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Is your Battery Life better or worse?

  • Yes, my battery life is noticeably better

    Votes: 94 25.1%
  • No, my battery life seems to be a bit worse

    Votes: 192 51.3%
  • It's too early to tell. It's my opinion that you shouldn't be able to tell yet.

    Votes: 88 23.5%

  • Total voters
    374

Vanilla35

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 11, 2013
3,344
1,453
Washington D.C.
So I updated to iOS 7.1 yesterday around 2PM from 7.0.6 (I previously had 7.0.4, 7.0.5, etc). I had 87% battery, and closed all apps before starting the update - I did however, update OTA.

Normally I am quite keen on my battery life and drain throughout the day. I notice when my phone has been sitting on my desk for a while exactly how much the percentage has gone down (or not gone down) whenever I check it.

Generally speaking (on iOS 7.0.4-7.0.6), if my phone is on my desk, and I'm not using it (only receiving emails from one account) it'll drain maybe 1-2% in a couple hours (this is assuming I am not in a texting conversation). After updating to iOS 7.1, I messed around for 5 minutes or so checking out what was changed (animations, etc), and then I put my phone back down. The next couple hour period it had drained 4%, doing nothing different. After a few hours I noticed this was a constant thing, so I charged it fully to see if it needed to re-calibrate or whatever.

That night I put my phone in do not disturb before bed and for 8 hours it just sits there doing nothing. It generally drains 1-2% (on 7.0.4-7.0.6), but last night it drained 5% overnight. Also before bed I was asking Siri some questions (Just stupid things like tell me a joke - 4 to 5 times until she finally told me one :D) and the battery had drained 4% in the 5-6 minutes I was talking to Siri. I noticed a little bit yesterday that active use seemed to drain battery a little more than usual too (other than that one time with Siri).

Anyway I just wanted to ask if:

1) Other people have noticed the same thing (as I thought 7.1 was supposed to improve battery even further)

2) Maybe mine is just a little messed up because of the OTA and I should try to reset and then restore my phone to see if that fixes the drain...

P.S. It's not like a huge drain, but I was very happy with how efficient my phone was before (especially in standby). Even though it's only maybe 10% worse now, it feels like I have to worry about my usage now, which I have never really had to do before.
 

yzjustdatguy

macrumors regular
Dec 2, 2013
131
7
Atlanta
So I updated to iOS 7.1 yesterday around 2PM from 7.0.6 (I previously had 7.0.4, 7.0.5, etc). I had 87% battery, and closed all apps before starting the update - I did however, update OTA.

Normally I am quite keen on my battery life and drain throughout the day. I notice when my phone has been sitting on my desk for a while exactly how much the percentage has gone down (or not gone down) whenever I check it.

Generally speaking (on iOS 7.0.4-7.0.6), if my phone is on my desk, and I'm not using it (only receiving emails from one account) it'll drain maybe 1-2% in a couple hours (this is assuming I am not in a texting conversation). After updating to iOS 7.1, I messed around for 5 minutes or so checking out what was changed (animations, etc), and then I put my phone back down. The next couple hour period it had drained 4%, doing nothing different. After a few hours I noticed this was a constant thing, so I charged it fully to see if it needed to re-calibrate or whatever.

That night I put my phone in do not disturb before bed and for 8 hours it just sits there doing nothing. It generally drains 1-2% (on 7.0.4-7.0.6), but last night it drained 5% overnight. Also before bed I was asking Siri some questions (Just stupid things like tell me a joke - 4 to 5 times until she finally told me one :D) and the battery had drained 4% in the 5-6 minutes I was talking to Siri. I noticed a little bit yesterday that active use seemed to drain battery a little more than usual too (other than that one time with Siri).

Anyway I just wanted to ask if:

1) Other people have noticed the same thing (as I thought 7.1 was supposed to improve battery even further)

2) Maybe mine is just a little messed up because of the OTA and I should try to reset and then restore my phone to see if that fixes the drain...

P.S. It's not like a huge drain, but I was very happy with how efficient my phone was before (especially in standby). Even though it's only maybe 10% worse now, it feels like I have to worry about my usage now, which I have never really had to do before.

Try restoring your phone through iTunes and setting it up as new. Thats seemed to have worked for me.
 

Vanilla35

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 11, 2013
3,344
1,453
Washington D.C.
1% every 2 minute

that gabarage ......

??? If that's the drain you're having from 7.1 then it seems like you've got more of a "real" problem. I'm concerned about my drain because it is a minimal amount...but definitely noticeable. So I'm hoping it's not "normal" for 7.1. As battery life went down like this between iOS 5 and iOS 6.

----------

[/COLOR]
Try restoring your phone through iTunes and setting it up as new. Thats seemed to have worked for me.

So you're saying you also had worse battery life after updating to 7.1, and that restoring fixed it for you?
 

oVerboost

macrumors 68000
Sep 17, 2013
1,561
1,036
United Kingdom
You can not judge battery life after any update from a days usage, give it at least a week to let it settle down and then see if it's still bad, if it is then restore the phone, and if that doesn't solve it take it into Apple.
 

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
I think you need to give it more time, or see if there's something different in your usage scenarios. If you were in an area with poorer reception, you'll lose battery more quickly because it has to increase the power to the antennas.

I've not had enough time to judge whether the battery life is worse or better.
 

Vanilla35

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 11, 2013
3,344
1,453
Washington D.C.
You can not judge battery life after any update from a days usage, give it at least a week to let it settle down and then see if it's still bad, if it is then restore the phone, and if that doesn't solve it take it into Apple.

