it go to 0. The 5 has been a far superior phone in that I can actually hear people on the hand set even when driving, is fast and I do not drop calls except at my house which is a hard spot for a good signal because of topograghy. Just thought I would give my opinion. I do not understand the obscession with seeing how long one can go before charging. I need my phone and will charge if needed

When I first got my iPhone 5 the battery was amazing! I used in all day (new phone and all), had everything possible turned on, never shut apps down and I'd have 40-50% battery left when I went to sleep. After I updated to ios 6.0.1 my battery would go from 100% - 0% in 3 hours with virtually no use. I could actually watch the phone and it will drop a percent every 45 seconds while not doing a thing and I had everything turned off.

I went to Apple and they replaced the phone. However, stupid me didn't put 2 & 2 together and I again updated to iOS 6.0.1. It wasn't as bad, however it would go from 100% - 0% in 5 hours with little to no use. So whoopie, 2 more hours of standby!

Last night I downloaded Boost Magic Pro for $.99. It's designed to properly charge the battery. It has helped quite a bit! This morning it only went down to 61% by noon, however with little use. But probably 50% better. I'd recommend this app to help until Apple gets their act together and finally resolves this issue. Battery life still stinks, but this app has made it more managible. I'm waiting out the after Christmas rush, then going to the Apple store to replace again, but I won't be stupid and update to 6.0.1 or 6.0.2.

I agree with GermanFromMD, with each successive charge from 0% the battery life seems to get marginally better. Not as good what I expect given Apple's advertised battery stats and what I have seen my friends get (20HRS+ Usage). This was after my second full charge since I bought it (My 1st charge is on pg207):

Interestingly I used a lot of web and games. The usage of 8hrs is a little misleading. I got there by playing music for a few hrs which on my iPhone takes up no battery life it seems, illustrated by today, so far after just listening to music from a 3rd charge:

I played some Avengers for 20mins after this and I'm now at 84% so go figure...

The best solution i found was to turn off most of the Location services in the privacy settings. It has worked for everyone I told who told me they had battery problem. Location services, when checked per app continuously looks for your location.

In settings go to location services....click on that......Look at your list of apps requsting your location...I have a lot but only keep Safari, Siri and Find my phone on.

After turning the others off go to bottom of page and click on System Services.

Turn off everything except Cell network search. The other areas primarily help Apple keep tabs on your phone....you don't need any of them. Your time zone sets automatically from original time setting.

If an app wants to use your location it will ask ..you decide...after the app uses the location be sure to check back on the list when finished to turn it back off.

I'm sure this will help you.