Iphone 5 Shutting down, Cold Weather? or defective battery

I certainly do not speak for Apple - I am just an Apple user like you.

But reading your post, it sounds to me like the iPhone is working exactly as it should. When outside the operating and non-operating temperatures, the device shuts down to protect itself. This is a good thing for the health of the iPhone.

I have the bad the same problem with the phone shutting off in the cold, with a good charge remaining.

My I phone5 was still under warranty... It's is now fixxed..

First thing - took iphone to Apple store and they tested battery..(tested good at room temp)

Phoned apple- they told me it could be a software issue, so I was told to try restore from new (made no difference).

Phoned apple- sent new phone - had it over two weeks hasn't shutoff once I the cold, it's -25*C tonight!!

My guess it was the type of battery? My old iphone 4 never shut off in the cold!

If I hadn't been able to use the warranty I would have tryed one of those larger battery's from eBay that come from japan

Hope this helps...works perfect in the cold ever since.

While I would argue that a lower range operating temperature of 32F for a cell phone is ridiculous (cell phones should be considered critical devices which have a broader operating range than that), even if we accept it the iPhone does not meet this specification. I've had mine shut off when it's at around 40% charge and in the inner pocket of a thin jacket when the temperature outside was in the upper 30s (so it was easily in the uppper 40s where the phone was). I've also had it shut down on many occassions when it's been in inner pockets when the temp was in the upper 20s/low 30s. Again, where the phone was it was easily over 32 degrees. And when it is powered on, I've had it shut down on me within a couple minutes of taking it out to send a text, etc. Pretty uselsss in cold temps.

Also, it should be pointed out that the shutdowns are not just a failure of the battery to produce power. It's also a function of the OS to decide when to shut down. I think Apple has been far too conservative with newer versions of iOS at what point this shut down takes place. My 4S came with iOS 5 and I never had this problem. The battery NEVER failed in cold weather and the phone didn't shut down. The problem started when I upgrade the OS. And I'd rather have my phone suffer a hard shut down from a truely dead battery than have Apple's ultra-conservactive OS shut it down prematurely. Your phone is far too valuable a tool, and a safety device, to be so unreliable in cold weather.

Finally, a few people have blamed the lithium ion battery technology. This is a bogus claim. First, as mentioend above, with iOS 5 my phone never shut down in the cold. Second, I have a small lithium ion powered light on my commuter bike. It's mounted fully exposed on my bike and has never failed even when riding in single-digit temperatures. And the lithium ion batteries in my cameras continue to operate comfortably down in the teens. Apple's implentation is simply far too conservative and they need to fix it so our phones can be relied on to work in cold weather.

To all of you who said to keep the phone in your pocket... Agree for the temperature...

But when i'm outside on cold temp, my body is still hot and there is a lot of humidity all over my phone. I need to wipe the water on the screen before using it...

I'm afraid of what it could look like inside the phone.

My IPhone 5 was 80% yesterday... -8 C. Outside, leaved it shutdown in my car for about 5-6 hours, and when i started it, worked for 30sec and shutdown by itself... Start it back and asked to be charged! Put it next to my body for about 5 minutes, start it and it went back to 73%....

Same thing for my girlfriend, leave her IPhone 4 in the car, when she started it, no problem... 100% and did'nt shutdown!!!

Add another to the list.

My wife and I both have launch iPhone 5. When we go snowboarding in like to listen to music and if I pull my phone out of my inner coat pocket battery life drains like water in my sink. If I'm lucky it shuts down at 20% a few days ago it shut down when it said 60%!

My wife hasn't had any issues and she pulls her phone out way more than me. I don't use because I don't want it to shut down on me.

I enjoyed the days where I could upgrade every year and not have to worry about battery issues. I paid extra last year in order to upgrade and now I have this issue. A real bummer :-/

I have the same issue:

- iPhone5 w/ IOS7.

- It happens any time the air temp is 50F or less and the phone is exposed to this temp for a while.

- I run outside frequently (3 times a week) using the phone to track distance and play music (clipped to a running belt).

- It doesn't matter how much charge the phone has... it can be 80%+ and still happen.

- if you warm the phone back up, it will turn on with the same battery level as prior to shutdown.

- I'm pretty sure it is related to the screen turning on when the phone is cool/cold.

