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iPhone 5 shuts down with plenty of battery life left

I have been having some serious iPhone problems lately. I upgraded to iOS 7 when it first came out and only had a few issues, now more recently I am having problems, especially with the battery. My battery meter seems to be inaccuriate or the battery itself is jacked. My battery seems to drain very quickly even when I am not using my phone. I have done all the tricks to save the battery; turned off Bluetooth, turn off auto refresh for backgroud apps, turned off the motion screen, no dymanic background, etc. However my battery still drains quicker than normal. Lately my phone completely shuts itself off and shows me the dead battery icon even though I have anywhere between 20 and 40 left on my battery. When I plug my phone back in after it dies the battery icon shows a different and yet higher battery life then what it was at when it shut off. I have also noticed that my phone shuts off after I use my camera. THAT part is really annoying.


Is this an iOS 7 issue or is there something wrong with my phone? I have insurance on my phone so I can have it replaced, but the cost to replace my phone is more than if I were to get a new and DIFFERENT phone altogether.

iPhone 5, iOS 7

Posted on Oct 16, 2013 5:51 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 30, 2013 1:23 PM

I have the same problem every since the iOS7 update. It's ridiculous! It will shut down from 13 % up to 30% and when I try to turn it back on (lock button) it will show the 'need to charge' photo.When I press the home button & lock button though it turns on and shows the battery % only to shut down a few minutes later. I have my iphone (5) for roughly 10 months and it's in perfect condition, never dropped it, not one scratch and it makes me angry seeing little annoying bugs like this that ruin an otherwise great phone. Please Apple, fix this soon!

200 replies

Aug 17, 2014 2:02 AM in response to cjpsych80

When will Apple fix this blatant os7 issue that a lot of people are suffering with. my iPhone 5 battery had drained itself within 4 hours of a full charge, with only 5 minutes use. also battery metre is in accurate and the last time my phone shut Down with no power it had 25% on the metre, when I plugged it in and the phone came back on I had 43% charge. 2 of my friends also have the same issue that appeared at exactly the same time. fix it now apple or loose another customer.

Sep 22, 2014 12:41 AM in response to cjpsych80

The same problem here. My iPhone 5 randomly shuts off with 10-20 % of battery left. I tried everything, now I have IOS8 installed and still the problem remains. My phone also was not in that replacement program, so it should be normal quality for this kind of product. So I just think this is a very bad phone. Annoying problem, you just cant trust your phone anymore. I checked the internet for answers and was astonished how wide this problem is: tens of thousands of people are struggling with the same problem now over a year and you don't have the solution. It seems you have lost the ability to build proper phones and seems you don't even care. I like your products but my iPhone is a joke. Why should I buy another iPhone in the future if the trust for your products' quality has fallen so low?

Jan 8, 2015 2:15 AM in response to cjpsych80

My iphone got same problem when i have this iphone about 11 months. so far it happened 5 times already from once another month to twice in one month. It *****..... And my iphone is not egilible for free replacement of batteries even it is an absolute battery problem 😟 shutting off 43% or 50% especially while LTE is on. I have beein using apple products and this is the worst one ever. Thinking if i should continue using iphone or not. By the way my earphone which comes with iphone having problem after 3 months of usage. Right side got no sound at all with normal use....

Jan 8, 2015 4:22 PM in response to hsinhwa

Well after the iOS 8.1.2 it's gotten worse. My battery is not eligble for replacement. It shows 90 then 10 mins later 70s then after hr it's like 50. I have nothing running in background and it shuts off randomly. I'll be in a middle of text or call and it shuts off. I've done hard reset I've just beginning to realize that I've always had so many problems with this iPhone 5. Wifi never works for more than few mins. Battery ***** , I never dropped it. Apple techs says it's slightly warped but I never caused it. This is my 4th one. I'll never buy Apple again after this crap. I'm very dissapointed in Apple service wen I tryed to tell them my issues. They offered me 100 dollars off something and then backed out after I tryed to get it. Never had so many issues and spent so much time trying to fix it. Says it's to hot and needs to cool down, but it's 6 degrees celcius out. I'm not the only one with battery issues in my household with Apple iphone 5. I won't buy a 6 or Apple again. Thanks for reading I'm gonna try Samsung next 🙂 my friends have no issues like this.

Feb 10, 2015 10:02 AM in response to nathay1

I'm having the same problem and then some. I think I'm done with iphones my renewal comes up in May and I might be switching. I can have 40% battery and it will shut down when I try to reboot it it says my battery is drained but when I plug it in it starts up at 40% so obviously it wasn't the battery. Also it only started happening after the (not the last but the one before that) update. My daughter hasn't updated we have the same phone and we got it at the same time and she's not having that problem so what else can it be? She said other friends of her are having the same problem and that's why she's not updating. On top of that the Gamecenter app hacked my e-mail and is now sending me tons of e-mails from my own account and probably people on my address book and when I called ot ask for help they told me to delete my e-mail acct. I've had the same e-mails since the early 90's and now I might have to change it. Between the battery issue and game center I'm starting to hate iphones.

Mar 18, 2015 8:52 PM in response to Megachiller

Mine was one of those with the battery recall and was eligible for replacement so in November I had a new one put in by our local Apple Authorized Service. Within 3 months the issues were back and have steadily worsened; now my phone won't even turn on. Apparently it's not profitable enough for them to make a decent product. My phone has always been kept in a defender case, doesn't have a single scratch on it and I've been exceedingly careful, yet at 25 months old it crashed (with a brand new battery). It gets worse with every update and not to be conspiracy-ish but that just doesn't sound coincidental to me.

Mar 30, 2015 8:26 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

Lawrence,

With all due respect, your advice is clearly well intentioned but I think you're missing a fundamental point, this *is* a fault in the phone.