While I respect your opinion, I do not fully agree with it. I think that there are two ways to analyze battery. Immediate difference, and long term difference. I think if you notice a difference immediately, that that is not something to dismiss. Sure battery life could improve in 3 weeks, but if the initial decrease amount was 10%, and it goes up by 6% over the next few weeks, then it is still worse overall.

It's possible that battery life could "stabilize" over the next few weeks. But more likely, the case would be that you would become accustom to the "current" battery life, and therefore not be able to tell whether it is as good as it was with 7.0.6 or not anymore.

I will always be able to tell the difference though :D

----------

I think you need to give it more time, or see if there's something different in your usage scenarios. If you were in an area with poorer reception, you'll lose battery more quickly because it has to increase the power to the antennas.

I've not had enough time to judge whether the battery life is worse or better.

That's the thing. Since I'm on spring break, literally my routine has been almost exactly the same the past 3-4 days. I'm in my house, and my phone is on my desk, I'm not playing any games atm, just normal, very light usage. So its very easy to tell a difference in battery drain.
 

yzjustdatguy

macrumors regular
Dec 2, 2013
131
7
Atlanta
??? If that's the drain you're having from 7.1 then it seems like you've got more of a "real" problem. I'm concerned about my drain because it is a minimal amount...but definitely noticeable. So I'm hoping it's not "normal" for 7.1. As battery life went down like this between iOS 5 and iOS 6.

----------

[/COLOR]

So you're saying you also had worse battery life after updating to 7.1, and that restoring fixed it for you?

It wasn't worse but it wasn't any better coming from the jailbreak
 

bkends35

macrumors 6502a
Feb 24, 2013
941
422
USA
1-2% overnight? That's incredible unless you're in airplane mode. Mine always drains 4-6% over a 8 hour period when sleeping in do not disturb mode. Mine has always drained this fast even on 7.0.x. I would just do a clean iTunes install and forget about it. It'll be fine
 

yzjustdatguy

macrumors regular
Dec 2, 2013
131
7
Atlanta
1-2% overnight? That's incredible unless you're in airplane mode. Mine always drains 4-6% over a 8 hour period when sleeping in do not disturb mode. Mine has always drained this fast even on 7.0.x. I would just do a clean iTunes install and forget about it. It'll be fine

6 hours over night and I lost 1%. Wasn't on airplane mode IMG_0007.PNG
 

Belmont31R

macrumors 6502
Nov 23, 2012
387
33
First battery test after 7.1 OTA install I got 10:51 usage and 13:28 on standby from 100 to 1%.
 

Vanilla35

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 11, 2013
3,344
1,453
Washington D.C.
Oh I see, if you're unplugging at 100% then going to bed I can see why it only drains 1 or 2%. If I unplug at 100% usually I'll wake up with 100% 8 hours later.

Yeah that's what I meant, also. I don't see how it would be any different whether you unplug at 89% and it goes to 88%, or from 100% to 99% though :confused: :D
 

bkends35

macrumors 6502a
Feb 24, 2013
941
422
USA
Yeah that's what I meant, also. I don't see how it would be any different whether you unplug at 89% and it goes to 88%, or from 100% to 99% though :confused: :D


For me, 100% to 99% takes about 5x longer than say 90% to 89%. This is the case with all of my apple devices.
 

Vanilla35

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 11, 2013
3,344
1,453
Washington D.C.
Ok so it seems that most people think I should just do a clean reset and restore. I will be doing that in a day or two.

Although I am still curious about the 10 people who voted that they had worse battery life. It would appear that some others share my experience, but aren't saying anything :D

----------

For me, 100% to 99% takes about 5x longer than say 90% to 89%. This is the case with all of my apple devices.

Oh you're totally right, I forgot that my 96-100% is like 8% of the battery life LOL
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
Yeah that's what I meant, also. I don't see how it would be any different whether you unplug at 89% and it goes to 88%, or from 100% to 99% though :confused: :D
Battery usage is not linear and percentage estimates are not exact either based on voltages (especially when closer to full battery capacity or almost empty battery).
 

Droidrage729

macrumors 6502
Sep 28, 2012
309
1
This is why I always and you should Always clean install. I restored and set up as new so their were no issues. I'm not having any battery problems at all. Pain in the but but give it a shot.
 

Vanilla35

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 11, 2013
3,344
1,453
Washington D.C.
This is why I always and you should Always clean install. I restored and set up as new so their were no issues. I'm not having any battery problems at all. Pain in the but but give it a shot.

I just took the advice of some on this thread. I backed up, and restored my device last night (wiped everything). I then restored a backup (settings, contacts, messages, etc) onto my phone. I left all previous apps off my device for several hours. My battery drain is still present.

My last resort is going to be to restore my phone again, and then "set up as new" without having anything put back on my phone. Going to manually add my GF's number back into my contacts and run my phone for several hours (no apps), to see if the drain is still present.

If it is, god help us all (or at least me :D)
 

viperGTS

macrumors 68000
Nov 15, 2010
1,560
941
I updated to 7.1 via a fresh restore and that didn't work for me. I did not restore from a backup. My battery is just worse now...
 

Vanilla35

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 11, 2013
3,344
1,453
Washington D.C.
I updated to 7.1 via a fresh restore and that didn't work for me. I did not restore from a backup. My battery is just worse now...

:(:(:( I hate this crap. I loved my battery life on 7.0.4-7.0.6, I just want it to be that good...

My last resort (after my actual last resort) is to just assume it'll take 5 days for the system files to settle down and stuff and then it'll magically stop draining......eff.

----------

My last resort (after my actual last resort) is to just assume it'll take 5 days for the system files to settle down and stuff and then it'll magically stop draining......eff.

Has anyone had any experience with this in the past? Where your phone drained (lightly) after an update (larger one, maybe) and then it stopped after a few days?? Because that just seems so unlikely to me
 
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