- If I don't turn the screen on (or a notification doesn't activate the screen) the phone will continue to stream music and track distance in sub-freezing weather (for example, did 1:40 in 8F weather and worked whole time).

- If you plug the phone in while it is cold, it will turn back on! (software/firmware bug?)

- I've had iPhone 3 & iPhone 4 using them the same way, no issues.

Net, there is a problem here as it is shutting down within stated operating ranges with plenty of battery charge. Please let me know if anyone has a path to resolution because this make the phone unusable for running.

Does anyone know how to get to the logs to see why it is shutting down? .. or is this a genious bar only tool?

/Jon

Hey Jon,

I had the same issues with mine iphone 5 on ios7.

Took it to the apple store and they ran some diagnostics and the battery didn't perform in the "Green" so I had them replace the battery.

As of right now I have 10% battery left and I'm not worried about it shutting off at any moment.

7hours 32minutes of usage,

1 day 5 hours of standby.

Couldnt be happier.

Although it does cost around $85 with tax to replace it.

I would recommend bringing it in, or find an iFixit shop in your area, they can probably do it for close to half the price. I would have done that, but I brought my iPad mini in to get a screen replaced and its already coming apart, so I wanted apple to actually fix my phone since its going in and out of my pocket all day.

Hi Ace,

Thanks for chiming in. Had the battery checked and replaced. This appears to have fixed the problem.

/jon

Awesome, its a real bummer this battery only lasted a year...

I was always able to upgrade to the newest until this year, so I can not say how the other batteries have done after the year mark.

I suggest putting it in an inside pocket with a packet of hothands works for me when im out riding my snowmobile

I run with my iPhone and prefer the iPhone as it has excellent tracking, and Runmeter is my app of choice. I have used iPhones for winter running and Cross Country skiing since 2010. The only time my iPhone would shut down on me in the cold was if the battery got too low or if I tried to run too many apps, like music, Runmeter AND Camera. I have gone entire days in sub-zero weather with the iPhone in my pocket and used it to track myself and take the occasional photo. This fall, my iPhone 5S which I purchased in April 2014 crashes as soon as I get in the house, or when I take the phone out to hit the "Stop" button. It reboots shortly after plugging it in, always with more than acceptable battery life remaining.

Today I went out with friends for a run. The phone was at 96% and Runmeter operated fine until 23 minutes. It is -10C today. When I pulled it out for a quick photo (it was a spectacular morning, you know, sun and snow and forest), I had a message I have never seen. It was telling me to plug it in, the iPhone was running too HOT! So I rolled my eyes, and went on. Once I got back in the car an hour later, I stuck it under my leg with the seat heaters on and it powered up soon after.

So I have backed it up and will take it to the Apple Store today. Maybe I'll get a new phone. Maybe I'll give it to my 12-year old and take back my old 4S!

And yes, I got the runs stats from a fellow runner who had a different device.

I've had similar experiences this week. I bike with my iPhone 5s in a mount on the handlebars, and just switched from a Bike Console kit to a Velocity Grip so I can shoot some video of my rides. Today it was about 20 degrees F and the phone shut down after just a few minutes of recording. I thought something was wrong, so I charged up and tried again. It shut off again after a few minutes on the bike. I guess this is just a function of the cold weather and exposing the phone to the air. So in this case there's not anything wrong with the phone, it just can't cope with the cold temps.

I have the exactly same problem at 70 percent which it was odd that I kept my phone to my chest to keep warm most of the time and yet it got shut down at 70 when I m taking pictures or videos, I used photos and videos from 100 percent. The weather was so nice and not that cold. It was like 25 degree plus some windy but later in afternoon the windy got calm. I arrived to my car and my phone got turn it on by itself. I was like what the heck? it does not make any sense at all! I would not bother to go apple store to replace that. that is apple's problem where they need to work on the battery.

I agreed with you big time! It was a huge disappointment!

I have experienced this many times when skiing. I don't have experience with other phones but the iPhones 4,5, and now 6s SUCK in cold weather. The battery level precipitously drops and you are stuck without a phone until you can warm it up.

Looking for a pouch to carry it near my chest when skiing and keep it warm but haven't found one yet. At least then I can do voice command calls. I have found that jacket and pants pockets are not warm enough for really cold weather.