Iphone 5s battery drains fast after ios 7.1 update.

Am I the only one who seems to be experiencing this? My iphone 5S battery seem to drain much faster than usual, and charge longer. I heard that the new update is supposed to increase battery life, and read comparison threads regarding other iphones that are capable of a much better battery life than mine.


I've had my phone for 3 months, never have dropped it once or anything of the sort, if that matters. My battery drains to 50% within an hour or so after intense use on the lowest level of brightness, and I seem to lose about 5-7 percents when on standby for 5 hours or so. Is this normal? Is it perhaps due to the fact that I am mostly using 3g, and applications that require more processing such as tumblr (graphics and gifs) as well safari? I'm just worried that my battery may be draining to quick, despite the update which's supposed to make it much better according to many people.


Thanks.

iPhone 5s, iOS 7.1, Battery life

Posted on Mar 11, 2014 8:30 PM

Reply
442 replies

Mar 20, 2014 11:42 AM in response to Rainxwater

I have a 5, not 5S, but have experienced much shorter battery life after updating. Every morning, I stream audio using the TuneIn radio app via bluetooth to my car. Prior to updating, my phone would be at 100% when I leave home and still at 97%~98% after a 30 minute commute.


With what I consider minimal daily use, 5 phone calls, 20 texts, 50 email messages, my phone would still be at 35%-40% when I got home after an 8 hour day.


Since updating, my phone would drop 20% after the 30 minute commute and at 50% with only 4 hours of use, most of that standby. I've rarely had to charge my phone in at work, but now if I want to use it after work, I'll need to start plugging it in 1-2 hours before I'm off.


Also, when I did the update, I restored my phone from a backup. I had to do this after 7.0.6, but it restored the battery life to "normal." Not so with 7.1.


I think I will try doing a full restore and manually adding my apps. If it doesn't fix the battery life, at least I still have the back up.

Mar 20, 2014 2:00 PM in response to Rainxwater

I have a problem for certain with 7.1. Now the battery on my iphone 5 does not last one normal 8 hour working day, as it did previously. There is a problem or bug with this version with battery life. I have noticed my phone will switch itself off with a 20% battery life, bug today kept working down to 10%. It also dropped from over 40% to 20% very quickly. It really needs fixing, otherwise I will have to carry my charger everywhere.

Mar 20, 2014 3:15 PM in response to Tsugo

So after posting my previous message, I went looking for solutions. I already restrict privacy on all but a couple of apps. Same for notifications. However, this new feature, Background App Refresh was active for a bunch of apps.


After going to General>Background App Refresh, I switched it off for all apps.


Since then, my battery has only dropped by a few percent. I don't know if this is the only culprit. Hopefully the battery life returns to what it was before the update.

Mar 21, 2014 4:40 AM in response to Rainxwater

My iphone 5 I've noticed would be fine, then on occasion enter a "drain cycle" where I could almost watch the battery drain in real time, like 1% every other minute. I knew my phone *had* been fine, even after upgrading, so what was the deal? I tinkered and eventually thought, like others here, that it must be related somehow to cellular data. My phone would not suck power unless I was *not* on wifi. It was when I was using LTE it would happen. So I went to settings and just toggled cellular data OFF and the waited a second or two, and toggled it back on. The battery drain ceased, right before my eyes. This is the wierd thing, restarting the phone didn't help...but toggling cellular data did. I wonder if this has a similar effect as the "reset network settings" solution I've read others suggest? Just posting my experience to hopefully help apple engineers (if they actually read these things) track down the pattern of behavior here.

Mar 22, 2014 12:14 AM in response to Inkwisitiv

Hi


Ever since i upgraded to IOS 7.1 I have been having issues with my battery draining fast and have observed the little spinning wheel running continuously.


I switched Background Refresh of Apps, switchec off location services for the Apps it was'nt required, still the problem persisted.


After Hard Reset the Spinning Wheel stops but after some time it restarts and then never stops untill another Hard Reset.


Any suggestions?

Mar 22, 2014 5:57 AM in response to Rainxwater

I'm experiencing the same problem. I followed the instructions of Apple Care and restored the device as a new iPhone but it did not work. What seems to have worked is to reset the settings.


Anyway I think it's is unacceptable for a device purchased last November 30 (with a price of 600 euros). Apple should urgently publish a solution to the battery problems caused by version 7.1.

Mar 22, 2014 11:41 AM in response to Rainxwater

Guys I too had the same fast drain battery problem BUT NOT NOW!!


HOW???


1 my phone was in warranty.

2 took my phone to Apple authorised service centre

3 phone kept for observation for the above problem

4 problem confirmed.

5 replaced with a brand new iPhone 5s on the third day.

6 best part is that the new phone has IOS 7.0.4


Plz my advice is stop discussing this issues and take the problem to Apple !!!!

It will be resolved for sure!!

Mar 22, 2014 11:55 AM in response to Paulo Goulart

Guys I too had the same fast drain battery problem BUT NOT NOW!!


HOW???


1 my phone was in warranty.

2 took my phone to Apple authorised service centre

3 phone kept for observation for the above problem

4 problem confirmed.

5 replaced with a brand new iPhone 5s on the third day.

6 best part is that the new phone has IOS 7.0.4


your mobile not in warranty ?? Means iPhones are country wise locked device!! If u don't buy your phone in your country, u can't not avail the free 1 year service !!!

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Iphone 5s battery drains fast after ios 7.1 update.

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.