iPhone 6(S)/Plus Are 6S batteries notoriously bad?

[eicca]

I’ve gotten two Apple-certified replacement batteries for my 6S, and both have failed prematurely. Thankfully the first one was still under warranty, but the latest isn’t. Only 336 cycles on it and suddenly it’s down to 60% of its capacity and it drains rapidly.

I ordered a replacement from ifixit. I’m hoping that one lasts longer than the actual Apple hardware. Are 6S batteries known for being lemons in a general sense?

 

[eyoungren]

I have a launch weekend iPhone 6s+ and iPhone 6s. Both have their original batteries and just idling I don't need to plug them in for about 2 days. If I use them moderately though they do need to be plugged in at the end of the day.

However, the battery on the 6s is a little worse. That was my wife's phone and she used it for hours on end each day so it doesn't last as long as my 6s+. But that's also the size difference too I guess.

I can'r report any problems in the last five years for either phone.

 

[nordique]

In 2015, my 6s lasted me a full day but was down to 10-15% by end of the day. Compared to a 6s I owned with 100% battery health on iOS 13, which would burn though battery in several hours, something(s) changed with iOS 13 vs iOS 9

The phone itself runs amazing for its age, but the battery is it’s weak point. It was average in 2015 and as iOS has become more demanding with more tasks as well as the switch to AFTS, more availability of MIMO WiFi in 2020 va 2015, and CPU optimization changes with iOS 12 onward, it’s really aged poorly even with a fresh battery.

the 6s Plus lasts a lot longer, and today has average battery. The regular 6s runs through battery so quickly now. Shame this is it’s weak spot as, again, the phone itself has aged well in terms of performance and runs very well on iOS 13 and iOS 14 betas.

 

[eicca]

I've been consistently able to get to the end of a day with 60-70% left. I'm not a heavy user. Lately though it's been a stretch to make it without getting into single digits.

At first I chalked it up to the iOS 14 beta. Turns out its hardware failure. On the bright side, I can fix a failed battery pretty easy.

I'm taking this phone with me to the grave. Long live the headphone jack.

 

[Freakonomics101]

I have a 6s with 84% remaining. It’s stuck in limp mode since shutdowns kept occurring. The phone being on standby all day and not being used, it barely holds a charge for a full 24 hours. But since it’s not my daily driver and the 6s is used for music with the occasional use for a call or web search, it’s always connected to a charter so no new battery needed.

Honestly if it were to get a new battery, a charge still wouldn’t last that long. If one existing 6s user REALLY need the headphone jack, a new battery isn’t a bad option. Thankfully they are one of the easier repairs to do... so it’s cheaper.

 

[JBGoode]

I have a 6s that I used for about a year and the battery went to crap pretty quick. When I stopped using it, the battery had about 150 cycles on it and was at 72% health per Coconut Battery. I don't even think it was that good because I could literally watch the percentage drop 10% in about 30 seconds after first firing it up. The funny thing is Apple's battery health feature still says 95% health.

 

[eicca]

That’s exactly how mine went down. iOS says I’m at 87%. CoconutBattery says 60% with actual mAh numbers.

@Freakonomics101 check your battery stats in CoconutBattery. I bet they’re way off from what Apple says.

 

[jakeuten]

The jump from iPhone 6s to 7 allowed me to have a phone that lasted me til dinner. My 6s would frequently be at 30% by noon in 2016. Every time a 6s comes into my store, I assume they need a new battery. Of course 9 times out of 10 I'm correct.

 

[remington79]

My 6s dropped down to 84% capacity after about a year/year and a half. Even from the start I’d only get about 3/4 of a day out of it depending on what I was doing. Maybe it’s just more efficient but similar usage I get almost a whole day out of the new SE.
My daughter has the 6s now and it will lose 2-3% battery with just a few minutes of texting. She did something to cause a battery shutdown event when I looked at the battery health. In the couple of months she had it it lost a few more percent capacity.

