iPhone 5 - battery and wifi issues since 7.0.3/4

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iPhone 5 - battery and wifi issues since 7.0.3/4

Hi everyone,

I'm pretty familiar with iPhones (had one since the first gen, currently own an iPhone 5), but I've ran into a problem I can't seem to able to fix. Ever since I've upgraded to version 7.0.3 my battery drains unusually fast. (edit: this was an OTA upgrade) Previously even when using my iPhone 5 intensively, I would have some juice left when I went to bad. Now, the phone seems to drop 10% every hour purely on standby. When I'm browsing, it takes less than two minutes for the usage meter to drop 1 percent. Also, my wi-fi reception is much less than before. I can only use the wifi network less than 5 meters from the router. Once I move to another room, my iPhone 5 just loses signal, even though my iPad 2 shows full signal, my iPhone 4 shows full signal, and a recently acquired iPhone 5S has full signal too.

I've read up on what this issue might be, and I think I've ruled out the general culprits. What I have tried:

- After upgrade to 7.0.4 and problem still confirmed, I put my iPhone in DFU mode and restored.

- Set up as new iPhone, NOT from icloud back-up.

- Did not install any apps, did not sync with PC, so at this point, the iPhone is completely fresh apart from setting up my home WiFi network and iCloud for contacts.

- Turn off 'Background app refresh'. Disabled location services. Disabled App Store updates in background.

- After the restore, waited until iPhone was completely empty, then put it in the charger without using until completely full + hard reset. (Mentioned by some as 'the way' to do a battery recalibration)

After these steps, my battery is still draining rapidly. When I take it out of the charger in the morning (9:00), it will be around 50% by 14:00 with practically no use, only standby.

At this point it seems to me that two options can be the case:

1. The new firmware is playing havoc with my iPhone

2. I've got some kind of hardware defect.

However, these problems started the moment after upgrading to 7.0.3. Before I would easily make it through the day, even with all those background app refresh and location services turned on. Furthermore, if it would be a hardware issue, I feel it's strange that the battery and wifi would start acting up at the same time. Seems more logical to me if it would be a software issue.

So, taken in mind that this issue happens on an (almost) completely 'fresh' iPhone restore from DFU mode. Is there anything else I can try myself, or should I contact Apple? I'm leaning towards sending my iPhone in for service (not near any Apple store), but one to two weeks without the iPhone is just a hassle..

Thanks in advance, kind regards!

iPhone 5, iOS 7.0.4

Posted on Nov 17, 2013 1:13 PM

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Answer 1

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Rusty40

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Nov 17, 2013 3:37 PM in response to aeg13

Hi there

My wife and I have been dealing with a very similar issue with our iPhone 5ss, all battery drain issues started after the upgrade to ios 7.03. We have performed numerous restores and have had 3 trips to the Genius Bar. Finally they gave us new iPhones (yesterday). We had hoped this would do the trick but we have the same problem on the new phones.

This morning I restored one and didn't sign into iCloud. Battery drain is now gone. And when I deleted iCloud from my wife's phone it too went back to normal. So I believe the culprit is iCloud and I am now testing various setups with iCloud to determine which app/setting is causing the problem.

Hope this helps with your phones. I will post again if I can narrow it down to something specific.

Good luck!

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Answer 2

aeg13 Author

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Nov 17, 2013 3:50 PM in response to Rusty40

Thans for your reply. Good to hear that it's probably something to do with the software. I'll have a go at disabling iClouud. I have disabled some parts of iCloud before, still having problems with everything off but contacts, calendars, find my iPhone. I'll also update this thread if my troubleshooting leads to anything. I've got a telephone support call set up with Apple for tomorrow.

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Answer 3

Rusty40

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5 points

Nov 17, 2013 6:58 PM in response to aeg13

Hi there,

From my testing it seems that the calendar is the iCloud app causing the problem. If I turn the iCloud calendar off, the battery drain seems to stop. What has been happening to us is the standby and usage times have been the same. Now that iCloud calendar is off, the phone seems to be able to go into standby and the usage times are what I would expect them to be.

Good luck with your call with apple support, hopefully they can log all of this and pass it on so this can be fixed in an upcoming release.

Cheers

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Answer 4

aeg13 Author

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Nov 18, 2013 1:30 AM in response to Rusty40

Good call! Unfortunately for me, that didn't fix the issue. I did have some strange behavior with calendar a few days back (lots of notifications for events that were added a long time ago), but my usage and standby times are still different. I turned off iCloud this morning, but my battery is still draining and my wi-fi isn't up to speed either 😟.

I'll report back on how my Apple support phone call went.

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Answer 5

aeg13 Author

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Nov 18, 2013 2:40 AM in response to aeg13

Apple support didn't go into any issues with 7.0.3 or 7.0.4 but the combination of battery and wifi pointed to a hardware defect. I will provide them with some additional details to verify my purchase and we could set up a regular swap for another refurbished iPhone, or a forward swap where I could immediately exchange the phones.

Again, I will update this topic if a replacement has been set up today and when I've received the new phone.

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Answer 6

Rusty40

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Nov 18, 2013 3:33 AM in response to aeg13

Sorry to hear the iCloud calendar wasn't the smoking gun. Hopefully the new hardware will solve your issue. I defnitely know how frustrating this has been - 3+ weeks of pure frustration! And in our case, this is just a band-aid until they come out with an actual software fix.

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Answer 7

aeg13 Author

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Nov 18, 2013 4:14 AM in response to Rusty40

I can image the frustration! Well, let's hope for a quick 7.0.5 / 7.1 with a fix for you. I'll report back on my new hardware but good luck with your issue in the meantime.

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Answer 8

aeg13 Author

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Nov 18, 2013 11:46 AM in response to Rusty40

I hear the iOS 7.1 beta is out.. Might fix some issues for you. Although I haven't heard wether you can install it without a developer UDID like the iOS 7 beta's.

I'll probably hold back until after my hardware swap though, wouldn't want to do anything that'll "void my warranty" or cause Apple to say "you introduced the problem using beta software"...

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Answer 9

Rusty40

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Nov 18, 2013 6:00 PM in response to aeg13

Yeah, I just heard about iOS 7.1 as well. I'm hoping as more devs begin to test it we will hear about what all is being fixed in this version.

I have determined that iCloud contacts is a problem for me as well - so now I need to have both calendar and contacts turned off. With either on, my battery drains fast - with both of them off, it is fine. fingers crossed that 7.1 does the trick. And hope the hardware swap does the trick for you.

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Answer 10

aeg13 Author

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Nov 21, 2013 7:25 AM in response to Rusty40

Hey Rusty,

I got my new iPhone yesterday in the evening and upgraded it to 7.0.4 (it was still on 6.something when I got it, was tempted to leave it there 😀..). Battery and Wi-Fi issues are completely gone. Currently at 26 minutes use, 7 hours and 16 minutes standby and at 92%...

So for me, it was definitely something hardware (or specific hardware-software combination).

Regards,
Jan

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