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My battery life is total garbage.. do you guys think so?

R

Roflcopterrr

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 27, 2007
37
0
I started at 90%, went out to the pool (full signal the whole time), listened to music and used safari / tweetie for maybe 10 minutes combined - and I noticed the % go down every other minute!! Is this normal? I listened to music for maybe 1-2 hours total, and my battery life is now 14%.

Is this normal?

I had 3G, Location Services, Wi-Fi and SSH off.
 
depends on your push email settings

i've had mine last 2 days and hours. a lot of room for configuration
 
It does

Radio use is the biggest battery hog. For music most of mine is ripped in apple lossless and battery is ok. Never compared to other formats, but I think I have some mp3's left over
 
Roflcopterrr said:
I started at 90%, went out to the pool (full signal the whole time), listened to music and used safari / tweetie for maybe 10 minutes combined - and I noticed the % go down every other minute!! Is this normal? I listened to music for maybe 1-2 hours total, and my battery life is now 14%.

Is this normal?

I had 3G, Location Services, Wi-Fi and SSH off.
Click to expand...

You didn't say what iPhone you have, but I assume it is a 3G. For a 3G that is not too good and maybe not normal. However, daily use can fluctuate. If it's been like that for awhile, then you may have a problem. You could try a DFU restore to possibly fix it to run better, but YMMV. If it's a 3GS, then that is HORRIBLE, and you need to either DFU restore or go back to the store.

You really ought to look at the massive amounts of threads on here about battery life though. For me on my 3G, I use safari on my ride to work for over an hour and then back home for over an hour. I can be at 20% some days and others not so bad. However, that's with 9 hours at work.
 
iphone.aggie said:
You didn't say what iPhone you have, but I assume it is a 3G. For a 3G that is not too good and maybe not normal. However, daily use can fluctuate. If it's been like that for awhile, then you may have a problem. You could try a DFU restore to possibly fix it to run better, but YMMV. If it's a 3GS, then that is HORRIBLE, and you need to either DFU restore or go back to the store.

You really ought to look at the massive amounts of threads on here about battery life though. For me on my 3G, I use safari on my ride to work for over an hour and then back home for over an hour. I can be at 20% some days and others not so bad. However, that's with 9 hours at work.
Click to expand...

Yep, It's a 3GS
 
Roflcopterrr said:
Yep, It's a 3GS
Click to expand...

Okay, well like I said that sounds pretty horrible. Look at the 3GS threads on here on battery life (mainly the ones with lots of posts) and do a comparison. If you're having that kind of battery life all the time you could have a problem.

However, it could just be your meter needs calibrating. Do a search for that, but essentially you let you battery die, then leave it off for a few hours, and then charge fully (if I'm remembering the whole process correct.....I don't think I forgot a step). In other words, your battery might not be where you think it is, just the meter tells you the wrong thing. Lots of threads on that too.
 
iphone.aggie said:
Okay, well like I said that sounds pretty horrible. Look at the 3GS threads on here on battery life (mainly the ones with lots of posts) and do a comparison. If you're having that kind of battery life all the time you could have a problem.

However, it could just be your meter needs calibrating. Do a search for that, but essentially you let you battery die, then leave it off for a few hours, and then charge fully (if I'm remembering the whole process correct.....I don't think I forgot a step). In other words, your battery might not be where you think it is, just the meter tells you the wrong thing. Lots of threads on that too.
Click to expand...

Maybe it's not the battery, but the percentage bettery reader thing. Whatever it's called lol. Have you charged your battery all the way up then let it die all the way down?
 
I was going to wait until 3.1 hit to see if it got any better, but mine seems to be getting worse. today it went from 100% to 70% in 40 minutes of usage which was just browsing over 3G. That'd be less than half of Apple's 5 hour claim.

I went to the GB a few days ago and the Genius I got was useless, but he said if his suggestions didn't work then to just bring it back. I'm going to.
 
iphone.aggie said:
Huh? How does your OP change to this? Certainly not a typo. :)

Edit: No one can tell you anything based on this.
Click to expand...

Perhaps I should have been a bit more detailed.. :p

I was on EDGE the whole time, WiFi was off, used tweetie for a bit, Safari a little bit.

Also, I guess you really do have to break the battery in.. o_o
 
OK so who else is starting to think that apple adding the percentage to the 3GS was a bad idea! :eek:

I know for a fact that when I get the new iPhone next year I'm NOT going to use that percentage crap! I would spend too much time worrying about the battery that i wont be able to use the freakin phone!!!:eek:
 
Roflcopterrr said:
Perhaps I should have been a bit more detailed.. :p
Click to expand...

