iPhone 4S battery is this normal?

[jollyreaper]

So if you do a restore you save your app data but a clean phone loses it all.

Gee, if only we were able to browse directories and just save stuff manually...

 

[sup3r1or]

Its ok my iPhone is only 2 days old I dont really have anything valuable there. So I restore as a new phone but with different name right? And then configure all the settings again?

Im just worried if I restore it from old backup I will end up with the same problem.

 

[RafaelT]

So if you do a restore you save your app data but a clean phone loses it all.

Gee, if only we were able to browse directories and just save stuff manually...

As long as you sync your phone before doing the initial restore (although I think it offers to back it up during the restore process) then you have that to fall back to.

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Its ok my iPhone is only 2 days old I dont really have anything valuable there. So I restore as a new phone but with different name right? And then configure all the settings again?

Im just worried if I restore it from old backup I will end up with the same problem.

Correct, you can actually use the same name if you would like.

 

[aloecool]

I upgraded from a 3GS when I was averaging about 4hrs of usage per charge, and I'm getting somewhere btw 5-6hrs per charge with the 4S (no wifi, no push, most systems/locations turned off, basically everything that I could turn off are off. also tried restoring and lots of complete drain/recharge. haven't tried to restore as new though)...is it normal? or should i ask Apple for a replacement?

 

[RafaelT]

I upgraded from a 3GS when I was averaging about 4hrs of usage per charge, and I'm getting somewhere btw 5-6hrs per charge with the 4S (no wifi, no push, most systems/locations turned off, basically everything that I could turn off are off. also tried restoring and lots of complete drain/recharge. haven't tried to restore as new though)...is it normal? or should i ask Apple for a replacement?

What kind of stuff are you doing on the phone? Is it not stop web browsing video, etc? What you are doing makes a big difference. That can help others here determine if the battery life you are experiencing is normal.

If it turns out not to be normal then you first step should be trying to restore and set up as new to see if that helps. If it does not then take it to Apple.

 

[Taz Mangus]

Does the restore replace the apps in their proper spots? I've seen it screw up on the ipod, just throw them around willy-nilly and you're stuck dragging everything back where you had them the last time

I am also interested to find this out. I want to clean install my iPad 1 with iOS 5 and don't want to have to place the apps where I want them all over again.

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I noticed that after I had put a few full charges on my iPhone 4S the battery life has gotten much better. For instance, I am on my second day after a full charge with about 30% battery left. This is with using Siri, e-mail and having WiFi turned on. I don't have bluetooth turned on, though.

 

[aloecool]

What kind of stuff are you doing on the phone? Is it not stop web browsing video, etc? What you are doing makes a big difference. That can help others here determine if the battery life you are experiencing is normal.

If it turns out not to be normal then you first step should be trying to restore and set up as new to see if that helps. If it does not then take it to Apple.

I would say a good 80-85% of usage requires 3G (email, apps that require 3G to load, maps, etc. no streaming of music or videos, no games). Thoughts? I don't want to take it to Apple only to be told it's normal :-/ Let me know what you guys think...

 

[RafaelT]

It's possible that with your usage that may just be what you are going to get. Items that pull a lot of info from online use more battery. Maps can use a lot of battery if it is loading the map and use location services to pinpoint your location. The apps.. it all depends on what exactly they are but it sounds like you may be a pretty heavy user.

Given the hour increase from your old to new phone with the same usage that sounds about right. Pretty consistent from phone to phone.

You MIGHT see a gain in battery life by restoring and setting up as new. Keep in mind if you do that you will lose app data, texts, and your settings. As long as you sync with your computer first everything else should sync back to your phone after you restore it.

I don't think your at the point yet where you need to take it to Apple.

 

[204353]

I'm anticipating an update for iOS 5 to fix the power consumption of this new model. Mine (and my flatmate's) isn't getting anywhere near the kind of battery life it should be, according to Apple's specs. I was expecting it to be a bit worse than my iPhone 4 was, but not this much worse!

 

[aloecool]

It's possible that with your usage that may just be what you are going to get. Items that pull a lot of info from online use more battery. Maps can use a lot of battery if it is loading the map and use location services to pinpoint your location. The apps.. it all depends on what exactly they are but it sounds like you may be a pretty heavy user.

Given the hour increase from your old to new phone with the same usage that sounds about right. Pretty consistent from phone to phone.

You MIGHT see a gain in battery life by restoring and setting up as new. Keep in mind if you do that you will lose app data, texts, and your settings. As long as you sync with your computer first everything else should sync back to your phone after you restore it.

I don't think your at the point yet where you need to take it to Apple.

Thanks!

 

[NoHo]

It appears the only way for your iPhone 4S to work more than a few hours is to not use everything that makes it an iPhone 4S.

