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A battery comment and suggestion for the future

docal97

docal97

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 28, 2006
815
60
Southampton
The battery discussion has been quite interesting to follow. I would agree that with all of the features that this phone has(wifi, 3g, bluetooth, location services, apps, potential in the future for apps to run in the background), that battery life is simply not good enough.

This may of course be difficult to correct in the short term, until lower power consuming chips are developed and maybe even better battery technology is developed. But from reading around the web, I don't get that sense that this is around the corner.

I think it would be a really cool idea to be able to manage things such as turning on/off 3g, wifi, bluetooth and location services, and screen brightness in an easier fashion besides having to navigate through the settings icon. i find myself doing this all the time to conserve battery life, and it really does become a pain.

perhaps one icon, that when pushed and held, would have a customizable drop down list that could quickly allow you to do all of these things? just a thought. i have emailed these suggestions to Apple, but hopefully they are already considering such a thing on their own.


Anyone else find they are dealing with the same issues?
 
docal97 said:
The battery discussion has been quite interesting to follow. I would agree that with all of the features that this phone has(wifi, 3g, bluetooth, location services, apps, potential in the future for apps to run in the background), that battery life is simply not good enough.

This may of course be difficult to correct in the short term, until lower power consuming chips are developed and maybe even better battery technology is developed. But from reading around the web, I don't get that sense that this is around the corner.

I think it would be a really cool idea to be able to manage things such as turning on/off 3g, wifi, bluetooth and location services, and screen brightness in an easier fashion besides having to navigate through the settings icon. i find myself doing this all the time to conserve battery life, and it really does become a pain.

perhaps one icon, that when pushed and held, would have a customizable drop down list that could quickly allow you to do all of these things? just a thought. i have emailed these suggestions to Apple, but hopefully they are already considering such a thing on their own.


Anyone else find they are dealing with the same issues?
Click to expand...

As far as battery life. Im always around an outlet to charge my phone. Or in my car to charge my phone or on my computer to charge my phone. Its not really an issue. Everyone is just whining and crying like babies. Get a car charger.
 
Next Tuesday said:
As far as battery life. Im always around an outlet to charge my phone. Or in my car to charge my phone or on my computer to charge my phone. Its not really an issue. Everyone is just whining and crying like babies. Get a car charger.
Click to expand...

Duh..... some people don't have desk jobs.
 
Next Tuesday said:
As far as battery life. Im always around an outlet to charge my phone. Or in my car to charge my phone or on my computer to charge my phone. Its not really an issue. Everyone is just whining and crying like babies. Get a car charger.
Click to expand...

Isnt the point of having a wireless phone is for it to be.....wait for it......wireless?
 
...i have one on the way.

Is the battery life really that awful?

My first gen was awesome!!

:mad::mad::mad:
 
I like the original posters idea for "preset modes" similar to what Apple has for their laptops. (i.e. Better Performance mode, Better Battery Conversvation mode)

And I think many of the people complaining about battery life are comparing it to past experiences they've had with cell phones where they could go several days on battery. But, the iPhone isn't your typical phone. It's more like a laptop than a phone and if people treated it in the same way they did their laptops, battery life would be a lot better. Do you REALLY need bluetooth, wifi, 3G, and GPS on when you're listening to your mp3s or watching a podcast, movie? No. Do you need 3G/wifi/GPS/bluetooth when you're talking on the phone or when it is on standby? No.

When you're searching the web, just turn on 3G or wifi. When talking or listening to music on bluetooth headphones, turn on bluetooth. When you need GPS assistance, turn on GPS/wifi. It's common sense. And it only takes about 2 button clicks to toggle on/off these settings. The iPhone 3G's battery is great and can definitely last a full work day (if not more) without a recharge when you do this.

When I'm on a plane watching a DVD on my Macbook Pro, I turn off bluetooth, wifi, and turn down my screen brightness and get several hours of battery life on it. It would be unfair to say the Macbook Pro has a crappy battery life if I had all these options turned on. And its unfair to say the iPhones battery is crappy when you have a half dozen features turned on. No laptop or phone like that exists. And if you want to unfairly compare it to phones that do a fraction of what the iPhone does (or does poorly), then buy that phone.
 
For every advancement in battery technology:

There are designers trying to draw more power.


Outcome: The same battery life.
 
I like the idea about presets and I'm sure it will come buy like a previous poster I use a array of car chargers and I always have the charger with me if I'm going anywhere for a long while but all in all the battery is great when you consider just what you get from the phone.
 
Loonytik said:
Isnt the point of having a wireless phone is for it to be.....wait for it......wireless?
Click to expand...

Having your phone be wireless is sooo last year. All the cool kids are now using phoneless wires!

nbx_phone_cord.jpg
 
i wish the battery could last longer too but at the same time this phone is doing SOOOO much. my really generic work phone lasts 5 days but it's just a phone with hardly even a screen. doesn't do any of the other stuff that this phone can do.

i also have a PSP (Sony Playstation Portable) and the battery lasts at least 4-5 hours without wi-fi on. but it's just for pure gaming. it's simliar to the amount of usage you get with the iPhone but the iPhone does so much more.

like others have stated, apple just needs to release either a profile power management or a neat app like BossPref (from the JB phones). anything to help us get to turning off certain features quickly. i have to say though, once i got back to my normal work day routine, battery life is much more tolerable (and i leave everything on: 3g,push,wi-fi,loc etc.).

one positive thing about the battery is it charges pretty fast. i haven't timed it but when it's in my dock while i'm working on the computer, that battery meter fills up fast.
 
docal97 said:
I think it would be a really cool idea to be able to manage things such as turning on/off 3g, wifi, bluetooth and location services, and screen brightness in an easier fashion besides having to navigate through the settings icon. i find myself doing this all the time to conserve battery life, and it really does become a pain.

perhaps one icon, that when pushed and held, would have a customizable drop down list that could quickly allow you to do all of these things? just a thought. i have emailed these suggestions to Apple, but hopefully they are already considering such a thing on their own.


Anyone else find they are dealing with the same issues?
Click to expand...

I have been hoping for this type of feature since I first got my iPhone in February. I have ben hoping that they would have included such as icon in 1.1.4, and then again in 2.0. I was also hoping that one of the App developers would create an App in which you would be able to do all of that easily.

I saw a mock-up video on YouTube of what someone thought 2.0 would look like. In his version, you could tap on the bluetooth logo at the top of your screen to turn it on/off, and you could tap on the 3G/EDGE/wifi icon to switch between them as well. I really thought that Apple would have designed it that way. As a sidenote, in the video, he turned his phone from portrait to landscape and the Homescreen icons also rotated). Very cool ideas.

Also, have you noticed that ever since the upgrade to 2.0, the 'Bluetooth' option isn't in the same place as it used to be under 'General'? It used to be at the same level as 'General' after you pressed it (where 'Passcode Lock' is now), so it was easy to get right into the 'Bluetooth' menu. Now it's up 3 lines from that level, so you have to pay closer attention when selecting it (as opposed to not looking while getting ready to drive). I find it to be a step backwards in efficiency.

EDIT: Here's the mock-up video that I was talking about above.
 

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I agree with jakeacc's comments. It is only a few steps to turn off some of these things. But what I am hoping for is a simpler, even quicker way to do so. Such as putting an icon in the dock or on the 1st screen with a dropdown list as I suggested above.

No major complaints about the battery. It is what it is: this phone does so much more than being just a phone, that it is going to require adjustments to the settings and frequent recharging to get the most out of what is really an incredible device.
 
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