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Your battery probably isn't as bad as you think it is.

Bacong

Bacong

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 7, 2009
2,622
1,143
Westland, Michigan
After seeing so many misinformed messages on this forum and others, I felt this needed to be said. Your battery life isn't as bad as you think it is, for these simple reasons:

• USAGE VARIES

Your phone might give you 4 hours usage one day, 7 hours the next. Why's this? Any number of reasons. Despite what you may consciously realize, you don't use your phone the same way every day. You may download more apps one day. You may have listened to music another day, inflating the usage time. You may have had a poor signal. Playing Angry Birds for 3 hours and complaining that your phone is at half battery life is stupid. The battery will die if you use it.

• YOUR FRIEND'S 12 HOURS OF USAGE IS DECEPTIVE

For those reasons above. Stop comparing your battery life to other people; it has no bearing on your own.

• YOU'RE OBSESSED ABOUT THE BATTERY PERCENTAGE

This is a big one. I've seen so many people complaining about losing X amount of % in Y amount of time. The battery meter is NOT 100% accurate. It is a software estimate. It will fluctuate, it can be inaccurate. Once a month or so, let your phone die (normal usage) and charge it all the way to 100% without taking it off the charger. This will give you a more accurate reading.

• IT'S NOT IOS 7'S FAULT

People love to blame iOS 7 for their battery woes, but look at these forums one year ago. People have ALWAYS complained about battery life because they have no idea what good battery life is. iOS 7 may have a few bugs here and there, but overall the battery life in 6 and 7 is basically the same. I've certainly noticed no difference.

• YOU'RE USING IT TOO MUCH

Another big deal. People complain about their phones dying "halfway through work" or some other way earlier than normal time stamp. Why is it doing this? Unless you work underground, you're using your phone too much. If you unplug your phone at 100%, and use it heavily with email, texting, browsing and apps, it WILL die within 5-6 hours, or less, depending on your settings, your cellular reception, etc. A phone isn't going to last all day if you don't put it down, I don't care what phone you have. Buy a mophie, stop worrying.

• "USAGE" ISN'T JUST SCREEN TIME

Your usage stat isn't just a screen time measure. It's measuring any process that keeps the phone awake (awake =/= screen on) and adding that to the tally. That can be background app refresh, location services, texts coming in, etc. Your iPhone can do so much.

• YOU CAN HELP YOURSELF

You don't have to make a thread on the forum asking for help with your battery life. Google produces dozens of links when queried "iPhone battery tips" and facsimiles of that question will produce dozens more. Don't be afraid to help yourself. By following these tips (turning off bluetooth, keeping brightness around half, turning off location services to apps that don't need it, turning off notifications for apps that don't need it, etc) you learn more about your phone and what to expect from it. Don't think there's nothing you can do.

This thread is of course aimed at the person who doesn't have battery problems, which is the vast majority of you. Some of you, of course, do have bad battery life..but that's because you have a hardware problem or a reception problem. That's it. Anything else is user error.

Don't be afraid to try a restore. You still have a backup to go back to if things aren't improved!

Most of all, enjoy your iPhone! It's a great device with great software and apps. Worrying too much about battery life takes away from that. It's meant to be enjoyed! As Steve Jobs would say, if you're still having problems, just avoid using it that way :) :apple:
 
Bacong said:
After seeing so many misinformed messages on this forum and others, I felt this needed to be said. Your battery life isn't as bad as you think it is, for these simple reasons:

• USAGE VARIES

Your phone might give you 4 hours usage one day, 7 hours the next. Why's this? Any number of reasons. Despite what you may consciously realize, you don't use your phone the same way every day. You may download more apps one day. You may have listened to music another day, inflating the usage time. You may have had a poor signal. Playing Angry Birds for 3 hours and complaining that your phone is at half battery life is stupid. The battery will die if you use it.

• YOUR FRIEND'S 12 HOURS OF USAGE IS DECEPTIVE

For those reasons above. Stop comparing your battery life to other people; it has no bearing on your own.

• YOU'RE OBSESSED ABOUT THE BATTERY PERCENTAGE

This is a big one. I've seen so many people complaining about losing X amount of % in Y amount of time. The battery meter is NOT 100% accurate. It is a software estimate. It will fluctuate, it can be inaccurate. Once a month or so, let your phone die (normal usage) and charge it all the way to 100% without taking it off the charger. This will give you a more accurate reading.

