iPhone 5 Battery Life May Be Impacted Greatly by Cellular Signal Strength

[ikramerica]

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Either your doing something wrong or your phone is defective.

well, i was doing gps navigation and streaming music over bluetooth.. but i was plugged in for this.. with the phone sitting in my pocket and slight use at the doctors waiting room almost killed it..

but still.. i could almost watch the battery percentage drop in real time.[/QUOTE]

Your phone is probably defective. It happens...

 

[faroZ06]

Is this supposed to be a poem?

It does rhyme.

 

[starstreak]

How do the voice calls work? I mean, does it use whatever signal you have (4g/LTE) or does voice calls use it's own signal? I have AT&T.

I ask this because I notice people tell me they have trouble talking to me on the phone and I noticed I'm on LTE with 2-3 bars. But I notice if I turn off the LTE, my bars shoot up to 4. And then if I make a call, it's much clearer.

Is that coincidence?

 

[Geckotek]

I did turn off LTE. Didn't make an appreciable difference.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not really complaining. Just saying this is very noticeable.

Maybe reset the phone. I have never seen an iPhone burn through battery that fast unless some process ran away in the background (i.e.: the kernel could not kill it).

Yeah, I had an issue with my 4 or 4s (don't recall exactly) where it suddenly started burning through the battery like crazy. Couldn't figure it out. After several power cycles/resets, it finally stopped. Never did figure out the cause.

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How do the voice calls work? I mean, does it use whatever signal you have (4g/LTE) or does voice calls use it's own signal? I have AT&T.

I ask this because I notice people tell me they have trouble talking to me on the phone and I noticed I'm on LTE with 2-3 bars. But I notice if I turn off the LTE, my bars shoot up to 4. And then if I make a call, it's much clearer.

Is that coincidence?

AT&T doesn't have VoLTE yet, so voice is going over 3G at this time. So not sure what's causing your voice quality issues. But I think there are some funky things going on there between switching from LTE to 3G for a voice call so I wouldn't be surprised if it were related in some way.

 

[Doc750]

And the hits keep on coming .... What's next, Poor voice quality?

iPhone 5 and iOS 6 has been the greatest beta scam every released by apple.

 

[Geckotek]

well, i was doing gps navigation and streaming music over bluetooth.. but i was plugged in for this.. with the phone sitting in my pocket and slight use at the doctors waiting room almost killed it..

but still.. i could almost watch the battery percentage drop in real time.

I actually drive to work with Waze running and a podcast streaming over LTE playing over the car stereo using BT. That can suck up some major battery! Yesterday I think I sucked down 11% in my 20 minute drive. This morning I left it plugged in, but tomorrow I'm gonna give it another go with the cable unplugged and see if I drop 11% again.

I used to do the same w/ the 4S, but minus the streaming over LTE. I used to keep the podcasts loaded on the iPhone. Didn't really pay attention to the battery usage then...wish I had.

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And the hits keep on coming .... What's next, Poor voice quality?

iPhone 5 and iOS 6 has been the greatest beta scam every released by apple.

You really didn't read any of the comments and have no clue how cellular phones work do you?

 

[andrewsd]

And the hits keep on coming .... What's next, Poor voice quality?

iPhone 5 and iOS 6 has been the greatest beta scam every released by apple.

I agree. Funny thing is I am in possession of two iPhone 5's while others wait to receive their first/per ordered iPhone5. I had a faulty speaker on the one I purchased on launch day. (My iPhone 4 was fan over by a mower at 7 am and I walked Into an AT&T store at 10am and was lucky enough to buy one but it had a faulty speaker and Apple shipped me another that was her the next the day. I have some time before I have to send the original back and I have played with both and the battery life is horrible to say the least. I woke up today and put my fiancés sim in one of them and mine in the other and we both watched the battery to from 100% to 92% by the time we brushed our teeth and washed our face. (This was maybe 15 minutes or so and both had LTE turned off and no apps open). Safe to day I'll be returning this one too.


No reason why my 3GS should be better at doing nothing then a phone that is more then 3 years its newer.

Apple said my original 5'a battery may be draing fast due to the hardware problem it has but the other doesn't have it. So explain that.. Plus the new one came with a dent on it. Not excepatbel to me.

Change is a good thing so may either
A.get my money back and go with a 4s on iOS 5
B. go with an S3
C. Third time is a charm... If not revisit A/B.

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That reply alone took 6% and I am at 3 to 4 bars. When we did the test we were at her house and had five full glorious bars..

Sarcasm.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Well, tell me something new. This has happened and continues to happen with every single phone ever made, not just with the iPhone.
It's either: use more power or completely loose your signal => Your choice.

