Rapid Battery drain 7+

[00SilverGT]

My mom received her rose gold iPhone 7 plus 32gb on Monday on AT&T. I haven't received my matte black yet but anyway she charged it to 100% and took it to school with her Wednesday where she works. She maybe sent 3 text messages and by lunch she was down to 18%!! This was before she set up her email and she created a brand new Apple ID so there weren't any new apps draining the battery. I looked at her battery usuage Tuesday to see what used most of the battery the day before and the top 2 were home lock screen and messages. Has any else had severe battery drain?

 

[veedubshafer]

Exchange it. That baby is defective big time! My 7 plus battery last crazy long.

 

[karmamule]

FWIW, while my battery life on the 7+ has been excellent so far, home lock screen and messages are both up near the top in terms of battery usage. In other words, having those two near the top of the list in-and-of-itself is not weird. The only apps that are above it for me are the news apps I read on my train ride into work and whatever music app I listen to during the day.

But, yeah, that battery drain is really off from normal. I'd also say exchange it.

 

[00SilverGT]

I have an appointment with the Apple Store tomorrow at noon I'm gonna see what they say about it. Is there a chance that poor signal could drain a battery that fast? Even if the phone is barely being used?

 

[89007132]

Poor signal can absolutely drain the battery rapidly. Even if the phone is not being used at all. That's because the phone is always trying to grab a cell signal regardless if it is in use or not. As a test, have her turn airplane mode on while she is at school to see if that has an effect on the battery drainage. Schools notoriously have poor cell reception.

Also, what is her auto-lock setting at? Go to:
Settings --> General --> Auto Lock

That should be set to, at most, 2 minutes.

 

[00SilverGT]

Poor signal can absolutely drain the battery rapidly. Even if the phone is not being used at all. That's because the phone is always trying to grab a cell signal regardless if it is in use or not. As a test, have her turn airplane mode on while she is at school to see if that has an effect on the battery drainage. Schools notoriously have poor cell reception.

Also, what is her auto-lock setting at? Go to:
Settings --> General --> Auto Lock

That should be set to, at most, 2 minutes.

I made sure to set her auto lock for 1-2 minute. I've been afraid to try the airplane mode because of the "no service" bug. Right now she's at the Louisville zoo testing it out if it does good today then maybe it is the service or maybe it finally settled in.

 

[89007132]

I made sure to set her auto lock for 1-2 minute. I've been afraid to try the airplane mode because of the "no service" bug. Right now she's at the Louisville zoo testing it out if it does good today then maybe it is the service or maybe it finally settled in.

I wouldn't worry about the airplane mode bug much. From what I've read, all you have to do is restart the phone or remove and re-insert the SIM card to resolve the issue.

And besides, even if it does permentely cause the device to show no service, you just gave Apple a much better reason to replace the device at the Genius Bar. Because it is very unlikely that you have a defective battery.

 

[00SilverGT]

I just have a hard time believing 1 bar of signal is gonna drain a battery in just a few hours especially if it's not being used. She literally sent 3 text messages total and by lunch it was at 18% I mean that seems a little extreme. I could understand if she was using it the whole time then maybe. I'll have the phone tomorrow so I'll try out that airplane mode before I hit the Apple Store

 

[89007132]

How did it go at the store?

 

[Mlrollin91]

I just have a hard time believing 1 bar of signal is gonna drain a battery in just a few hours especially if it's not being used. She literally sent 3 text messages total and by lunch it was at 18% I mean that seems a little extreme. I could understand if she was using it the whole time then maybe. I'll have the phone tomorrow so I'll try out that airplane mode before I hit the Apple Store

It absolutely will. 1 bar of service will drain an entire iPhone battery in less than 4 hours. 100%->0%. It is the biggest battery drainer.

If WiFi is available, enable WiFi calling. It will drastically help increase battery life.

 

[C DM]

It absolutely will. 1 bar of service will drain an entire iPhone battery in less than 4 hours. 100%->0%. It is the biggest battery drainer.

If WiFi is available, enable WiFi calling. It will drastically help increase battery life.

It will definitely help as far as that being used when calls are made and received. But if cellular is still on, even with WiFi calling in use, it seems like the phone would still be working harder to stay connected to that weaker cellular signal (even if it's not being used essentially).

 

[5105973]

Does the raise to wake feature drain the battery? I opened my purse to take my iPhone 6s Plus and SE out earlier in the evening and to my surprise they were lit up and on their lock screen displays in there. I don't know how long they've been turning on in there getting jostled as I ran errands and shopped. They were drained pretty low considering I was not on any calls or texts today. But not like what your mom experienced. Just more than I'm used to. I'm going to turn raise to wake off. I wear an Apple Watch so I don't really need raise to wake.

 

[kuechi]

Me too. I'm not really happy with my 7 plus. I think I have the same battery life with my old 6 plus.

 

[00SilverGT]

Hey sorry I forgot to update you all. I had her phone all day Friday so I put it to the test watching videos, downloading numerous apps, making phone calls while I was heading down to Louisville Apple Store and honestly the battery held up really well. By lunchtime I still had over 80% a lot better than 18% few days prior. So I think you all were right it was probably a combination of the poor service and the fact the phone was brand new still breaking in. I went to the Apple Store it was super packed so I just left I figured the battery was fine anyway. I did have trouble downloading 10.0.2 though. But that's for a whole other thread

How did it go at the store?

ey