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Biggest iPhone battery sinks you have found?

B

bbplayer5

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 13, 2007
3,134
1,158
For me, mobile me mail push on = constant battery loss. Contacts and Calendar are also a huge battery sink.

Does anyone have a comparison between 2G and 3G times for internet surfing, calling, standby etc (only done with the iphone 3G, not the older phone)? I have found battery life tests, but nothing comparing everything with Edge vs 3G. I dont trust Apples numbers.

Thanks.
 
for me, the only things that noticeably ravage through my battery are games, and netshare. Netshare kills a full battery in about 2 hours. If I'm playing games on and off through the day I usually have to charge it before I go to bed or it won't make it through the next day.
 
bbplayer5 said:
For me, mobile me mail push on = constant battery loss. Contacts and Calendar are also a huge battery sink.

Does anyone have a comparison between 2G and 3G times for internet surfing, calling, standby etc (only done with the iphone 3G, not the older phone)? I have found battery life tests, but nothing comparing everything with Edge vs 3G. I dont trust Apples numbers.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Push and Location Services. I still get a day, but the meter runs down noticeably more quickly. Of course, the biggest battery suck will be 3G. If I got anything less than a day, I'd turn that off.
 
heyp said:
i thought in theory that location services only ate up the battery if they were being used in some location based app, otherwise i thought it had no effect
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Right, but while you're using those LS-based apps, it still sucks up battery life more quickly. It's not as bad as it was pre-2.1, when you had to switch it off manually after every use. But you'll still save some power by keeping LS off -- e.g., when using Maps. The question is whether that marginal savings outweighs the annoyance of switching it on and off.
 
heyp said:
i thought in theory that location services only ate up the battery if they were being used in some location based app, otherwise i thought it had no effect
Click to expand...

Turn it off and you'll see the difference, when I got 2.0, my battery was draining so fast. I turned that off, and I'm back to normal.

Location services is the devil. No need for it to be on all day.
 
NDimichino said:
Turn it off and you'll see the difference, when I got 2.0, my battery was draining so fast. I turned that off, and I'm back to normal.

Location services is the devil. No need for it to be on all day.
Click to expand...

So that assessment is only based on 2.0? Supposedly 2.1 changed it so that it was only on and sucking power while you were using an app that utilizes location services, no?
 
DigMe said:
So that assessment is only based on 2.0? Supposedly 2.1 changed it so that it was only on and sucking power while you were using an app that utilizes location services, no?
Click to expand...

I only put it on when I need it, I don't need my phone constantly trying to find out where I am so then I go to actually use it and I get the 20 percent warning.

Maybe it fixed it but I don't need it enough to even turn it on, so I don't, and my battery has been awesome.

My Usage right now is 2 hours with a day and three hours standby and my battery is still over 75 percent. Not complaining one bit.
 
NDimichino said:
I don't need my phone constantly trying to find out where I am
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But that's the question! DOES it do this or not?

I don't think I've seen a conclusive answer either way. If it doesn't do this anymore, you're just wasting your time.

I may have to run tests on my own, since everywhere online I just see "I think" and never "I'm sure."
 
bmwpowere36m3 said:
LS only uses power when using it, i.e. in applications, maps (w/ it turned on), etc...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/567339/
Click to expand...

Thanks for that.

If that's not a culprit, I can only think of 2 things that are causing my battery woes:

1) MobileMe Push - I've never tested this one way or the other, so this is just a guess.

2) Using 3G in a poor 3G area - I'm pretty sure that THIS is a big problem. I get 3G in half of my office, but not the other half. If I leave it on at work I get constant drain as the phone keeps switching networks constantly! I'm prety sure that when I just have a strong 3G signal, the 3G chip isn't that big of a drain. It's the constant switching that kills me. I try to leave it off, but I sometimes forget to do so when I get to work.
 
Small White Car said:
Thanks for that.

If that's not a culprit, I can only think of 2 things that are causing my battery woes:

1) MobileMe Push - I've never tested this one way or the other, so this is just a guess.

2) Using 3G in a poor 3G area - I'm pretty sure that THIS is a big problem. I get 3G in half of my office, but not the other half. If I leave it on at work I get constant drain as the phone keeps switching networks constantly! I'm prety sure that when I just have a strong 3G signal, the 3G chip isn't that big of a drain. It's the constant switching that kills me. I try to leave it off, but I sometimes forget to do so when I get to work.
Click to expand...
I think you've hit the nail on the head re poor 3G reception being a major battery suck. I've also noticed an improvement in battery life after going from push back to fetch (which seems to be working for me) on my exchange account.
 
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