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I agree. Funny thing is I am in possession of two iPhone 5's while others wait to receive their first/per ordered iPhone5. I had a faulty speaker on the one I purchased on launch day. (My iPhone 4 was fan over by a mower at 7 am and I walked Into an AT&T store at 10am and was lucky enough to buy one but it had a faulty speaker and Apple shipped me another that was her the next the day. I have some time before I have to send the original back and I have played with both and the battery life is horrible to say the least. I woke up today and put my fiancés sim in one of them and mine in the other and we both watched the battery to from 100% to 92% by the time we brushed our teeth and washed our face. (This was maybe 15 minutes or so and both had LTE turned off and no apps open). Safe to day I'll be returning this one too.


No reason why my 3GS should be better at doing nothing then a phone that is more then 3 years its newer.

Apple said my original 5'a battery may be draing fast due to the hardware problem it has but the other doesn't have it. So explain that.. Plus the new one came with a dent on it. Not excepatbel to me.

Change is a good thing so may either
A.get my money back and go with a 4s on iOS 5
B. go with an S3
C. Third time is a charm... If not revisit A/B.

----------

That reply alone took 6% and I am at 3 to 4 bars. When we did the test we were at her house and had five full glorious bars..

Sarcasm.

You are either holding it wrong, or seeing things inside your mind after reading the main post.
Actually, there could be more than just that. Try disabling Auto Time Zone, and make sure the Location Services icon is not showing too often on the status bar on the top.

 

[DjStiky]

Here is my iPhone 5 vs my wife's iPhone 4 around 6:22pm.
We work together so we leave the house at the same time and go to work and come back home at the same time. Same coverage (Fido/Rogers are the same network).

Pretty similar usage but her battery life is better. She even has bluetooth on and I dont.

I unplugged at 7:30am and as of right now (midnight) I have:
Usage: 4 Hours, 42 Minutes
Standby: 16 Hours, 23 Minutes
Battery is at 13%

This is after calibrating my battery and a DFU restore and setting up the phone as new.
I am not happy

 

[YeahBuddy]

The last time I fully charged my iPhone was yesterday at 7am. I didn't have my charger last night so I'm going on 36 hours without charging my phone and I'm down to 9%. Not too shabby

 

[andrewsd]

Well, tell me something new. This has happened and continues to happen with every single phone ever made, not just with the iPhone.
It's either: use more power or completely loose your signal => Your choice.

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You are either holding it wrong, or seeing things inside your mind after reading the main post.
Actually, there could be more than just that. Try disabling Auto Time Zone, and make sure the Location Services icon is not showing too often on the status bar on the top.

There is a correct and non correct way to who hold it..

Thanks for the advice all kidding aside..

I already though of what you would you suggested. Never knew a portable device was supposed to be plugged in all the time..

I did these test
Two days ago. SORRY FORGOT TO MENTION..
Don't flamed its been out for less then a week but the new one is better then them the original....
With that said it is stil horrible.

Btw. Don't come at me all smug and whatnot.

I have a "pretty good" understanding about the company you may adore! (Don't know you personally so not sure if you do or don't ) BUT TAKE IT FOR WHAT YOU WILL

My livelyhood and what I do depends on a certain fruit company so iay know a thing or two!

 

[DELTAsnake]

Yesterday I was using my iPhone on 3G and LTE. The battery was at around 50% after 4 hours of usage with varying levels of connectivity. I think this is an obvious case of "your mileage may very".

 

[andrewsd]

Yesterday I was using my iPhone on 3G and LTE. The battery was at around 50% after 4 hours of usage with varying levels of connectivity. I think this is an obvious case of "your mileage may very".

Agree to a point.

 

[ixodes]

I have tried very seriously to like my new iPhone 5.

But if it's not one thing it's another.

That said, I'm going to do what I always do when faced with a problem. I'm going to find something positive.

I'm thrilled to share the fact that I kept my much loved, pristine iPhone 4S. I am ever so happy I did. One call to AT&T this afternoon was all it took to put things back as they were.

My 4S is appreciated even more, and I simply set my iPhone 5 aside.

It was as simple and gratifying as that

 

[840quadra]

My iPhone 5's battery is significantly better than my old iPhone 4. On LTE, I get around 4 or 5 bars. I find it much harder to go through 1% of battery life on the 5 than the 4. If my iPhone 5 is asleep, it goes down slower than the 4. With that said, I made sure to go down to 0% on my i5 and then charge to 100% when I first got the phone.

Remember that your iPhone 4 as well as mine and everybody else's is likely to be 1 - 2 years old by now. It's not realistic to compare the battery life of that phone with a brand-new iPhone 5.