Really, only "fully-charged-to-dead" times matter. Trying to examine any 10% of a battery's life cycle is never going to give you any meaningful info because a small shift in usage will have a huge impact on that whereas by the end of the day it all kind of evens out to your average usage.

DaGreat01 said:
OK so who else is starting to think that apple adding the percentage to the 3GS was a bad idea! :eek:

I know for a fact that when I get the new iPhone next year I'm NOT going to use that percentage crap! I would spend too much time worrying about the battery that i wont be able to use the freakin phone!!!:eek:
Click to expand...

John Gruber said the same thing. He said that using it did nothing but make him stressed out all the time.

So why use a feature who's sole change is that it makes you nervous?
 
Roflcopterrr said:
I started at 90%, went out to the pool (full signal the whole time), listened to music and used safari / tweetie for maybe 10 minutes combined - and I noticed the % go down every other minute!! Is this normal? I listened to music for maybe 1-2 hours total, and my battery life is now 14%.

Is this normal?

I had 3G, Location Services, Wi-Fi and SSH off.
Click to expand...

Something else to take into account is the temperature. I have noticed with every iPhone I have owned that the battery drains faster when in warm temperatures. I don't remember what Apple says was the optimal operation temperature, but I believe it is in the low 70's. If you were at the pool I am guessing it was a warm day. Also in direct sunlight the iPhone can heat up pretty fast, so that can kill battery life.
 
DaGreat01 said:
OK so who else is starting to think that apple adding the percentage to the 3GS was a bad idea! :eek:

I know for a fact that when I get the new iPhone next year I'm NOT going to use that percentage crap! I would spend too much time worrying about the battery that i wont be able to use the freakin phone!!!:eek:
Click to expand...

Exactly. Once I started turning it off I've been much happier about my battery life. Ignorance is bliss? I do sneak it back on every now and then to see what it says though :)
 
I'm doing a side-by-side comparison with this 3GS and
my oringinal iPhone now. I am browsing both devices over WiFi across the same exact pages at the same moment. Settings are identical between them and that which is reported for the settings used officially by Apple with regards to their battery life claims. The single exception is the cell network - my original has no signal - on my 3GS 3G has been turned off.

I'm about an hour in of 100% WiFi browsing. Already I can tell from the battery meters that my (year and a half old) original is winning. It's pathetic. Ill post my results when I'm done
 
Eso said:
I'm doing a side-by-side comparison with this 3GS and
my oringinal iPhone now. I am browsing both devices over WiFi across the same exact pages at the same moment. Settings are identical between them and that which is reported for the settings used officially by Apple with regards to their battery life claims. The single exception is the cell network - my original has no signal - on my 3GS 3G has been turned off.

I'm about an hour in of 100% WiFi browsing. Already I can tell from the battery meters that my (year and a half old) original is winning. It's pathetic. Ill post my results when I'm done
Click to expand...

The cellular radio is the biggest drainer of battery and your original iPhone has none. If you want a better test, put the 3GS in Airplane mode, shutting off any cellular connection. Also, the less bars you have, the more drain, as the radio tries harder to hold a signal, especially if you make a call.
 
well music does waste the battery alot as well as using your wifi, even if ur not on the internet it still uses a lot of battery to keep it on
so you could just buy a new battery online if your not happy with it and replace it on your own like i did, but that is really hard to do and i wouldn't recommend, so talk to the apple store about it, if it's still under warranty
 
Felder71 said:
The cellular radio is the biggest drainer of battery and your original iPhone has none. If you want a better test, put the 3GS in Airplane mode, shutting off any cellular connection. Also, the less bars you have, the more drain, as the radio tries harder to hold a signal, especially if you make a call.
Click to expand...

Fail.

Airplane mode also shuts off the wifi radio. Secondly, I am not taking calls. The iPhone is rated at 300 hours of standby time with the cellular radios on (that's with 3G, by the way). Five hours of minimum cellular radio usage is insignificant compared to constant WiFi browsing.

Currently my 3GS has sent 28 KB over the cellular radio. Battery appears to be about 50%. My original appears to be about 75%. Will update when completed.
 
I just went out for a bit, I think my battery life has improved! I was using colloquy / AIM and listening to music the whole time that there was usage :)

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Also, as DaGreat01 said

I know for a fact that when I get the new iPhone next year I'm NOT going to use that percentage crap! I would spend too much time worrying about the battery that i wont be able to use the freakin phone!!!
Click to expand...

TURN YOUR BATTERY PERCENTAGES OFF!!! I did, it stops you from going crazy about battery!!
 
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