 

[bodonnell202]

I had a 6s and it was a great phone (and as I understand it still stands up performance wise even today), but the battery was definitely the weakest point on it. I had it 3 years and the battery was replaced twice, once under warranty (mine was on the recall list) and a second time during the reduced cost battery replacement program. My phone seemed to be susceptible to random shut downs if the battery capacity was around/under 90%. I think Apple really under-specced the battery for the 6s.

 

[eicca]

I had a 6s and it was a great phone (and as I understand it still stands up performance wise even today), but the battery was definitely the weakest point on it. I had it 3 years and the battery was replaced twice, once under warranty (mine was on the recall list) and a second time during the reduced cost battery replacement program. My phone seemed to be susceptible to random shut downs if the battery capacity was around/under 90%. I think Apple really under-specced the battery for the 6s.

Still makes me think a good amount of them were defective, even if not catastrophically. My first one was perfectly fine. It only shut down on me once when it got to 80% health. Only had trouble once the replacements started. We’ll see how the iFixit battery does. I have high hopes—their battery for my old MacBook has been working flawless.

 

[bodonnell202]

Still makes me think a good amount of them were defective, even if not catastrophically. My first one was perfectly fine. It only shut down on me once when it got to 80% health. Only had trouble once the replacements started. We’ll see how the iFixit battery does. I have high hopes—their battery for my old MacBook has been working flawless.

I suppose it’s possible, although I think the biggest issue is that the struggled to maintain voltage even when just moderately aged. I haven’t heard whether 3rd part batteries do any better (or worse).

 

[Homme]

Is coconut battery even accurate?.

 

[Natzoo]

Is coconut battery even accurate?.

According to this reddit post, "
Apple geniuses see both battery health AND battery capscity. Battery health measures the voltage curve, and if the battery can supply enough voltage. Battery capacity, is the one coconut battery supplies."

 

[eicca]

In my experience, Apple’s battery health system is crap. When my first replacement battery went bad, it was two months old and not even 70 charge cycles. It would drain away as I watched and not even last an hour. But iOS said 94% health, and Apple’s “Genius” system apparently determined the same thing, despite the fact that I was standing next to the manage with a factory-restored phone per their instructions watching the percentage tick downward like a clock. They refused to warranty it because “the computer says it’s fine so it’s fine.”

So I opened it up, found out the battery was bulging, went back to the store, asked them to investigate “pressure artifacts behind my screen” and THEN they warrantied it.

Then it was totally normal until about a month ago. It held fine in standby but any sort of usage makes it drop like a rock. It’ll blow 60% in less than three minutes when using FaceTime. It’ll also recharge about as quickly. Those are both textbook signs that a cell has failed. CoconutBattery said 80% capacity earlier this week, and then dropped to 61% capacity just yesterday. This is based on mAh numbers. iOS still says 87%.

So yeah, two fairly obvious situations where the OEM health system has completely missed the boat. I will not be trusting Apple with my batteries anymore.

 

[Homme]

According to this reddit post, "
Apple geniuses see both battery health AND battery capscity. Battery health measures the voltage curve, and if the battery can supply enough voltage. Battery capacity, is the one coconut battery supplies."

Ok. Will look later

 

[Anony-mouse]

Then it was totally normal until about a month ago. It held fine in standby but any sort of usage makes it drop like a rock. It’ll blow 60% in less than three minutes when using FaceTime. It’ll also recharge about as quickly. Those are both textbook signs that a cell has failed. CoconutBattery said 80% capacity earlier this week, and then dropped to 61% capacity just yesterday. This is based on mAh numbers. iOS still says 87%.

So yeah, two fairly obvious situations where the OEM health system has completely missed the boat. I will not be trusting Apple with my batteries anymore.

After the recent update to iOS 13.7 the battery capacity went nuts.
I'd be at 30-50% capacity (according to the icon), and the phone suddenly switches off.
Rebooting shows < 10% capacity. Plugging it into the charger causes the capacity to show to 50% in less than a minute.