• IT'S NOT IOS 7'S FAULT

People love to blame iOS 7 for their battery woes, but look at these forums one year ago. People have ALWAYS complained about battery life because they have no idea what good battery life is. iOS 7 may have a few bugs here and there, but overall the battery life in 6 and 7 is basically the same. I've certainly noticed no difference.

• YOU'RE USING IT TOO MUCH

Another big deal. People complain about their phones dying "halfway through work" or some other way earlier than normal time stamp. Why is it doing this? Unless you work underground, you're using your phone too much. If you unplug your phone at 100%, and use it heavily with email, texting, browsing and apps, it WILL die within 5-6 hours, or less, depending on your settings, your cellular reception, etc. A phone isn't going to last all day if you don't put it down, I don't care what phone you have. Buy a mophie, stop worrying.

• "USAGE" ISN'T JUST SCREEN TIME

Your usage stat isn't just a screen time measure. It's measuring any process that keeps the phone awake (awake =/= screen on) and adding that to the tally. That can be background app refresh, location services, texts coming in, etc. Your iPhone can do so much.

• YOU CAN HELP YOURSELF

You don't have to make a thread on the forum asking for help with your battery life. Google produces dozens of links when queried "iPhone battery tips" and facsimiles of that question will produce dozens more. Don't be afraid to help yourself. By following these tips (turning off bluetooth, keeping brightness around half, turning off location services to apps that don't need it, turning off notifications for apps that don't need it, etc) you learn more about your phone and what to expect from it. Don't think there's nothing you can do.

This thread is of course aimed at the person who doesn't have battery problems, which is the vast majority of you. Some of you, of course, do have bad battery life..but that's because you have a hardware problem or a reception problem. That's it. Anything else is user error.

Don't be afraid to try a restore. You still have a backup to go back to if things aren't improved!

Most of all, enjoy your iPhone! It's a great device with great software and apps. Worrying too much about battery life takes away from that. It's meant to be enjoyed! As Steve Jobs would say, if you're still having problems, just avoid using it that way :) :apple:
Click to expand...

Awesome informative post. I think this should be stickied.

One exception is for people who are legimately have problems but that's a rare minority.
 
thedeejay said:
Awesome informative post. I think this should be stickied.

One exception is for people who are legimately have problems but that's a rare minority.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Yeah, there are for sure some people who have problems. But those people are rare, and like I said, it's either a hardware/software error (i.e something you can't control) or user error (something you can control)
 
Your battery probably isn't as bad as you think it is.

I pretty much completely agree. There are exceptions like mentioned but if you have to ask if your battery life is normal it generally is.

However I predict this thread will get pretty ugly... :D
 
Bacong said:
• YOU'RE OBSESSED ABOUT THE BATTERY PERCENTAGE

This is a big one. I've seen so many people complaining about losing X amount of % in Y amount of time. The battery meter is NOT 100% accurate. It is a software estimate. It will fluctuate, it can be inaccurate. Once a month or so, let your phone die (normal usage) and charge it all the way to 100% without taking it off the charger. This will give you a more accurate reading.
Click to expand...

Apple no longer suggests running your battery down until the phone dies and then charging it back up. They simply say you need to complete a charge cycle once per month.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/

Charge cycles are added together, so running your battery half way down, and then charging back up two days in a row would count as a single cycle.
 
T5BRICK said:
Apple no longer suggests running your battery down until the phone dies and then charging it back up. They simply say you need to complete a charge cycle once per month.



http://www.apple.com/batteries/



Charge cycles are added together, so running your battery half way down, and then charging back up two days in a row would count as a single cycle.
Click to expand...


They say you can charge it whenever you like and then tell you what a charge cycle is. Not that you have to or should do anything. According to that link anyway.

Be silly anyway there are more hours in a month then some of those devices listed have standby hours. Aka it's impossible not to do a full charge cycle.
 
Another vote for making this a sticky. I have heard most of the OP's advice and find that my battery life improves when following it.
 
cynics said:
They say you can charge it whenever you like and then tell you what a charge cycle is. Not that you have to or should do anything. According to that link anyway.
Click to expand...

It's there, on the right hand side.

Exercise Your Machine
Lithium-ion polymer batteries need to be used for maximum performance. If you don’t use your device often, be sure to complete a charge cycle at least once a month. Click the links below to add regular reminders to your iCal calendar.
Click to expand...

