Iphone 4S Battery Problems

[fallingleaf]

Hi,
I have read many forums and know that many people have this issue. I have a 64G iPhone 4S and am experiencing terrible battery life. My battery drops 20% doing nothing overnight (6-7 hours). On a normal work day (For me 8.30Am-3.30PM) my battery goes from 100% to zero with very light usage (Making a few calls and few minutes of browsing).
I have followed all the steps in forums, turning location services off, Siri off, closing background apps, turning off push notification and many other things off AND restoring but it does not go away. I spent almost as much as my Macbook on this phone and am very disappointed. The first few days it worked fine but now it is acting up.
I had jailbroken my phone but now have removed all cydia apps and planning to do a factory reset to see if it helps but from what I have been reading it does not.
Is anyone experiencing similar problems? (Stupid question as many are) and if you have, has anyone got a replacement successfully by Apple? I live in Malaysia and unfortunately they don't just hand you a new phone like the U.S (I bought my phone in the U.S) when something goes wrong and I REALLY DO NOT WANT to send my brand new $900 phone for repair.
Does anyone have any info on when Apple is planning to deal with this and has anyone had a replacement and the new phone did not have the issue? Thanks
Very Frustrated!!

 

[Leonard1818]

need more info.

What's your usage and standby numbers (typically)?
What is your signal like?
What apps do you have running?


Try this test:

fully charge to 100%.
Unplug.
Immediately go into airplane mode
Wait 2 hours.
Check battery %.
What's it at?

report back.
arm/fire Malaysia

 

[fallingleaf]

Hi,
Thanks for the quick reply. I noticed many people have reported the same problem as mine about the usage and standby numbers.
My usage and standby numbers are exactly identical which is what many people with battery problems are reporting. I had not checked this when on 100% full charge but last time I checked (after a restore) my standby and usage where at 13 hours on 70% charge.
I am trying to factory reset my phone now so I don't have this info on 100% charge. I will get back as soon as I have restored.
My signal is pretty good but it does drop occasionally which is quite normal for my provider (Maxis) in Malaysia.
And to answer your question about apps do you mean what I have running on the background or do you want a complete list?
Please let me know.
I will try your test as soon as I have done a full factory reset and will get back to you. Thanks again for your time.

I wish my battery on the iphone 4s was just like its speed! I was so happy when I upgraded from an iphone 3g but this battery thing is driving me crazy!!

 

[Leonard1818]

Well, if you are seeing usage = standby then SOMETHING is constantly running which is why your battery is draining.

The trick is finding what it is.

My guess is it's a rogue app that is corrupt, an email account that can't properly sync and keeps trying, or a contact that can't properly sync and keeps trying. I'd do a restore and test each thing individually.

Starting with a freshly restored phone, test the emails first. Don't restore from a backup (cause chances are it will simply restore the setting/offending object).

Install all of your apps. Then, sync your contacts. DO NOT set up any email accounts. I'm not sure if you're using Google contacts like I am but if you are, go ahead and set them up. If you're not, import your contacts as you normally would but DO NOT set up any email accounts. See if the issue persists.

If it does, restore your phone again. Install your apps. Set up your email accounts. DO NOT sync your contacts. I know, this is going to render the phone virtually useless but the test should take less than an hour. Let the phone sit and check to see if usage = standby. If it does NOT, then you know a contact sync issue is to blame. If it does, and you've already tested the email accounts, then you know you have an app causing the issue.

If you think at this point it's an app, you have a couple of ways to test this. one, begin uninstalling the apps one-by-one until the behavior stops or two do yet another restore and sync your contacts, sync your email accounts, then start adding your apps back one-by-one until the behavior starts again.

I hope the above gives you a good idea of what needs to be done to track this down.

Good luck!

 

[fallingleaf]

Hi! Thanks for all your help. Super appreciate it! Basically I have only one worry. Is my battery problem a hardware issue that needs taking care of at apple or is it just a software thing?
I had tried the test that you told me before (airplane mode) and my battery still drained 3% in 2 hours.
I had also deleted all my cydia apps and normal apps before doing the test so I know it was not an app.
Last night I did a factory reset and put my phone in airplane mode overnight and only lost 1-2% over 6 hours (2% only the last minutes when it hit 2 hours), which is a significant improvement.
But I had most things turned off. Notifications, etc. Now I am trying another 6 hours test without using my phone but without airplane mode to see if it is related to my provider.
If it passes the test and does well, I am only going to get my apps one by one each day. I know this is a hassle but it is the only thing I can think of. I never restore from back-up as that always screws up my phone.
Do you think that battery issues can be because of the jailbreak? I have not jailbroken it since I did a factory reset last night.
Also does this mean that if everything is finally ok, I should never sync with Itunes? Because one way or another it always screws things up for me.
Also I set up my phone as new when I did the factory reset but why were my contacts there after the factory restore? Is this because I factory restored using Itunes? (I could not factory reset just using the phone as it kept getting stuck on the spinning wheel so I had to put in DFU mode). Can this create problems again??
Is it ok if I contact you if I had problems again? And do you think the steps that I am taking now are correct?
Thanks for all your help.

 

[fallingleaf]

Hi,
So I guess the phone has passed its 6 hour test without airplane mode. I did not use it and I lost 6% which is 1% an hour. A lot better than before. Since my contacts are there now, (like I said I am not sure how the contacts got there as I factory reset with Itunes. I suppose they came from Itunes which is strange because I did not restore from backup), and the battery seems to be ok, now I can assume it was mail or app related right?
So I guess like you said I first will set up my mail and see if the battery is ok if it is, I will test apps one by one right?
Also the usage and standby is not equal now which is a good sign but I do have one confusion. My usage and standby starts at 0 after a full charge. For example it is showing my usage as 19 min now (which is also strange since I have not used it that much since the full last charge last night and my wifi and 3g is off) and my standby as 13 hours which is exactly how long ago I charged my phone. Is that normal? I always thought the standby figure was a rough assumption of how long battery life you have left if you are not using the phone and not how long it has been since you last charged the phone. Have I been thinking wrong? Sorry that I ask so many questions but I am a bit confused.
So 13 hours since I last charged (6 hours on airplane mode) and it is showing 91% battery. That is ok although I have not used my phone right?
Thanks loads again ....

 

[EngageWithRage]

I looked up so many possible fixes for the issues on the net and really found nothing that helped, even disabling alot of features, turning off 3g when not using it, letting the battery die and fully charge etc. Eventually I just took it to the Apple store and they gave me a new one, now I notice a huge difference in battery life. When all else fails and you are under warranty have Apple give you a new one and save your self some time and frustration.

 

[alFR]

I always thought the standby figure was a rough assumption of how long battery life you have left if you are not using the phone and not how long it has been since you last charged the phone. Have I been thinking wrong?

Yeah, the standby time is the time the phone has been on (but not being used) since the last charge: it's not the time remaining.