Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How I fixed my "batterygate" issue YMMV

iTorment

iTorment

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 30, 2011
85
0
Kansas City, MO
Hello all, like most of you, I have had problems with my new 4S and the battery draining substantially. Like many of you, I turned off many things and tried every tip available such as turning off push emails, locations, etc, and while I do think that may have helped, my battery would still drain 20-30% over night. With that, I noticed that my iPad and iPod Touch which are also running 5.0 are getting great battery life, much better than the 4.3. So I started to think maybe there was a problem with the firmware preloaded. Also I was noticing my usage time and standby time were the exact same, that annoyed the eff out of me, so here's what I did:

1)Restored new 4S with "fresh" firmware downloaded from Apple. Set up phone as new phone, i.e, I did not backup from anything.
2)Did not activate iCloud at all, meaning I haven't even used my credentials for it.

Doing this has made my battery more 'iPhone worthy'. Feel free to ask questions and remember your mileage may vary, so don't blame me if you restore and it doesn't work, but I think it should work.

In Case Images do not load, Go Here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/100678016013051805473/IPhone4SProof?authuser=0&feat=directlink

IPhone4SProof


IPhone4SProof


IPhone4SProof


IPhone4SProof


IPhone4SProof


If anyone has a problem viewing my results, let me know and I'll upload them somewhere else besides Picasa.
 
Last edited:
The point is, in most cases, after a night of standby, the phone would have lost at least 20-30 percent of its charge during the night, I'll post usage stats later today, can you verify that you are seeing the images?
 
The easiest way to not run down your battery is simple.

Turn off wifi if you are not using it.
Turn off bluetooth if not using it.
Turn off cloud when not using it.

Those three simple things can really help. I have all of them off and can get through a full day (12 hours) and it never drops below 50% with moderate use.

All that background stuff can kill your battery
 
iTorment said:
1)Restored new 4S with "fresh" firmware downloaded from Apple. Set up phone as new phone, i.e, I did not backup from anything.
2)Did not activate iCloud at all, meaning I haven't even used my credentials for it.

Doing this has made my battery more 'iPhone worthy'. Feel free to ask questions and remember your mileage may vary, so don't blame me if you restore and it doesn't work, but I think it should work.
Click to expand...

So, if I am understanding you right, you have better battery life but have opted out of iCloud functionality? So you are swapping a few (questionable) hours for device syncing? Not worth it to me....
 
davelanger said:
The easiest way to not run down your battery is simple.

Turn off wifi if you are not using it.
Turn off bluetooth if not using it.
Turn off cloud when not using it.

Those three simple things can really help. I have all of them off and can get through a full day (12 hours) and it never drops below 50% with moderate use.

All that background stuff can kill your battery
Click to expand...

My iPhone 4 has everything on and now it says 50% battery with 1 day of standby and 16 hours of use.

Keep in mind that bad mobile signal affects battery life
 
iTorment said:
Hello all, like most of you, I have had problems with my new 4S and the battery draining substantially. Like many of you, I turned off many things and tried every tip available such as turning off push emails, locations, etc, and while I do think that may have helped, my battery would still drain 20-30% over night. With that, I noticed that my iPad and iPod Touch which are also running 5.0 are getting great battery life, much better than the 4.3. So I started to think maybe there was a problem with the firmware preloaded. Also I was noticing my usage time and standby time were the exact same, that annoyed the eff out of me, so here's what I did:

1)Restored new 4S with "fresh" firmware downloaded from Apple. Set up phone as new phone, i.e, I did not backup from anything.
2)Did not activate iCloud at all, meaning I haven't even used my credentials for it.

Doing this has made my battery more 'iPhone worthy'. Feel free to ask questions and remember your mileage may vary, so don't blame me if you restore and it doesn't work, but I think it should work.

If anyone has a problem viewing my results, let me know and I'll upload them somewhere else besides Picasa.
Click to expand...

I'm curious -- when you downloaded a fresh update of the firmware did it change anything in terms of the download size / build number?

I have 3 updates in my ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates folder (Mac). I've updated a 3GS, 4, and 4S so I suspect that is why I have 3...

They are:
iPhone2,1_5.0_9A334_Restore.ipsw - 701.2 MB
iPhone3,1_5.0_9A334_Restore.ipsw - 811.9 MB
iPhone4,1_5.0_9A334_Restore.ipsw - 835.5 MB

I believe the last one is the 4S... is yours substantially different than that?

I've been monitoring a number of threads on this including one that has to do with AT&T's Microcell (which I use). Eventually I'm going to eliminate all of the variables in figure this out.
 
Personally, I don't think you've added much to your battery life by going to such drastic measures.

Your image shows 44 mins of usage and 9 hours of standby, which is all well and good, but if that's during the night, why not put it on the charger?

Plus, multiply those numbers by 10 as you've used 10% of your battery, leaves you with very good standby time, and around 7 hours of usage, but likelyhood is that's going to be a very different as I imagine you'll actually use your phone during the day. Also, what was this usage before you put it down, probably light browsing? If it were 44minutes of FIFA12 or something more graphic intensive, then yes, you'd have a fantastic point on this...

I have everything turned on, and have used my phone this much during the day (pic attached): 2 hours 5 mins usage and 8 hours 44 mins standby. Point being, I should, if I so wished get about 6 hours of usage out of it before it needs charging, and I'm not going to be using it solidly between now and going to bed so should last perfectly until I do so, I will, as I always do charge over night... there isn't a lot of difference in usage time there...

Once a month I run down to zero as per Apples advice.
 