Obviously outside a dedicated lab, everyone's mileage is going to vary depending on circumstances such as use, environmental variables, and other such factors. That said, I am highly happy with how long my batteries have lasted on my iPhone 4, I commonly go 2 days without having to charge it.

Personally, I think It's too early to pass judgment on The new iPhone 5's battery life, given that it's only been in the public's hands for Less than a week, or under embargo by some select media for slightly longer.

I had the same negative reactions to early reviews of the galaxy S3 battery performance as well . Increasingly it feels like these "technical reviews" are becoming more rushed, and less accurate than their counterparts only a few years ago.

 

[Starfyre]

Can u disable 4g to get better battery life?

 

[spyd4r]

I actually drive to work with Waze running and a podcast streaming over LTE playing over the car stereo using BT. That can suck up some major battery! Yesterday I think I sucked down 11% in my 20 minute drive. This morning I left it plugged in, but tomorrow I'm gonna give it another go with the cable unplugged and see if I drop 11% again.

I used to do the same w/ the 4S, but minus the streaming over LTE. I used to keep the podcasts loaded on the iPhone. Didn't really pay attention to the battery usage then...wish I had.

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You really didn't read any of the comments and have no clue how cellular phones work do you?

with that setup did you notice the phone got VERY warm? also, do you notice this phone takes a LOT longer to charge to full capacity?

 

[camaroIOM]

Why does this comes as a surprise....This is what Driod users have been faced with from day 1. If you ask most droid users they have apps such as Juice plus and others to help maintain peek battery performance. Otherwise devices using LTE will drain like no tomorrow.

 

[hejda]

I'm having some serious problems with mine... dunno if it's faulty hardware or what.

100% charge at 7am this morning. By lunch it was down around 50%. When I left the office it was at 17%, half an hour later at my sister's place it was at 6% and then it died completely before I got home around 8pm.

All this in a decent LTE coverage area, so it shouldn't have been struggling too much to hold a signal. And with maybe 30 minutes total usage through the day, of text/email/facebook.

I'm going to try doing a complete wipe and setting it up as a new phone... but if that doesn't improve things it has to be faulty hardware... right? That shouldn't be normal.

 

[Geckotek]

with that setup did you notice the phone got VERY warm? also, do you notice this phone takes a LOT longer to charge to full capacity?

It's warm, but I think more due to direct sunlight exposure. (Top down) if anything, the battery charges faster than my 4s.

I'll pay more attention tomorrow.

 

[lukarak]

So what this tells us is that if you have a weak signal area, you will drain the battery faster?

Another Antennagate, Foxconngate, Scratchgate or some other ______gate that dishes out at Apple for things that are normal with everything and everybody else and their brother.

 

[Fandongo]

Why does this comes as a surprise....This is what Driod users have been faced with from day 1. If you ask most droid users they have apps such as Juice plus and others to help maintain peek battery performance. Otherwise devices using LTE will drain like no tomorrow.

LTE doesn't drain too much more than 3G for me.

However, when I first got my phone I only got 4G in my room...
Auto switching 4G/3G/4G/3G pissed the battery all over the place.

 

[Geckotek]

I'm having some serious problems with mine... dunno if it's faulty hardware or what.

100% charge at 7am this morning. By lunch it was down around 50%. When I left the office it was at 17%, half an hour later at my sister's place it was at 6% and then it died completely before I got home around 8pm.

All this in a decent LTE coverage area, so it shouldn't have been struggling too much to hold a signal. And with maybe 30 minutes total usage through the day, of text/email/facebook.

I'm going to try doing a complete wipe and setting it up as a new phone... but if that doesn't improve things it has to be faulty hardware... right? That shouldn't be normal.

Can you post your usage numbers? This sounds like my typical day in an office with low signal.

 

[Buckeyestar]

My iPhone5 battery lasts much longer than my 4S. And my usage location, times and style has not changed.

My Verizon iPhone 5 is getting battery life that is at least as good as my AT&T 4S did, perhaps even better. No change in usage here either.

 

[lilo777]

Here is my iPhone 5 vs my wife's iPhone 4 around 6:22pm.
We work together so we leave the house at the same time and go to work and come back home at the same time. Same coverage (Fido/Rogers are the same network).

Pretty similar usage but her battery life is better. She even has bluetooth on and I dont.

I unplugged at 7:30am and as of right now (midnight) I have:
Usage: 4 Hours, 42 Minutes
Standby: 16 Hours, 23 Minutes
Battery is at 13%

This is after calibrating my battery and a DFU restore and setting up the phone as new.
I am not happy

Well, your phone is thinner. This is a trade off Apple went with.