Apple Studying Issue With iPhone 6s & 6s Plus Not Updating Battery Percentage

[MacRumors]

Apple this week posted a new support document addressing an issue some iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users have been experiencing with the battery percentage displayed in the status bar on their displays not updating as the battery drains.

The company notes it is investigating the issue and working on a solution, although it appears to be related to time zone or clock settings. In the meantime, users experiencing the problem are advised to restart their devices and make sure the time is being automatically set in Settings.

If you change the time on your iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus manually or change time zones when traveling, you might notice that the battery percentage doesn't update. Learn what to do.

A fairly lengthy discussion thread in Apple's discussion forums reveals a number of users running into the problem, dating back nearly to the new models' launch last September. Many of the users experiencing the issue had been manually adjusting their phones' clock settings in order to bypass timer-based barriers in certain games, and Apple's suggestion about ensuring the time is being set automatically indicates the battery issue is indeed likely related to clock settings.

Article Link: Apple Studying Issue With iPhone 6s & 6s Plus Not Updating Battery Percentage

 

[555gallardo]

appears to be related to time zone or clock settings

That could mean we may get infinite battery life just by manually changing time!

 

[lolkthxbai]

How weird. I wonder why the battery percentage would be tied to the time... Could it be that the battery percentage is recorded and gets stuck if the time gets set back?

 

[Alexrat1996]

I have this issue but i have not changed the time at all i did a restore same issue i'm taking it to apple for replacement

 

[fzfpff]

Maybe updating battery status too often would use too much energy and drain the battery. Yay for thinner iPhones!

 

[bushido]

I have this issue but i have not changed the time at all i did a restore same issue i'm taking it to apple for replacement

why would u take it back for a replacement if you just read on this very page that its a software issue Apple is aware of ... ?

 

[soupcan]

That could mean we may get infinite battery life just by manually changing time!

If only...


I have a 6S. It's fine.

 

[555gallardo]

I have a 6S. It's fine.

I'm about to get either 6s Plus or the new 4-incher. Depends on what it'd be like

 

[djeeyore25]

My Apple Watch has been having battery display issues recently as well. After I finish a run it'll show a much lower percentage than is actually left, and stay on that percentage until I place it on the charger. Once it's on the charger it jumps up a bunch to where the batter level actually is. Then the battery level drops accurately with use. I suppose battery levels are just complicated.

 

[furi0usbee]

i wonder if Apple is playing with the percentage like they did with the signal bars...

EDIT: I still have the iPhone 5. And I literally can be on 1% for 45 minutes, or be on 39% and then restart the phone only to find out I'm at 8%.

 

[Glassed Silver]

why would u take it back for a replacement if you just read on this very page that its a software issue Apple is aware of ... ?

Article →

[...]Apple this week posted a new support document addressing an issue some iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users [emphasis mine] [...]

Maybe it's a combination of time settings and specific batches of phones.

i wonder if Apple is playing with the percentage like they did with the signal bars...

EDIT: I still have the iPhone 5. And I literally can be on 1% for 45 minutes, or be on 39% and then restart the phone only to find out I'm at 8%.

Yes they do and afaik they admit to it.
What you described however seems to be a battery calibration issue. At least the latter example.
The former is by design.
Ever noticed you see 100% a whole lot longer than 98% for example?
Psychological reasons. You don't want the customer to see the drain right after unplugging the device.
Apple's not the only one to do that.

And as for 1%, that's not actually 1% either, the battery is always left with a remaining charge of 2-5% iirc in most cases, because actually emptying the battery can harm it. Running below 20% and above 80% wears out a battery too, but it's really a complete discharge (not what the phone force shut downs you at, but say leaving the phone uncharged after that for a prolonged time) that can ruin the battery.

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[EM2013]

I've had this issue on my 6S for a while now but my time is set to automatic.

 

[CGJay]

Article →
Maybe it's a combination of time settings and specific batches of phones.



Ever noticed you see 100% a whole lot longer than 98% for example?
Psychological reasons. You don't want the customer to see the drain right after unplugging the device.
Apple's not the only one to do that.

And as for 1%, that's not actually 1% either, the battery is always left with a remaining charge of 2-5% iirc in most cases, because actually emptying the battery can harm it. Running below 20% and above 80% wears out a battery too, but it's really a complete discharge (not what the phone force shut downs you at, but say leaving the phone uncharged after that for a prolonged time) that can ruin the battery.

Glassed Silver:mac

My understanding was that '100%' was not necessarily just 1% worth of battery on top of another 99, but rather about 3-5% worth of battery that is drained and recharged when someone leaves the phone on charge at 100%.

 

[Lost Hills]

I have seen this issue from time to time on almost every iPhone model I have owned.

 

[topmounter]

The support doc says "investigating" not "studying".

 

[KJL3000]

i wonder if Apple is playing with the percentage like they did with the signal bars...

EDIT: I still have the iPhone 5. And I literally can be on 1% for 45 minutes, or be on 39% and then restart the phone only to find out I'm at 8%.

Same here with iPhone 5! Did a battery calibration, helped for some days then ended up with the iPhone shutting down at around 26% displayed battery life again.

 

[mimeArtist]

I've not changed the time on mine and have noticed twice recently that the battery percentage says about 12% and then just dies... when I charge and manage to start up again it's down to 4%

 

[GhostRaider]

Apple "investigating" an issue? Smashing!

 

[Alexrat1996]

I've had this issue on my 6S for a while now but my time is set to automatic.

Take it to apple

 

[epicrayban]

So that's how the iPhone has "good" battery life.

 

[PS4DailyLove]

Hmm, my 6s is on manual since I'd like to control the time zone info but it doesn't have this problem.

 

[Alexrat1996]

why would u take it back for a replacement if you just read on this very page that its a software issue Apple is aware of ... ?

apple support advisor told me to take in for replacement the higher support one
[doublepost=1452969785][/doublepost]the issue happen when my defective battery case stopped working

 

[Glassed Silver]

My understanding was that '100%' was not necessarily just 1% worth of battery on top of another 99, but rather about 3-5% worth of battery that is drained and recharged when someone leaves the phone on charge at 100%.

Bingo.

Same here with iPhone 5! Did a battery calibration, helped for some days then ended up with the iPhone shutting down at around 26% displayed battery life again.

Same issue here.
I stop expecting premium quality of an iPhone after the 2 year mark after launch, so I'm not even surprised to see this happening on my device.
Yearly iOS upgrades come at a price it seems. (the battery is NEW, mind you.)

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[Matthew.H]

I'm not having this issue fortunately. Seems odd though how the time and battery would be linked.

 

[Markoth]

Part of the problem, as I understand it, is that the way battery life is measured is by measuring the gradual voltage drop, which occurs as the battery loses power. The issue with this method, is it can be affected by temperature. I've found that this issue occurs quite frequently after using my iPhone for prolonged periods in the cold. Once I get into a warmer environment, the battery percentage suddenly drops by massive amounts. This may or may not be related. I'm guessing time actually has nothing to do with it.