My iPad 2 gets very heavy use, because when I am not using it, my wife always has it on her lap. I was not unhappy with the battery life under iOS 5 but since upgrading we have found that the battery must be lasting a good 25% longer. I charged it yesterday morning, and used it for hours and hours yesterday. This morning I have been online for a couple of hours, and just checked my battery meter. It's at 51%, and that is really so much better than it was.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Continuing to Investigate iOS 5 Battery Issues
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
So far
3 hours usage
19 hours, 10 minutes standby
55% left
Got to admit I think this is very good battery life
3 hours usage
19 hours, 10 minutes standby
55% left
Got to admit I think this is very good battery life
I'm very impressed that the "New Apple" under Tim Cook is honest in admitting the update was less than a success.
That it failed to fix my battery problem is one thing. But to have Apple communicating honestly & openly is a huge relief and an admirable step up from the Old Apple.
When they do the right thing by not going silent as they did under the maniacal ego of Jobs, the customer feels appreciated & informed.
Tim Cook is taking Apple and really making a difference. This is terrific. It's win - win for everyone.
That it failed to fix my battery problem is one thing. But to have Apple communicating honestly & openly is a huge relief and an admirable step up from the Old Apple.
When they do the right thing by not going silent as they did under the maniacal ego of Jobs, the customer feels appreciated & informed.
Tim Cook is taking Apple and really making a difference. This is terrific. It's win - win for everyone.
My iPhone (4s) also on 5.0.1 loses about 15% in standby after a night (which is about the same before the update), without anything running in the background.
I can see improvement on my iPhone 3GS and iPad. The iPad was sluggish when entering text and hung quite a lot. That has now been fixed. As I've got iMessage turned off I really managed 10 hours standby and moderate use and am down to 67%. It feels better.
Have you guys with the drain iMessage activated? That for my phone reduced the heavy battery munch.
Have you guys with the drain iMessage activated? That for my phone reduced the heavy battery munch.
Update on mine since I unplugged it at 5 a.m. yesterday morning :
Yeah, there's definately a huge issue with the 4S battery.
Come on guys, this is either a software issue that crops up under certain configurations or you have a defective phone. There is no widespread iPhone 4S battery issue, Apple quality isn't "tanking" more than usual.
If the software fixes don't get you up to speed, get the phone changed under warranty (that's what warranties are for).
Yeah, there's definately a huge issue with the 4S battery.
Come on guys, this is either a software issue that crops up under certain configurations or you have a defective phone. There is no widespread iPhone 4S battery issue, Apple quality isn't "tanking" more than usual.
If the software fixes don't get you up to speed, get the phone changed under warranty (that's what warranties are for).
1) I'm happy for you.1) Update on mine since I unplugged it at 5 a.m. yesterday morning
Yeah, there's definately a huge issue with the 4S battery.
2) Come on guys, this is either a software issue that crops up under certain configurations or you have a defective phone.
3) There is no widespread iPhone 4S battery issue, Apple quality isn't "tanking" more than usual.
4) If the software fixes don't get you up to speed, get the phone changed under warranty (that's what warranties are for).
2) This is highly debatable.
3) Sounds like sheer speculation.
4) Been there, done that, I'm on replacement #2.
Apparently you may not have read the latest from Apple as posted on the front page of this site. There's a wealth of news there.
Its great how some people are so cocky here. If it makes you feel special then congrats on needing that to boost your confidence. If anything this update made my battery worse. I don't care about stats, speculation or whatever. They need to fix it.
Last edited:
Each of your assessments are spot on.
It's very refreshing to read a true and accurate post.
Cheers...
----------
Yes they do, you're right on all points.
Not sure if this helps but I was having the same problem the first 2 days I had my 4s.... I turned off the raise to speak thingy and some other auto thing and it completely fixed my problem. I was draining like 50% while I slept now it drains like 2-3% while I sleep.
Software, Software, Software
the battery in any iPhone is just a solid chunk of material. If a battery is not working, the phone will just power off when you disconnect from power. In my experience in troubleshooting this issue, it is always software related. 9 out of 10 times the user has exchange on their phone with unresolved calendar invitations, incomplete password updates, updated payment info for their iTunes store account or something sending constant push notifications to the device. In some cases the user even sets their auto lock to never so the phone never goes to sleep. If you can't figure it out, restore and set up as a new device. Migrate your ONLY contacts from an external source (iCloud, Outlook, Addressbook) then slowly add your email setting and apps back to the phone. Then you might be able to discover which app is causing your problems or resolve the issue all together. Something else that happens right after a restore/upgrade/new phone, is spotlight indexing of your email etc. This activity might affect battery life over the first day or so, and if you restore because of that, you start the indexing process all over again and never let it resolve. Have fun.
the battery in any iPhone is just a solid chunk of material. If a battery is not working, the phone will just power off when you disconnect from power. In my experience in troubleshooting this issue, it is always software related. 9 out of 10 times the user has exchange on their phone with unresolved calendar invitations, incomplete password updates, updated payment info for their iTunes store account or something sending constant push notifications to the device. In some cases the user even sets their auto lock to never so the phone never goes to sleep. If you can't figure it out, restore and set up as a new device. Migrate your ONLY contacts from an external source (iCloud, Outlook, Addressbook) then slowly add your email setting and apps back to the phone. Then you might be able to discover which app is causing your problems or resolve the issue all together. Something else that happens right after a restore/upgrade/new phone, is spotlight indexing of your email etc. This activity might affect battery life over the first day or so, and if you restore because of that, you start the indexing process all over again and never let it resolve. Have fun.