I'm only pointing it out because Apple previously had told users that they should completely drain their batteries and then fully charge them once a month. They've since removed this suggestion, for whatever reason, and I'm inclined to follow their current documentation.
 
A hardware or reception problem? You just disappointed millions who cannot sleep at night waiting for IOS 7.1 to fix their battery issue. :)
 
T5BRICK said:
It's there, on the right hand side.



I'm only pointing it out because Apple previously had told users that they should completely drain their batteries and then fully charge them once a month. They've since removed this suggestion, for whatever reason, and I'm inclined to follow their current documentation.
Click to expand...

I think part of the problem is the conflicting information people get. I was in the Apple store yesterday and heard a Genius insist you MUST let the battery die at least once per month. He also was telling people that you should never restore your phone if you are having battery issues because they can't see two weeks of information, which means they can't repair it on the spot. This is only one example, but I can't imagine it is a rare occurrence. Apple needs to do a better job ensuring they are presenting one message to customers (i.e., If an Apple support article says to do or not do something, Geniuses should not be telling customers something different).
 
Sticky Please...Please​


Thank you Bacong. About time we got a member with common sense, and giving us a good read on this constant complaint. I get between two to four days of usage on my iPhone, because I put the DARN THING DOWN, and have a life. ;)
 
He said it all it's you being OCD about the percentage. And hey news flash if you use your device the battery will go down.

----------
ABC5S said:
Sticky Please...Please​


Thank you Bacong. About time we got a member with common sense, and giving us a good read on this constant complaint. I get between two to four days of usage on my iPhone, because I put the DARN THING DOWN, and have a life. ;)
Click to expand...
Yeah we needed some one to knock some common sence into the threads.

----------
cynics said:
However I predict this thread will get pretty ugly... :D
Click to expand...

Yeah probably

----------
thedeejay said:
Awesome informative post. I think this should be stickied.

One exception is for people who are legimately have problems but that's a rare minority.
Click to expand...

Yeah if you have a bad phone with the battery being defective you should have already gotten a call from apple telling you.
 
Bacong said:
Thanks.

Yeah, there are for sure some people who have problems. But those people are rare, and like I said, it's either a hardware/software error (i.e something you can't control) or user error (something you can control)
Click to expand...
Bingo. Nice summary.
 
Great post. I wish that you add a point about the age of the phone too. That 2.5 year old 4S or the 1.5 year old 5 will not hold the same amount of battery life today as it did when brand new.
 
The Doctor11 said:
Back in like October apple was calling 5s buyers with defective battery's. Or was it November. I don't know it was way back then.
Click to expand...

Never heard that. Unless it was some sort of batch that they new was bad out of the factory (where it was known the serial numbers xxx through yyy were effected), I am not sure how they would even know or even could continue doing that today.
 
lordofthereef said:
Never heard that. Unless it was some sort of batch that they new was bad out of the factory (where it was known the serial numbers xxx through yyy were effected), I am not sure how they would even know or even could continue doing that today.
Click to expand...
Yeah they knew the serial numbers and it was only a small number of them so they called very one up.
 
My iphone 4s, wife's iphone5 since Oct/Nov has shut down at about the 40% mark, sometimes it happens at 26%. Happening at least 3-5 times weekly.

Phone shuts down, then after 10min we can boot it back up again and battery shows 50% (example).


Another family member has the same issue since around Nov last year.



we are running on 6.1.3, family member is on ios7 with their iPhone 5.
 
ive pretty much stopped caring about the battery life. ive turned the indicator off and now no longer obsess over it and dont worry about it anymore.
 
The Doctor11 said:
Back in like October apple was calling 5s buyers with defective battery's. Or was it November. I don't know it was way back then.
Click to expand...

lordofthereef said:
Never heard that. Unless it was some sort of batch that they new was bad out of the factory (where it was known the serial numbers xxx through yyy were effected), I am not sure how they would even know or even could continue doing that today.
Click to expand...

The Doctor11 said:
Yeah they knew the serial numbers and it was only a small number of them so they called very one up.
Click to expand...

Apple never identified what the problem was other than saying it was a manufacturing defect.

I only remember one forum member posting that they received notification (an email I believe) that their phone was affected. As usual, there was not enough information released to determine if the problem was the battery, or something else.
 
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