Use it the way you would use one of those RAZR's from the 90's and you will get more than 4 hour of battery life.

If you use the iPhone 4S like an iPhone 4S, you're going to have a paperweight within a few hours.

FIX IT APPLE.

 

[ShionoyaTamaki]

I am starting to believe the battery drain is related to the Antenna trying to find reception either by switching or boosting power.

I left my phone at home on weekend didnt touch it for 8hours. 5 bars ATT
Battery went from 100% to 92%

I left my phone at work in locker 6hours, barely 1 bars ATT often losing reception.
Battery went from 100% to 21%

So in both cases I didnt even touch my iphone4S. Drastic battery life difference.

Next day i went to work put my phone in the locker again, but this time used airplane mode cuz ios5 doesnt have option to disable only 3G.
Battery went from 100% to 95%

 

[sup3r1or]

Well I have done restore, had a chat (facetime) 20 mins gone from 95 to 85%. If somebody asked my before about my usage, a few web pages, 3 phone calls, one tweet and 4 text messages that was my usage.

Funny thing is I talked to my friend who lives in london now, he bought iPhone 4 from ebay, his battery hold nearly 2 days look at his settings: Gmail fetch every 15 minutes, work email push, location some enabled but mostly disabled (only weather and maps), push notifications enabled for facebook and twitter.


WTF come one, I mean whats the point to have a phone if u have to disable most of the stuff? I will report to you back on how the battery is after restore.

DO YOU THINK TRADING FOR A NEW IPHONE IN STORE AS A REPLACEMNT WILL HELP? or is it a standard issue?

 

[scarez]

I was new to iPhones with my 4S purchase. I was dealing with the exact same battery issues that have been described in this thread. Battery was dead after 12 hours off the charger, with very little actual use. What I found that completely fixed that issue was to go into iCloud settings then Document & Data and turn off Use Cellular. My battery now rarely goes below 70% after a full day. Realistically having your phone upload data to the cloud over 3G is just silly, as it is constantly doing it, so your 3G radio is always on.

Try that and you should be able to turn your Notifications and Location settings back on.

 

[aloecool]

I was new to iPhones with my 4S purchase. I was dealing with the exact same battery issues that have been described in this thread. Battery was dead after 12 hours off the charger, with very little actual use. What I found that completely fixed that issue was to go into iCloud settings then Document & Data and turn off Use Cellular. My battery now rarely goes below 70% after a full day. Realistically having your phone upload data to the cloud over 3G is just silly, as it is constantly doing it, so your 3G radio is always on.

Will give it a try!

 

[sup3r1or]

I was new to iPhones with my 4S purchase. I was dealing with the exact same battery issues that have been described in this thread. Battery was dead after 12 hours off the charger, with very little actual use. What I found that completely fixed that issue was to go into iCloud settings then Document & Data and turn off Use Cellular. My battery now rarely goes below 70% after a full day. Realistically having your phone upload data to the cloud over 3G is just silly, as it is constantly doing it, so your 3G radio is always on.

Try that and you should be able to turn your Notifications and Location settings back on.

I've heard about iCloud issues to I completely deleted it, its better but hardly noticeable.

 

[MayBee]

I had some weird fluctuation mostly on standby....as I"m using that as my gauge...
the night before....about 8 hours during standby..woke up and noticed it lost 4%...so about 2 hours for 1%
last night, about 6 hours during standby..woke up and noticed it lost only 1%.

Weird huh?

I don't know..maybe the reception during standby was fluctuating....

Right now...I hate the fact that I need to disable so many things just to get a decent battery life. This is not good at all...I love the look of the phone..but man...this sucks. Oh well...I bought the warranty extended..so I'll change for a new one a year from now due to battery issues.

I am starting to believe the battery drain is related to the Antenna trying to find reception either by switching or boosting power.

I left my phone at home on weekend didnt touch it for 8hours. 5 bars ATT
Battery went from 100% to 92%

I left my phone at work in locker 6hours, barely 1 bars ATT often losing reception.
Battery went from 100% to 21%

So in both cases I didnt even touch my iphone4S. Drastic battery life difference.

Next day i went to work put my phone in the locker again, but this time used airplane mode cuz ios5 doesnt have option to disable only 3G.
Battery went from 100% to 95%

 

[sup3r1or]

OK I'am back with the report. What I did seemed to help, here is my stats:
Usage: 3 hours 55 minutes ; Stand By 14 hours 56 minutes battery at 60% at this moment.

Of course I wouldn't call that great because most of the features are off, and when I start using twitter I can see it going down pretty fast. What I did for today: Took phone of charge at 7:15am now its 22:20 PM. I made a few phone calls, sent about 10 sms 5 with Siri and 5 by hand, checked twitter 2 time, made 3 appointments with Siri, checked facebook 1 time, took 3 photos. Thats about it, I wouldn't call that heavy use cuz I done this all within two hours. Oh yes and I listened to podcast for 2 hours.