I think there is something fundamentally wrong with iOS 13.7 in terms of battery and performance management. Either the performance management is broken, or else the battery capacity reading is out of calibration, or both.

This is affecing my iPad Pro 9.7 as well. Since upgrading to iPadOS 13.7, battery life when videoconferencing is less than 2 hours from 100% charge to 10% charge. It used to last much longer previously.

 

[eicca]

After the recent update to iOS 13.7 the battery capacity went nuts.
I'd be at 30-50% capacity (according to the icon), and the phone suddenly switches off.
Rebooting shows < 10% capacity. Plugging it into the charger causes the capacity to show to 50% in less than a minute.

I think there is something fundamentally wrong with iOS 13.7 in terms of battery and performance management. Either the performance management is broken, or else the battery capacity reading is out of calibration, or both.

This is affecing my iPad Pro 9.7 as well. Since upgrading to iPadOS 13.7, battery life when videoconferencing is less than 2 hours from 100% charge to 10% charge. It used to last much longer previously.

I can’t personally speak for 13.7. I jumped on the 14 betas from 13.6.

 

[maerz001]

I had under the battery replacement program two different 6s changed. Both dropped health massively in about half a year.
I replaced them with 3rd party batteries and they work decent after 18 months.

I would not be surprised if apple chose a supplier of the program with B quality batteries to save a few dollars.

 

[Anony-mouse]

I had under the battery replacement program two different 6s changed. Both dropped health massively in about half a year.
I replaced them with 3rd party batteries and they work decent after 18 months.

I would not be surprised if apple chose a supplier of the program with B quality batteries to save a few dollars.

I'm starting to suspect this is the case, since mine was replaced under the program as well.

 

[Azzurro]

I remember how I hated my 6s because of the poor battery. I was unlucky to have a Samsung chip. I ditched my 6s immediately when SE1 was released.

 

[Jimmy James]

I got my battery replaced under the replacement program because it was already in for a screen repair. It was worse than the battery it replaced and dropped health massively. Now looking for a third party option.

 

[Jimmy James]

I had under the battery replacement program two different 6s changed. Both dropped health massively in about half a year.
I replaced them with 3rd party batteries and they work decent after 18 months.

I would not be surprised if apple chose a supplier of the program with B quality batteries to save a few dollars.

Which third party battery?

 

[maerz001]

Which third party battery?

Not sure if they sell internationally

iPhone 6S

extremecells.de

 

[cynics]

Battery health is very difficult to accurately calculate. Technically its virtually impossible to give you an exact percentage without a large margin of error since its no better then an educated guess. Apple and Coconut battery use similar data except Apple is combining the current data with historical data, Coconut is a slice of 'right now' (which is why Coconut Battery results varies up and down).

Battery cycles is not only one metric used but its not a very useful metric. For example if you plugged a brand new iPhone into a charger and left it sit on the dash of a car in the desert sun for a week its health will be abysmal with only 1 cycle.

Unfortunately the iPhone 6S hardware is doomed to poor battery life on modern versions of iOS due to its hardware. It wasn't until the iPhone 7 that the CPU had cores specifically dedicated for low power use for background functionality and other task.

On top of that the 6S doesn't have as efficient hardware codec support as newer iPhones and some task need to be aided or even fulling processed in software. This is where the 6S becomes doomed. The batteries internal resistance increases with age, the load put on the battery (current) is constant (for a given task) however the resistance causes the voltage to drop (think of starting a car when its -5 degrees out and the dome light dimming as it turns over, you are seeing the voltage drop due to the resistance of the battery being cold). If the voltage drops to around 3vdc it will trigger the device to shut off due to low power. Apple introduced CPU throttle to mitigate the load on the battery but we all know how that went....

Basically its a small battery that can't be utilized efficiently causing poor battery life when compared to its initial iOS release or newer more efficient iPhones.

People like to assume there is a conspiracy but its just how hardware and software evolves....you get new features which negatively effect the battery OR you don't get new features which negatively effects the user experience. You won't get both new features and no adverse effect on power usage unfortunately.