5 iPhone's, All Showed False "Low Battery" Warning & Died Yesterday - What Is Going On?

[timeconsumer]

Did you plug your 6s serial numbers into the tool to see if they were eligible for a battery replacement?

I'm curious about this as well, because according to that link: "Apple has determined that a very small number of iPhone 6s devices may unexpectedly shut down. This is not a safety issue and only affects devices within a limited serial number range that were manufactured between September and October 2015."

And the OP did state that the iPhones "were bought on the first day of sale directly from Apple" so it's possible that they need to have the battery replaced.

Here is the link again, in case it's needed: https://www.apple.com/support/iphone6s-unexpectedshutdown/

 

[barry.wiestling]

So let me tell you my experience with this...

I had my iPhone 6S for about 11 months. My phone was not one of the serial numbers that was elibible for the battery replacement but I was having battery drain problems. I had attributed these problems due to the cold weather since we were between 20 and 30 degree where I am. My phone would go from 100% down to 50% in a matter of like 15 minutes.

I was still under warranty so I contacted Apple to get it rectified before my warranty ran out. They ran a batter diagnostic and told me "Sorry, theres nothing we can do because it shows your battery is completely fine". I was NOT happy with this answer because something was not right. I took a screenshot of my battery usage 4 different times and scheduled a genius appointment. After showing them I was consistently getting 1 hour of usage and my phone was dead or would shut off they decided to give me a replacement.

My replacement uint works perfectly. I've been outside in 20 degree weather and I have had absolutely no problems. I don't know what is causing it, but a new unit fixed it for me. I'm not sure if it's software or something in the manufacturing but I just wanted to share my experience.

 

[boltjames]

Did you plug your 6s serial numbers into the tool to see if they were eligible for a battery replacement?

Yes, two of the 6S's are eligible.

BJ

 

[I7guy]

Yes, two of the 6S's are eligible.

BJ

My 6s is also eligible, I will be taking it in, although no unexpected shutdowns.

 

[5105973]

Yes, two of the 6S's are eligible.

BJ

That explains your 6s phones. How about the regular 6 phones?

I'm worried because I just gave my iPhone 6s Plus to my sister-in-law. I hope she doesn't run into any of these problems with it. I used it all last winter out in the snow, taking pics of our family sledding. While I am well aware there's a temperature range beyond which batteries can exhibit problems, I have always used iPhones out in the cold weather with no problem. Most people I know have. So I don't think it's unreasonable that you came here seeking help and input about your observations. I'm glad some members were able to help at least with the 6s's.

I've never tried to use my 6s Plus in cold weather since I put iOS 10 on it. The only reason I am worried is because there was a thread around here about the battery problem recall and some 6s Plus owners and 6 owners also reported problems. It seems to be a problem beyond the limited number of phones on the recall list. I am hoping I didn't pass along any problems to my sis because right now Apple doesn't seem to have a prescribed program for phones not on that list, even if the problems appear to be the same in other models.

So far my iPhone 7 Plus seems okay in the cold but I haven't tried doing much with it yet.

 

[boltjames]

That explains your 6s phones. How about the regular 6 phones?

Yes, that will help with the 6S's, but with my two 6's, I haven't a clue what to do. And it's just way too suspicious that 5 phones in the family are all experiencing this false battery scenario even in perfect 70 degree indoor conditions. There must be something wrong with the OS.

Either way, I'm taking the 6S's for their battery replacements asap and I'm going to speak to a Genius in a store about my 6's to get to the bottom of this. It's been 10 years of phenomenal, worry-free service from my 3GS to my 4 to my 5 and to my 6. Something in iOS 10 must be the culprit. I'll try to find out.

BJ

 

[5105973]

Yes, that will help with the 6S's, but with my two 6's, I haven't a clue what to do. And it's just way too suspicious that 5 phones in the family are all experiencing this false battery scenario even in perfect 70 degree indoor conditions. There must be something wrong with the OS.

Either way, I'm taking the 6S's for their battery replacements asap and I'm going to speak to a Genius in a store about my 6's to get to the bottom of this. It's been 10 years of phenomenal, worry-free service from my 3GS to my 4 to my 5 and to my 6. Something in iOS 10 must be the culprit. I'll try to find out.

BJ

Good luck. Please report back anything you do find out...if you're able to find out. You're not the first to mention such a problem and sadly probably won't be the last. Like many Apple issues like "touch disease" this issue won't likely affect everybody. So there is likely to be skepticism and scoffing against those who are affected by those who aren't. But that doesn't mean there isn't a problem at all.

The manufacturing process always yields some variance even under the best of circumstances. I had an iPhone 6 Plus that quickly became highly problematic in the most random and odd way, similar to the troubles experienced by only a handful of other forum members, while my husband's "identical" phone (in terms of model, color and specs) still works fine to this day, on the rare occasions he uses it. I'm sure my iPhone would be found to fall within normal tolerances if examined by a competent technician. Nevertheless, something about the way that phone came together made it act a bit demented. It wasn't quite bad enough to be a lemon. I shall call it a potato.

It's been my observation that when certain models fail in a big way, as with touch disease, they do so according to different categories of weaknesses in the components or construction or a combo of the two. Not all phones will succumb to their inherent weaknesses, but if they do, we can note problems in this forum and accrue enough reports to determine a propensity toward a certain "syndrome". In the case of this potential battery issue, we may need to consider the iOS into the mix, or perhaps some other factor yet to be considered.

But this is not always a process welcomed with open arms on the forum due to the propensity of some impossible perfectionists to become alarmists. So be patient with any negative responses you get. Folks here generally do mean well, but many have had their patience tested in the past over "phone hypochondriacs". It's been a tough time for the forum the past year or so with a lot of negativity and much trolling for the moderators to weed out. As you probably know since you're not new here, we are still a good group and have many resources, so please bear graciously with any negativity you encounter.

 

[deano1972]

Yes, two of the 6S's are eligible.

BJ

Hopefully after Apple replace the batteries on the 6s phones they will perform correctly again.

If getting the batteries changed fixes the problem you may have to consider replacing the batteries in the iPhone 6's at a cost.

 

[boltjames]

Hopefully after Apple replace the batteries on the 6s phones they will perform correctly again.

If getting the batteries changed fixes the problem you may have to consider replacing the batteries in the iPhone 6's at a cost.

Yes, that would be my approach.

It's just completely suspicious that my two iPhone 6's were running flawlessly before the 10 update and now are suffering from mystery false warnings and shutdowns. I'll get to an Apple Store and find out what's going on asap.

Thanks to all for all the good advice.

BJ

 

[minimo3]

I understand that cold weather can slow a battery.

We have gone skiing last year with the same iPhone's in the exact same conditions and they all worked all day long. My wife and I spent a week walking around Iceland in March with temperatures well below what we did yesterday skiing and our iPhone's never died on us.

There is something that is a) triggering a phony low battery situation at room temperature 4x a week and b) that is exacerbating the cold temperature situation we encountered yesterday.

The only difference is iOS 10. Is there something about iOS 10 and the iPhone 6 that gives false battery indications ultimately leading to our situation?

BJ

I don't use my iPhone outside in winter (it's with me in a 70 F house or office all day) and I experience this too since iOS 10. With iOS 9 I could run it down to 1% immediately after updating it will die by 10-20%. I work in software development so I'm just accustomed to defects. It happens. Will Apple fix it? Who knows, it depends what else is higher up in the backlog. They definitely won't be fixing it the last 2 weeks of December, all the engineers are on vacation. My buddy who bought his 6s same time as me went in to get his battery changed (we are both eligible). It didn't fix anything. Still dies at 30%. I told him it was a software issue.