I wonder is the problem also being caused by two factors:
1) iOS 5.0.1 still has too many services turned on by default, and that could drain the battery.
2) The possibility that some of the iPhone 4S production may have defective battery packs.
If the former, that could be fixed by an iOS update; if the latter, it could be an EXPENSIVE fix as the iPhone 4S will have to be recalled to replace the battery packs.
1) iOS 5.0.1 still has too many services turned on by default, and that could drain the battery.
2) The possibility that some of the iPhone 4S production may have defective battery packs.
If the former, that could be fixed by an iOS update; if the latter, it could be an EXPENSIVE fix as the iPhone 4S will have to be recalled to replace the battery packs.
Still think the battery issue is down to 3G draining very quickly. Under wifi when in standby it is great.
Good, I'm happy for me too, I don't have to sweat this whole "super widespread battery issue".
Highly debatable what ? What other option would you propose ? It's obviously not a mass defect with iPhone 4S since quite a few users don't have the issue.
So that leaves either options I posted :
- Your particular unit is defective
- A software configuration issue is causing it. Not everyone runs the same combination of apps/configurations so it's not showing up for everyone.
And it isn't speculation to claim the opposite because you happen to agree with the camp that does ?
Flawless logic right there.No, it's not speculation, it's my anecdotal evidence. And it's as valid as your anecdotal evidence.
The fact is, Apple quality has always been like this since I've started using their products.
1) 2008 MacBook. After 3 months, main fan bearing went out and the computer made this god awful noise when the fan spun up.
2) 2009 24" LED ACD. 4 replacements with various issue (dust under the glass obscuring clusters of pixels, backlight detachment around the edges, various clusters of dead pixels). Finally got my money back and gave up on it.
3) 2009 iPhone 3GS. Mute switch went out after a few months. Genius said "yeah, see this all the time".
4) 2010 MacBook Air. Backlight detached again, showing a bright white spot on pale backgrounds. Had the whole display assembly replaced.
The fact is, everyone has tons of these anecdotes with Apple products. Apple quality isn't "tanking", it's frankly just the same its always been. People just get their panties in a knot more over these iPhone issues because Apple sells 4,000,000 units of 1 model in 5 days instead of 200,000 per quarter per model. So these issues tend to hit more people.
Lends credibility to this being a software issue then doesn't it ?
So if it's a software issue, and it's not happening to everyone even though we're all running the same software, seems like it's caused by a certain combination of factors doesn't it ? Kinda brings us back to point 2 where you said this was "highly debatable" ...Go ahead, debate then.
Apparently you may not have read the latest from Apple as posted on the front page of this site. There's a wealth of news there.
Apparently you didn't even read my post. Where did you get it in your head that I was saying there wasn't any issue at all ? I'm just saying this isn't an "iPhone 4S issue!" like the Antenna thing was an iPhone 4 issue. This is obviously something that affects certain users under certain conditions only. Apple just haven't been able to quite eliminate all the quinks yet.
And seeing how 3GS and 4 owners are also reporting the same issue, I don't even know why some people insist on this being an "iPhone 4S" issue and that Apple "quality is tanking".
I'm still on Iphone4 with iOS4 with no battery issues. I've learned to wait until most of the complaints are gone before upgrading.
I'll shall continue to wait even thou the appstore won't upgrade my apps cause i'm still on iOS4
I agree with the entire post, but just wanted to focus on the final paragraph...
Recognizing that we all have our own anecdotal evidence, I'll add mine...I have two iphone 4 and and 3GS, all updated to iOS 5 on day 1. It was evident immediately that the iOS behaved differently across phones...my phone has the most software on it...lots of location services, etc...burned through the battery in record time...not making a full day, where I would normally have 35-45% remaining...the other 4 had no discernible battery change and the 3GS seemed to improve...
I was frantically trying to figure out how to revert to iOS 4...but since that was not an easy option, I attempted a few setting changes and allowed the phone to drain completely...Since that time, my phone improved...to the point where I found it to be a slight improvement over iOS 4...5.01 has not shown any difference in my case...at least not that I can tell.
I'm only speaking of the phones in my household, if I add my brothers, their wives, etc, mostly iPhone 4 but with two 4S in that group...no complaints there either...
you all have to remember that discussion boards are always the place people will go to when they are having problems...with the exception of those of us who come to MacRumors on a regular basis, most posts are of the problem variety...not my phone works great too!
on the issue of overall QC, if you think of the volume that Apple is producing across the board...computers, phones, ipads, etc...it's amazing that we don't see a precipitous drop in quality...yet Apple has been consistently rising in customer satisfaction even as they have grown nearly exponentially.
Yeah, since the update I lose about one percent battery power every 10 minutes with the phone on standby. Many things turned off per this forum and so far none have made a difference. I did not have this problem before the update.
Mine was horrible right after the update but the past few day or so its been OK.
100 percent in the morning, on the phone most of the day, some tethering, and YT watching was at 21 percent this morning when I got up.
Charged it to 100 percent and then in 3 hours at 88 percent and never touched the phone.
100 percent in the morning, on the phone most of the day, some tethering, and YT watching was at 21 percent this morning when I got up.
Charged it to 100 percent and then in 3 hours at 88 percent and never touched the phone.
took 2 days to get down to 50% on my phone will probably last another two days than maybe they did fix this after all for me.
maybe they did fix this after all for me.
This was me before the update, then after as well. Then I drained my battery by playing music and with the LED on, (side note what drains the battery more flashing or solid on?) till it turned off. Then I charged it and didn't touch it till it was %100. Now its the best battery I've had on an iPhone (2x3G's,2x3GS',2xiPhone 4's)