iPhone 5 Battery Life May Be Impacted Greatly by Cellular Signal Strength

A weak cellular signal always drains the battery faster

This is nothing new. A weak or non-existant cellular signal always drains the battery faster than a strong signal, because the phone has to constantly check for it. I barely have reception in my home, and my 4S drains in a few hours. However, when I'm out, and the signal is stronger, it lasts all day. It was the same with iPhone 4 on AT&T.

Geckotek said:

Solution to what? I don't have a battery issue. Outside of a Droid with a crappy screen, I don't know of any phones lasting much longer. My co-workers with S IIIs are getting worse battery life than me.

Click to expand...

Do they live in a cave?my friends S3 lasts from 10-12 hours full usage and i mean full.
Apple said the battery lasts longer than iphone 4s not iphone4 meaning is better than 4s but worst than 4,they just didn't say it openly.
As for the solution to what question,solution to a mediocre battery at best,if not you are one of the few peeps in the world that doesn't want to have better battery life on his phone.

Apple have always overstated the ability of their batteries.

ahireasu said:

Do they live in a cave?my friends S3 lasts from 10-12 hours full usage and i mean full.
Apple said the battery lasts longer than iphone 4s not iphone4 meaning is better than 4s but worst than 4,they just didn't say it openly.
As for the solution to what question,solution to a mediocre battery at best,if not you are one of the few peeps in the world that doesn't want to have better battery life on his phone.

Click to expand...

They sit next to me in the same office using their phones to play games and listen to music all day. Sorry, but the iPhone battery is not mediocre. It's not outstanding, but gets me through the day with no issue.

Oh, and the 4 and 4S batteries are almost identical except for 3G data usage....which makes perfect sense since the bumped the performance of the 3G and it likely required more battery. Either way, both got me through the day without issue.

The 3G, 3GS, 4 and 4S all suffered from the same issue so I dont see why the 5 would be any different. It is not an iPhone specific problem, with my old dumb Nokias also suffering the same issue.

Geckotek said:

Then I find your statement about annodized aluminum confusing.

Click to expand...

My friend they didn't use "Special dyes can also be used to color the anodized aluminum for decorative uses" that it is clear that the paint is on top the aluminum or else when you scratch the iphone you wouldn't see the "metal colour" but it would remain black.

ahireasu said:

My friend they didn't use "Special dyes can also be used to color the anodized aluminum for decorative uses" that it is clear that the paint is on top the aluminum or else when you scratch the iphone you wouldn't see the metal but it would remain black.

Click to expand...

You clearly didn't read your own article. Annodized aluminum will only have a thin layer of color. Below the "rust" later that grows on top, there is still silver colored aluminum.

NOBODY questions that it's annodized...except you.

Puevlo said:

Apple have always overstated the ability of their batteries.

Click to expand...

Except for those of us who get better battery life than Apple's spec. YMMV

Worst case scenario if you charge your phone every night, if you're using LTE for 5 out of 16 hours in a day, that's about 1/3 of the day staring at a screen. What a boring day.

Geckotek said:

They sit next to me in the same office using their phones to play games and listen to music all day. Sorry, but the iPhone battery is not mediocre. It's not outstanding, but gets me through the day with no issue.

Oh, and the 4 and 4S batteries are almost identical except for 3G data usage....which makes perfect sense since the bumped the performance of the 3G and it likely required more battery. Either way, both got me through the day without issue.

Click to expand...

Ofc it was a joke when i said if they live in a cave,anyway you are lucky if you are satisfied with it,i have a iphone 4 and whille co workers curse the battery on iphone 4s they have i am ok not very good or excellent just ok with the battery,i hope one day apple will find a solution on its own way and really increase the battery juice.

My battery has been great. Verizon LTE has far better coverage though.

StealthGhost said:

Manufacturers love to BS the numbers

Click to expand...

They must feel good when acting so sleazy... but it's second nature to them, like breathing...

It is not the iPhone that is at fault

Well, I should say, this is a cell phone issue in general.

Try this - with any cell phone, keep it on but don't use it. Then go somewhere where the signal is either very weak or not available (better if it is just very, very weak)

The battery will run down in a few hours, much faster than one would want or expect. This is just the cost of the cell phone handshake that happens with the cell towers such that it can ring the phone, get text messages, etc.