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What I did, is restore the phone as new without restoring my backup. Under iCloud I disabled use Cellular, Under Siri - Raise to speak disabled, Notification set to manually, Location services: On - Siri, Facebook (enabled that 2 hours ago) and weather (enabled now), Under System Services (location) Enabled only Cell network Search, and Compass Calibration. Everything else is off.


So what can I say, my friend on iPhone 4 gets same battery life with everything enabled, this is better but still far from perfect.

What do you think?

 

[jollyreaper]

Yeah. I'm getting slightly better life now. It doesn't die so bad on standby but using it for anything with the screen on sees the charge visibly dropping.

I also noticed exchange refuses to actually switch off of push. You tell it no and when I'm sitting at my desk I'll hear the phone chime with something like a meeting request within seconds of it showing up on my desktop.

While the iPhone is the best smart phone on the market, the competition is execrable. There remains so much room for improvement. Insanely great products? Not quite. More like tolerably adequate. Seeing as the 4s is a refinement of the 4, it should at minimum be as good in every way and then be much better in other areas. Weak battery is a killer. Like everyone else has pointed out, if you can't use all the features that make it a smart phone, why have a smart phone?

Hmm. Dropped two percent just typing this.

 

[pdqgp]

Like everyone else has pointed out, if you can't use all the features that make it a smart phone, why have a smart phone?

The above counter point would be why keep all of the iPhone's Smart-Phone features on when you're not using them?

I just returned from a 3 day trip for business where I was out of the hotel room by 8am and not back to charge until after dinner (9-10pm) and I had more than 25% left on my phone.

That's email and phone calls all day, GPS (I do plug it in when I needed to use it for both battery drain and GPS accuracy reasons) but I didn't use GPS all the time, I took photos, I texted, I used Siri, connected to wifi at Starbuckes, etc...

A pretty normal day of use really. Not one concern about battery life. The key for me is when I leave the car, turn off blue tooth, Location services, wifi, etc...when not using them. Simple. You don't leave your car running while shopping, why turn on all the above when you're in with a client or shopping, etc. ?

 

[jollyreaper]

But why should I have to constantly turn on and off those things? Location services should not be running in the background. They should fire up only when needed and quit once the user is done. With Bluetooth maybe they could just put a sync button on the side of the fan where you press the button and I will look to see if anything is awake otherwise we've the radio off. It's just so stupid have to micromanage this crap instead of just using your phone. Whatever happened to it just works?

If Siri needs to know my location or answer a question it should fire up the GPS get the answer and turn it off. If is it Geo fencing for reminders is a problem which it looks like it is then just don't implement that feature.

It's understandable for the phone have a serious battery drain when you are doing active things with it and burning the candle at both ends. it should not be undergoing massive power drain when in standby. If I'm downloading some 200 MB podcast well that's not really standby the radio is going crazy even if the screen is off. But if I'm not doing anything and I have no processes actively running in the background why should it be losing multiple percentage points per hour?

 

[pdqgp]

But why should I have to constantly turn on and off those things?

I agree. I hope that someday iOSx will allow for me to tell the iPhone if it's not connected to my car, then turn blue tooth off; my home or office Wifi, then turn off.

Location services should not be running in the background. They should fire up only when needed and quit once the user is done.

Again, I agree. However, give it time. It's only v5.0

It's just so stupid have to micromanage this crap instead of just using your phone. Whatever happened to it just works?

Stuff still just plain works. No doubt smart phones will get smarter.

But if I'm not doing anything and I have no processes actively running in the background why should it be losing multiple percentage points per hour?

Can't answer as I don't know what the internals and processes are calling for when in standby. I have my wife's old plain 3G that was fully charged prior to my trip on Tuesday morning. Sitting here tonight, it's been on my desk for 3 days and 3 nights with only Wifi and Location Services on and it's got 20% left.

 

[docprego]

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I'm actually very happy with my 4S battery life. Coming from an EVO it feels like its powered by a nuclear reactor. If they improve it, that would be even more awesome.

 

[iphone4sATT]

Restore...fingers crossed

Well, ended up doing a full restore and set up as new phone. So far, my % is at 100 with location on, notification on, exchange/push...and almost 30 min of use. I was draining faster at standby before. I had restored from a backup of my jailbroken iPhone 4 which I suspect may have stored some settings/data that made it through onto my iPhone 4s. Anyway, hoping for the best.

 

[verwon]

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I'm actually very happy with my 4S battery life. Coming from an EVO it feels like its powered by a nuclear reactor. If they improve it, that would be even more awesome.

Exactly!!