Phone shuts off with 40% battery life

Question

Level 1

8 points

Phone shuts off with 40% battery life

Over the past few months my 4s has been shutting off out of the blue with 40% battery life or more. During calls, downloads, or just idle it will shut off and the no battery indicator will flash when I try to turn it back on. I can wait some amount of time (varies each time) and turn it back on or if I plug it in to charge it will come back on but the battery indicator will be at 40%, 60%, etc. as soon as it comes on again. Nothing has changed that I know of but I can't get it to stop. Went to Verizon and did a hard reboot but it didn't change. Help?!!?

iPhone 4S, iOS 7.0.4

Posted on Jan 29, 2014 3:44 PM

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Answer 1

jeremy_v

Community Specialist

Jan 31, 2014 7:26 AM in response to cobbjovi

Hi cobbjovi,

Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.

If your iPhone is turning off unexpectedly, be sure to try all of the steps below. Based on what you've tried so far, I'd suggest starting with step 5.

iPhone: Hardware troubleshooting

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2802

Will not turn on, will not turn on unless connected to power, or unexpected power off

Verify that the Sleep/Wake button functions. If it does not function, inspect it for signs of damage. If the button is damaged or is not functioning when pressed, seek service.

Check if a Liquid Contact Indicator (LCI) is activated or there are signs of corrosion. Learn about LCIs and corrosion.

Connect the iPhone to the iPhone's USB power adapter and let it charge for at least ten minutes.

After at least 30 minutes, if:

The home screen appears: The iPhone should be working. Update to the latest version of iOS if necessary. Continue charging it until it is completely charged and you see this battery icon in the upper-right corner of the screen . Then unplug the phone from power. If it immediately turns off, seek service.

The low-battery image appears, even after the phone has charged for at least 20 minutes: See "iPhone displays the low-battery image and is unresponsive" symptom in this article.

Something other than the Home screen or Low Battery image appears, continue with this article for further troubleshooting steps.

If the iPhone did not turn on, reset it while connected to the iPhone USB power adapter.

If the display turns on, go to step 4.

If the display remains black, go to next step.

Connect the iPhone to a computer and open iTunes. If iTunes recognizes the iPhone and indicates that it is in recovery mode, attempt to restore the iPhone. If the iPhone doesn't appear in iTunes or if you have difficulties in restoring the iPhone, see this article for further assistance.

If restoring the iPhone resolved the issue, go to step 4. If restoring the iPhone did not solve the issue, seek service.

Best,

Jeremy

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Answer 2

cobbjovi Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 3, 2014 9:32 AM in response to jeremy_v

Thanks for replying Jeremy but I have done all of these things previously and they didn't help. Including a hard reboot at the Verizon store and one or two soft reboots as was suggested by the technician there. 40% to off and then once I plug it in, it shows 40% or more immediately. Over the weekend it did it with 60% battery life remaining and it wasn't even being used when it switched off. I just happened to try to check it and found it was off. Very frustrating to have a phone that I can't rely on to be on when needed and have no indication that it has even shut itself off. Reminds me of my old Blackberry.

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Answer 3

Feb 4, 2014 6:33 PM in response to cobbjovi

Mine is doing this exact same thing. It can be at 40% and 3 minutes later, with no use, be at 7% or just shut off. When I plug it on, it will jump back up to 40% (or whatever it was when it went crazy). In researching this I have found countless other iPhone 4S users with the same problem and saying the battery is at the end if it's life. Really?! Did Apple put faulty batteries in all of the 4s? I am a 48 year old woman and all of my children are adults and out on their own. So I'm not hard on my phones and don't have small children that handle my phones. The sleep/wake button went out on my Iphone 4 and now a battery issue with my 4s. I have been a faithful apple customer for years, but am questioning the quality of the products. I have a MacBook Pro, iPad 2, iPad mini & an iPhone 4S and my husband has an iPad air & an iPhone 4S. Like I said, faithful apple customers, but disappointed in the issues I've been having and am looking at other devices.

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Answer 4

grika

Level 1

8 points

Aug 19, 2014 11:05 AM in response to cobbjovi

I have the exact same problem, even the 40%. Recharging and restarting is not an issue, in fact as soon as I plug the phone in, it immediately starts and shows that it still has 40% charge.

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Answer 5

ksprashu

Level 1

4 points

Oct 3, 2016 2:04 AM in response to cobbjovi

These DFU and Restore and Resets and Battery Recalibration did not work for me.

I have suffered with this switch off problem for 6 months now. Finally I think I may have fixed it.

Firstly, just turn the phone to low power mode after a full charge and revel in the long battery life. Irrespective of the excitement you will see in the battery lasting so long, do observe whether the phone turns off or not.

If you find that the phone doesnt turn off, then it is clear that there is no hardware problem. Now your culprit is either an app that uses background data, or an app that uses location.

For me, turning off background app data worked and my phone drained power gracefully and turned off only after 1% charge. When I turned it back on I started getting shutdowns at 40% or 20%. I seem to have narrowed it down to whatsapp.

Try turning off the background app data for whatsapp, or better still, uninstall that godforsaken app and your $500+ iphone will show no battery problems.

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