iOS 6.1 Battery Drain Problem

So I've been following this discussion for the past few days. I have one spare 3GS and I updated it to 6.1. I had a bad battery life on 5.1 and even worse on 6.1. I thought that there is something wrong with the battery so I tried and replaced three different batteries. I always got the same result -> fast battery draining.

I freshly restored it as new iPhone and didn't add Exchange or iCloud account. I turned off data and Wi-Fi and battery still drained 25% over night. That is just too much.

Then I remembered I can do a test and downgrade 3GS to 4.1, because of the Apple's mistake a few years back. I successfully downgraded and kicked it out of recovery with special tool then I inserted my SIM, turned off data and still left on Wi-Fi then left it over night to see result in the morning.

In 9 hours battery lost only 2% and that's the right battery draining. I can say with certainty that new iOS 6.1 is the main reason for rapid battery draining.

I hope this little research will help you analyze your problem.

Cheers.

I do not know what is going on. However, I am ****** off. I guess I shall never buy anything from apple from now. I regret for buying apple products right now so badly. My Ipad does not want to charge or connect to my pc for no reason after the latest update. Initially it was fine after settings reset, but now this does not work at all. I cannot connect it to itunes, neither can I turn it on, because the battery is completely empty. It is good for the trash. Thank you apple.

This IS 100 percent an iOS 6.1 issue with regard to how it operates with Microsoft Exchange server - including when you setup Gmail on Exchange.

1) Remove ALL of your Exchange e-mail accounts.

2) Verify the overheating and battery drain has resolved.

3) Wait for Apple to pull their heads out of their butts!

The ideology of letting your customers lament your problems in an online forum while you sit there silently is POOR customer service. Keep it up...and I will buy a Windows 8 Phone!

Check if apps are still running in the background and if you have exited them properly. Reboot phone. If it's still the same thing, back up and restore. Last step is to have phone checked. Prolly is faulty already.

I've did all DIY methods-airplane mode,off bluetooth,minimize app notifications,off locations,off diagnostics,off system services(under locations),turning off cellular,turning off wifi,resetting everything,resetting network,deleting and re-adding emails,turned everything off on iCloud (except contacts),hard restart,turned off and turning it on back,restarting,restoring from back up and also restore as new.NONE HELPED IN SOLVING THIS ISSUE:(

And also killing all apps

For Theweirdguy: When you re-added your Exchange emails, did you keep calendars turned off?

Last night I ran for over 10 hours standby and only 39 mins usage and went down to 96%. However, today at work I could actually watch the battery % drop almost every minute or two. Was down to 44% before 10AM.

What's the difference?... Cellular signal. I work in midtown NYC, and despite that I can actually see the cell site across the street and have line of sight to it, my battery dies quickly here.

I notfied AT&T via the Mark the Spot app and got a reply that there are in fact issues with my local cell site. A quick survey around the office has also confirmed my suspicions that it wasn't my phone, but was in fact the service in our area.

So, before you blame the phone or the iOS, make sure you have called your carrier as well. If the phone has trouble obtaining a signal it will boost its power to find one, thus killing your battery much faster.

I don't use exchange and yes,calendars is off

@pdroth problem is,i put my phone in airplane mode and it drains 7% in less than 2 hours

You are right in that the carrier has something going on that is affecting the signal. As I mentioned in my previous post I do see the difference between LTE and 3G, especially when I am in the same location (the office) and I see it switch from one to the other. I can make an apple to apple comparison.

However, I've had my iphone 5 since it first came out and it wasn't a problem before my upgrade, so although ultimately it could be a carrier thing, the OS definitely introduced a behaviour that exposed the problem. I read somewhere that there was changes made in iOS 6.1 to enhance LTE connectivity, so maybe that's it - always trying to go back to LTE when it's on 3G is draining my battery?

Just saying it was never an issue before the upgrade, I'm hoping for another upgrade from Apple.

Are you using wifi while in airplane mode? It is possible that you have a bad battery also.

Just saying for me, I read these forums thoroughly and have tried nearly everything, and am happy to say it works great when I'm at home or on a less congested cell tower. In the city however, the battery dies very quickly, and that I can only blame on the carrier.

Nope,left it on standby without any use,brightness set to the lowest and all apps killed.

There is absolutely NO WAY this is related to cellular signal.

Let's apply critical thinking skills to the problem and see what we come up with! 😉

1) I have been using the phone in the same places every single day since I bought the phone in September 2011.

2) I have not ADDED or REMOVED any apps to the phone in over a month.

3) The problem STARTED immediately after I installed iOS 6.1 two days ago.

4) When I removed the Exchange e-mail account, the problem stopped.

5) When I added the Exchange e-mail account back, the problem reappeared.

I have tested this problem on WiFi ONLY. On cellular signal ONLY. With both connections on. It is still there.

I have disconnected calendar - contacts - notes - reminders - everything in varying degrees.

The overheating and battery life issue ONLY occurs with the Exchange account added.

It DID NOT appear until I upgraded to iOS 6.1.

Simple and easy deductive reasoning would indicate the issue is related to a problem with the iOS software. I have been operating, programming, tinkering with, experimenting and hacking on computers for OVER 30 years. I can program in 6 different languages. There is NOT a computer on earth that intimidates me. What is FRUSTRATING is to have a "world class" outfit like Apple out there ignoring their customers. 😐

So...I will continue to try and fix this problem on my own because that is the kind of person I am. If I find the right combination of moves that will make this go away...I will post it here for everyone.

This thread is enourmous. Add me in as someone with an iPhone 4 who's experinced horrible battery life after the 6.1 update. If I didn't have a car charger I would be F--Ked.