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iPhone 5 Shuts Down Due To Battery-Turns back on at 50%

N

niblet

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 24, 2013
23
0
I have been having extremely poor battery life with my iPhone 5 recently, and it will shut down at around 50% battery, because it says that the battery is dead. I then try to to turn the phone back on, but it shows the connect to power source screen. I then try turning it on again, and it turns on and says that there is a fifty percent charge. Other times, the battery will deplete very quickly (with very little use). I am out of warranty, and am wondering about any fixes for this problem. I am also not in the market for a new iPhone.

Thanks In Advance
 
Sounds like you may have a battery problem. Did you recently update your OS?

You could try restoring it and setting up as a new phone. It might help if it's a software issue. Otherwise you may be looking at a new battery. There seems to be a common issue with the iPhone 5 battery.

Incidentally, since iOS 7.0 my phone would often shut down at up to 24%. When it comes back on, it still thinks it's at 24%, or wherever it was when it shut off.
 
Altis said:
Sounds like you may have a battery problem. Did you recently update your OS?

You could try restoring it and setting up as a new phone. It might help if it's a software issue. Otherwise you may be looking at a new battery. There seems to be a common issue with the iPhone 5 battery.

Incidentally, since iOS 7.0 my phone would often shut down at up to 24%. When it comes back on, it still thinks it's at 24%, or wherever it was when it shut off.
Click to expand...
Thanks, and I did recently update my phone, but the battery issue started a few days afterwards. Also, how much is a iPhone battery to replace myself, and how much will Apple charge to replace it.

Thanks
 
niblet said:
I have been having extremely poor battery life with my iPhone 5 recently, and it will shut down at around 50% battery, because it says that the battery is dead. I then try to to turn the phone back on, but it shows the connect to power source screen. I then try turning it on again, and it turns on and says that there is a fifty percent charge. Other times, the battery will deplete very quickly (with very little use). I am out of warranty, and am wondering about any fixes for this problem. I am also not in the market for a new iPhone.

Thanks In Advance
Click to expand...

just curious...what kind of case do you use ?

the reason i ask is bc i was using a life proof case and having same overheating issues after the update.
 
Last edited:
niblet said:
Thanks, and I did recently update my phone, but the battery issue started a few days afterwards. Also, how much is a iPhone battery to replace myself, and how much will Apple charge to replace it.

Thanks
Click to expand...

A few days afterwards is still awfully suspicious. I'd still go through a full restore to factory new and see if it helps before spending money on it.
 
If a battery recalibration doesn't work - let phone drain until it powers off. Charge to 100% over night without interruption - Then take it to an Apple Store to have the battery tested and replaced. Under Apple Care this is free. Outside of Apple Care it is/was about $79 and takes about 10 mins not including wait time for your appointment.
 
Same issue with my wife's iPhone 5 on 7.1. Battery drains incredibly fast, and will frequently shut off anywhere between 30-45% then when it's plugged in the phone turns on and shows battery at 30% or higher. Nothing running in the background, location services turned off, etc.

Prior to updating to ios 7, there were none of these problems and the phone would regularly last 2 days without a charge on moderate use.

We've done all the calibration tips, restoring, etc. Nothing helps. Not worth bringing to Apple and paying $80 for a new battery (no Apple Care) when she has an upgrade available soon and will use it on the iPhone 6 whenever that comes out. So for now she just travels with a charger wherever she goes.

Sad but true
 
SpyderBite said:
If a battery recalibration doesn't work - let phone drain until it powers off. Charge to 100% over night without interruption - Then take it to an Apple Store to have the battery tested and replaced. Under Apple Care this is free. Outside of Apple Care it is/was about $79 and takes about 10 mins not including wait time for your appointment.
Click to expand...

Are they actually replacing batteries in-house now? Or just swapping phones?

It would be nice if they're replacing batteries because this would save you from having to do a full restore.
 
zorinlynx said:
Are they actually replacing batteries in-house now? Or just swapping phones?

It would be nice if they're replacing batteries because this would save you from having to do a full restore.
Click to expand...