Attachments

  • photo.PNG
    photo.PNG
    103.9 KB · Views: 99
Yesterday I could almost watch my meter drain - it was going down really fast on standby. I calibrated the battery by just running it down and then charging it to full without messing with the phone and I've had mine off the charger for 2 hours now and it's sitting at 100%. I haven't used it much so I know this is not indicative of actual performance, but it does show me that calibration had a dramatic positive effect on the standby time. I have done no other optimization except turing off location based iAds and that change was applied while I saw the drain condition yesterday..

A prototype of this phone surfaced 8 months ago and Apple has had more of these available at launch than any previous iPhone - I think they have been done with the 4S for a few months and have just been cranking them out.

That means it's possible some of our phones have been sitting in a warehouse longer than any other iPhone model and I think the batteries didn't like that until they get calibrated.
 
My battery seems to have improved by doing the following:


Wi-Fi > OFF
Notifications >Turned off Weather Widgit, Stocks Widgit
Location Services > System Services > everything off except Cell network search and traffic
Brightness > Auto and 50%
general > Blue Tooth Off, Siri Off
iCloud > Mail Off, Photo Stream Off
Mail, Contacts, Calendar > Fetch New Data > Advanced > iCloud Manual


Also I did a total drain and total recharge twice.
 
davelanger said:
The easiest way to not run down your battery is simple.

Turn off wifi if you are not using it.
Turn off bluetooth if not using it.
Turn off cloud when not using it.

Those three simple things can really help. I have all of them off and can get through a full day (12 hours) and it never drops below 50% with moderate use.

All that background stuff can kill your battery
Click to expand...

When you say "turn off iCloud" what exactly do you mean? Turn off the iCloud Backup?
 
If your going to be turning off, Siri, iCloud, wifi, notifications, push email etc...

Then what's the point in having an iPhone?
 
jabingla2810 said:
If your going to be turning off, Siri, iCloud, wifi, notifications, push email etc...

Then what's the point in having an iPhone?
Click to expand...

It's about turning off things that you don't use and getting better battery life from it. Why should I turn on location based iAds if I don't ever look at iAds? Why should I send traffic data to Apple if I don't care about traffic? Why should I send Apple diagnostics data if they aren't paying for my data plan?
 
Verizon iP 4S 64GB. 5 bars of signal.

Everything ON (wifi, bluetooth, all location services, iCloud, push notifications, two exchange email accounts, 2/3 screen brightness with auto brightness, Siri)

Since last full charge: Stand-by = 5hrs, 32min; usage = 1hr, 15min; current charge = 81%

This is consistent with what my iPhone 4 was.
 
xraydoc said:
Verizon iP 4S 64GB. 5 bars of signal.

Everything ON (wifi, bluetooth, all location services, iCloud, push notifications, two exchange email accounts, 2/3 screen brightness with auto brightness, Siri)

Since last full charge: Stand-by = 5hrs, 32min; usage = 1hr, 15min; current charge = 81%

This is consistent with what my iPhone 4 was.
Click to expand...

VZW 16GB 4S. I have BT off, Wifi off, and have turned off all location services but the 6 or so I actually use. 30 min fetch email and iCloud interval, no exchange email and the same for the rest of yours.

My usage stats since last full charge are similar, but at 74% battery. BUT...the caveat is that my office is in, apparently, a fringe coverage area at my worksite because I frequently switch from 3G to the dot/circle (I assume that means 2G on VZW?) to occasionally extended coverage. I'm pretty sure that has the most impact on battery.
 
Fry-man22 said:
Yesterday I could almost watch my meter drain - it was going down really fast on standby. I calibrated the battery by just running it down and then charging it to full without messing with the phone and I've had mine off the charger for 2 hours now and it's sitting at 100%. I haven't used it much so I know this is not indicative of actual performance, but it does show me that calibration had a dramatic positive effect on the standby time. I have done no other optimization except turing off location based iAds and that change was applied while I saw the drain condition yesterday..

A prototype of this phone surfaced 8 months ago and Apple has had more of these available at launch than any previous iPhone - I think they have been done with the 4S for a few months and have just been cranking them out.

That means it's possible some of our phones have been sitting in a warehouse longer than any other iPhone model and I think the batteries didn't like that until they get calibrated.
Click to expand...

agree with everything said here.

although tons of people have been modifying what runs on their phone (myself included), the one common theme that seems to have helped is calibrating the battery. i seem to remember that my iphone 4 took a few charges before it held a good charge over time with good use.
 
Fry-man22 said:
I calibrated the battery by just running it down and then charging it to full without messing with the phone and I've had mine off the charger for 2 hours now and it's sitting at 100%. I haven't used it much so I know this is not indicative of actual performance, but it does show me that calibration had a dramatic positive effect on the standby time.
Click to expand...

Forgive me if I am wrong, but isn't calibration not really affecting the battery, but rather just 'resetting the gauge', as it were, so the battery indicator can more accurately measure the true level of the battery? If anything, allowing current generation batteries to drain to empty can cause them accumulating damage (minimal, but damage nonetheless), correct or not?
 
Are we at, or coming up to, a point where advancements in cell phones are going to be slowed by a lack of advancement in battery technology?
 
This is just my findings, the only thing I'm not using is iCloud. I haven't set it up on my 4S yet. You all are entitled to your opinions, so if you don't want to do it, don't. I was simply just trying to help others out who have their battery drain a good margin while they sleep, ie, not even interacting with the device. This has helped me out substantially. I will post pics later tonight showing an increased usage.
 
jabingla2810 said:
If your going to be turning off, Siri, iCloud, wifi, notifications, push email etc...

Then what's the point in having an iPhone?
Click to expand...

You dont need cloud on unless you are updating something. You dont need wifi on, unless you want to connect to wifi. Push email is stupid, its simple to just manually push them yourself. Siri should be left on, and nofications can also kept on.

But there is no point in having cloud, wifi, push or bluetooth on when you are not using them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back