There is clearly a battery management issue which is causing the phone to not be able to properly monitor the charge state of the battery. It is not acceptable for a device to need a new battery after only 12 months and this issue does not affect all phones, or even all models of the iPhone.


This is clearly an iPhone specific issue with certain models - personally this is affecting my iPhone 5S, but I have had two iPhone 5's before and haven't seen this issue with either of those - for others on this thread it seems to be affecting the iPhone 5 and 5S.


The power management IC in the 5 and 5S is different (338S1216-A2 in the 5S versus the 338s1131-b2 in the 5), though I'm not sure if it's the power management IC which would cause the phone to shut off or whether it's purely a software issue. My hunch is this issue is with the power management IC and hence only affects the 5S and the users reporting issues with the 5 are seeing other, unrelated issues with similar side effects.


Would be interesting if any users with an iPhone 5 have seen their phone shut off at >40% indicated charge, not related to extreme cold or extreme heat? If so, did you device power back up immediately after being plugged in? Could you then remove the charge immediately and get another 30 minutes or more of usage?


For me It is not temperature related, it is not a rapid decline in battery charge, it is the phone switching off abruptly at >40% reported charge. The phone will turn on again immediately once connected to a charger and can then be immediately unplugged and stay working for hours more (showing it's the charge state reporting that isn't working, not the battery).


In my experience it's certainly related to drain - using the GPS (as on running/hiking apps such as Strava) or doing other battery intensive activity seems to trigger it.


Apple - please research this more!

Mar 30, 2015 10:42 AM in response to cjpsych80

I have the same problem too with my iphone 5. Usually its when I am using the camera, the phone will just turn off even if battery shows as half full. When I get home and plug it into a charger the battery shows the original amount of charge and can then be used as normal.


It seems to be getting worse and is really annoying. Was wondering about buying a new battery but after reading on here it doesn't sound as though that will necessarily help. Its not temperature related either, its not been particularly hot or cold here in the last few weeks.


Disappointed overall with the iphone 5, the battery usage has always been poor. My 4S was much better.

May 19, 2015 11:54 PM in response to Sidhv

I have this problem if I switch off the phone overnight to conserve battery. Last night was typical of what happens.

I switched off the phone completely with 32% charge showing. When I switched on this morning it showed 28%. Then as I started to access Notepad the charge shown showed as 1% and then it shut down. Attempts to switch it on are met with the out of charge display indicating I should plug in the charger. When I finally do, the charge showed as 31%. I must admit I've never tried immediately unplugging the charger to see how long it lasts. Will try that.

I did take the phone to the local Apple Store Genius bar and they 'tested the phone' but said all was OK and that the battery was not in tip-top condition but it was not shot to enough pieces to change YET!

I am running iOS 8.3 and the problem has only occured following switchig over night. EXCEPT I have experienced a couple of shutdowns but without battery warning an it immediately started up on switch on without a power boost. I put those down to software crashes.

From the comments on this thread (thanks to all contributors - very useful posts) and my own expereince, I firmly believe there is a fault somewhere within the phone's battery management system. However, I would like to know the recommended re-calibration method.

My other course of action is to leave it on overnight!

BTW my contract is up in the next month. Wondering whether to dare going for an iPhone 6 or wait on a SIM only deal until October. Does this problem occur on iPhone 6, I wonder.

Jul 28, 2015 12:13 AM in response to cjpsych80

i also face this problem with my 4s IOS 8.4
I have a solution which help most of da sufferer in dis type of problem


after automatically turn off of your iphone
let the iphone keep 12 hours without charge
then plug the charge
hope it will fix the problem

if it does not help you then keep the iphone 24 hours or more time without plugin to charger
after 24 hour connect the iphone with charger
and yes !
your iphone will all ok like before :-)

Oct 1, 2015 10:16 AM in response to cjpsych80

This is SOOOO frustrating. I have varying problems like ones mentioned here. I took the phone off my charger and walked the dog. Had charged all night, 100%. Walked 10 minutes listening to a downloaded podcast. Pulled up chrome, which is cellular enabled (NOTHING else but 'words with friends', and I guess SIRI by default, can access cellular) to check weather and BLANK SCREEN. I thought it crashed, but when I tried the power button, it had the 'plug in to charge' image. When home, put back on charger for about 10 minutes, then I had to leave, but after charging only 10 minutes battery meter said 100%. Listened to my podcast on the 20 minute drive, as the meter rapidly dropped to 1% and it has been in my office on standby all morning ALL ON 1% DISPLAYED BATTERY LEFT. according to battery settings screen: 36 minutes usage and 3 hrs, 39 min standby (the vast majority of that time while at 1%). I have read numerous articles about extending battery life -- I do ALL of it, screen brightness, standby mode, I do not read emails on my phone -- a typical day is maybe 1.5 hour podcast, 3 texts, no calls and maybe 4 word with friends plays. I just did the battery re-calibrate suggestion (full power deplete, full charge, full deplete, 'soft reset?' where you press/hold the home and power together). Would anyone recommend the full restore?


My first battery was replaced under that faulty battery program about a year ago with this dog. The worst thing about it losing its battery meter mind this morning at 90+% power was I was then incommunicado..... what if I had needed to call for help (accident, assault,...) -- you bet your behind Apple would be getting a lawsuit. If for no other reason than this, they should get this FIXED. I agree with others who say it is DEFINITELY their problem because the operating system cannot recognize available power, the scenario above is evidence of that. Someone is going to get hurt relying on this device and having it TOTALLY FAIL them at a critical moment. My next phone will NOT be an Apple unless this is resolved!!!!!!!

iPhone 5 shuts down with plenty of battery life left

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