In low signal areas the radio has to work harder to listen for the incoming signal (higher gain/more filtering) and it must turn up the power to send (higher output gain) and, in some cases, resend due to data errors (in either direction, but mainly from phone to cell tower)

Difference in power usage can be well over 10x (10 times) between good signal and worst case signal.

Geckotek said:

You clearly didn't read your own article. Annodized aluminum will only have a thin layer of color. Below the "rust" later that grows on top, there is still silver colored aluminum.

NOBODY questions that it's annodized...except you.

Click to expand...

So you are saying that they used special dyes and they peel so easily?When you use the dye and scratch the colour you know what you see?black again not silver but black.
I say they used just a normal dye and this is why they peel off.
For now apple managed to get more negative publicity than the antenagate back in 2010.

technopimp said:

The example I'm giving is when I am on cellular data (not on a WiFi network). At lunch, in a so-so coverage area, I lost 15% in an hour. It was locked in my pocket. At home, overnight, I lose about 3%.

Click to expand...

That's strange I use my iPhone 5 way more than my 4S(until the new wears off). I've used GPS TbyT directions everywhere I go. I'm always on AT&T 4G(not LTE) using Pandora. I keep the back-light way brighter than on the 4S. I'm getting like %20 life left when I go to bed at light. With my 4S I was getting %5 warning like an hour before bed, and many times I would have charged it a bit after work.

I love the battery life on this phone

Turning my phone on reduces it's battery life too.

RjaylinS06 said:

yeah this battery is a joke!!! Worse battery life on any iphone I've every had! No wya apples numbers are accurate!

Click to expand...

best iphone battery ive ever used... after using 5 iphones... hah. i dont get it

GFLPraxis said:

My battery life on my iPhone 5 has been incredibly poor. I even turned LTE off yesterday and fully charged it overnight, and I'm halfway through my work day and down to 47%. I have only done texting and Facebook messenger.

Click to expand...

My 4 has been doing that recently. Will sit on my desk all day and its 48%

Every single iOS update there is a flood of people complaining their battery life is worse. Then the publicity fades and it is forgotten.

People don't realize they use their phones more right after an update, and they change settings more right after an update, and they install new apps right after an update.

Also people are always *looking* for things to complain about and will notice battery life more than normal after an update.

The reality with any electronic gadget: using them consumes battery life.

Apple is no different than any other company - batteries get consumed when devices get used.

LTE is a "Baaattteerrrryyy Killllllaaaaa!"
Said in my best Dream voice!

This is nothing new. My 4 does this when I'm at home, where I get a very weak signal. If I'm using it while lying in bed, it usually gets 1-2 bars of 3G and the battery runs down at literally 40% an hour with the brightness on half...

Well apple loses its touch little by little,
Siri? doesn't work in most of the world,
Maps?are in alpha stage not fuctional,
Dye?it peels off,
Screen analysis?lower than any high level smartphones,
Wifi?problems even there in conectivity,
Security?they find holes even there after3-4 days the iOS6 is out.
Other than that the iphone is great

i sit in auditoriums at my University every day of the week, and get horrible signal (barely 3G and even Edge on my 5) and yet i manage to text and call and surf the web, and my phone is still very much alive when i get home. and stays alive till i go to bed. normally around midnight

ahireasu said:

Probably the problem is that all cell phone makers put biger batteries on their cell to make it last longer,while apple on the other hand makes the iphone 1.8mm thinner and keeps the same battery on

Click to expand...

iPhone 5 battery is actually bigger and more powerful.

5: 3.8V - 5.45Wh - 1440mAh.

4S: 3.7V - 5.3Wh - 1432mAh.

A tiny bit, but still larger than the 4S.

ahireasu said:

So you are saying that they used special dyes and they peel so easily?When you use the dye and scratch the colour you know what you see?black again not silver but black.
I say they used just a normal dye and this is why they peel off.
For now apple managed to get more negative publicity than the antenagate back in 2010.

Click to expand...

Your original statment implied that it's not annodized. So what you are actually saying is that it IS annodized, but you feel they should have used a special dye?