They've been doing in-house battery swaps since at least October 2013. My battery was shot (within warranty) and they replaced the battery in about an hour. They had a few batteries ahead of me, otherwise it's a 20 minute job.
 
I've had odd battery behavior in my iPhone 5 lately too. It'll jump down in % anywhere from 10 to 15% and if I plug it in, it'll jump up 10 to 15% instantaneously!

That and I've had such poor performance of late. I'm on 7.0.4. I get usually around 2 to 3.5 hours max now, but the battery does charge quickly!
 
These problems sound like the battery developing high internal resistance. When this happens, the voltage may be normal at low load, but when the load increases (as in, the phone transmits a lot of data to the tower) the voltage can drop below the cutoff causing it to shut down.

Once the phone is off, the voltage rises above the cutoff again, and you can turn it on again. Rinse. Repeat.

In layman's terms, the battery is boned. Get it swapped. :)

----------
mpayne2k said:
I've had odd battery behavior in my iPhone 5 lately too. It'll jump down in % anywhere from 10 to 15% and if I plug it in, it'll jump up 10 to 15% instantaneously!

That and I've had such poor performance of late. I'm on 7.0.4. I get usually around 2 to 3.5 hours max now, but the battery does charge quickly!
Click to expand...

Yep, same thing here. The battery meter is partially based on voltage, so if the battery's internal resistance is high, charging it will make the voltage spike more than it normally does.

Layman's terms again: Battery boned. Swap. :)
 
zorinlynx said:
These problems sound like the battery developing high internal resistance. When this happens, the voltage may be normal at low load, but when the load increases (as in, the phone transmits a lot of data to the tower) the voltage can drop below the cutoff causing it to shut down.

Once the phone is off, the voltage rises above the cutoff again, and you can turn it on again. Rinse. Repeat.

In layman's terms, the battery is boned. Get it swapped. :)

----------



Yep, same thing here. The battery meter is partially based on voltage, so if the battery's internal resistance is high, charging it will make the voltage spike more than it normally does.

Layman's terms again: Battery boned. Swap. :)
Click to expand...


I'm gonna just live with it...just 7 months left until I can upgrade!
 
niblet said:
I have been having extremely poor battery life with my iPhone 5 recently, and it will shut down at around 50% battery, because it says that the battery is dead. I then try to to turn the phone back on, but it shows the connect to power source screen. I then try turning it on again, and it turns on and says that there is a fifty percent charge.

Thanks In Advance
Click to expand...

i have a 5 and also recieved the same problem as a matter of fact on 2 iphone5 ..if u have insurance they will replace it free of charge but i have tmobile, i just called and told them the problem but also i noticed, if you use after market chargers it does something to the battery and it harms it, my phone would die at 30% then id charge it itll go to 42% lol go figure goodluck
 
This is a sign of battery failure, most likely one of the cells has gone bad. I had the same issue in 3 of my families 4 (launch day)-Iphone 5s. I got all of mine replaced at the Apple store under the Applecare warranty. If you are out of warranty they will replace it for $80 in about 30 minutes. When I took mine in, they gave me a url to run an in-store test on my battery and all three phones indicated failure.

Since replacing it back in November, I have not seen any of the large battery percentage jumps like the many have mentioned, but I did get them constantly before I had it replaced. As many other threads on here will state, they think it is an iOS7 bug, it is not. Apple had a lot of crappy batteries installed in the iPhone5 and neglected to let anyone know about.

So go get your battery replaced and you will be a happy camper.
....And just in case, do an Itunes backup before you go. One of the batteries they were replacing broke a connector on the phones logic board, and they just replaced the phone for free. An hour later I had the "new" phone restored, and all was good.
 
Both my wife's iphone 5 & mine were having the same problem. I bought a couple of mophie cases for the same price as having both batteries replaced. Today my phone was at about 60%, I took some pics & turned the display off. About 15 minutes later I opened the phone again & the battery went to 11%, I turned the case on & the battery went right to 70%. Kind of a pain, but I think the cases will get us to the iphone 6 this fall.
 
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