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JacksonML

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 7, 2014
2
0
I've had my iphone since September 2013, and trough bad charging methods (charging at 60%+ a lot, charging when not needed), and I've accumulated over 550 charge cycles. I have about 70% of the original 1430mAh battery. The battery doesn't last very long, and has started to fluctuate randomly. Is it a good idea to replace the battery? I've found a battery kit online for $10, so I'll be doing it myself. I'm comfortable inside electronics, upgraded a computer, built a computer, opened and repaired a Wii, dismantled a laptop and monitor.
 

rigormortis

macrumors 68000
Jun 11, 2009
1,813
229
i wouldn't buy cheap and or counterfeit lithium ion battery packs. it can catch fire and explode.

i got a dell studio xps 1340 and bought several cheap lithium ion batteries, because i can't get them from dell anymore, and they don't last. after so many cycles they lose capacity like crazy. i bought one off of ebay, and it was already 75% used up


you might want to think abut just paying the $79 and having apple give you a new battery

but if you go in for a new battery, does apple just replace your entire phone??? or do they actually open it and change it out and send it back???? yeah. thats right i remember now. they just replace your entire gadget with a new factory freshed gadget. maybe that $79 will pay you back when you sell your iPhone on eBay and the guy is nitpicking over your tiny scratches


apple says 80 % at 500 charge cycles. is what that their standard warranty covers. its a 4s. i know. i just thought i mentioned it
 

Gav2k

macrumors G3
Jul 24, 2009
9,216
1,608
i wouldn't buy cheap and or counterfeit lithium ion battery packs. it can catch fire and explode.

i got a dell studio xps 1340 and bought several cheap lithium ion batteries, because i can't get them from dell anymore, and they don't last. after so many cycles they lose capacity like crazy. i bought one off of ebay, and it was already 75% used up


you might want to think abut just paying the $79 and having apple give you a new battery

but if you go in for a new battery, does apple just replace your entire phone??? or do they actually open it and change it out and send it back???? yeah. thats right i remember now. they just replace your entire gadget with a new factory freshed gadget. maybe that $79 will pay you back when you sell your iPhone on eBay and the guy is nitpicking over your tiny scratches


apple says 80 % at 500 charge cycles. is what that their standard warranty covers. its a 4s. i know. i just thought i mentioned it

They no longer swap the phone they replace the battery unless they don't have the part
 

IHelpId10t5

macrumors 6502
Nov 28, 2014
486
348
iPhone 4S is still a great phone - Go for it!

Go for it. iPhone 4S is still a great iPhone model that works great with iOS 8 for anyone that takes the time to simply go through settings and turn off services that you don't need.

My iPhone 4S works faster and has better battery life than several friends with iPhone 5's and 6's -- simply because they never look at settings from day 1 whereas I go through ever single Setting within the first hour of loading a new iOS.
 

illusionx

macrumors 6502
Jul 4, 2014
326
1
Brossard, QC
550 cycles is not a lot. Actually it is fair for a 3 years old phone.

The Li-po battery is meant to be charged all the time. Keeping it at more than 40% at all times keeps it happy.

One thing seems to help is always charge it full before unplugging, but with today's usage, it's not always possible.
This applies to laptops too.
 

IHelpId10t5

macrumors 6502
Nov 28, 2014
486
348
550 cycles is not a lot. Actually it is fair for a 3 years old phone.

The Li-po battery is meant to be charged all the time. Keeping it at more than 40% at all times keeps it happy.

One thing seems to help is always charge it full before unplugging, but with today's usage, it's not always possible.
This applies to laptops too.

I wish I could trust anything that I read online nowadays. Everytime I read an article about modern batteries I realize that I know so little and that the authors of so many of the largest websites know even less! Even when they quote engineers that seem to know their stuff, it commonly contradicts what has been written on the _same websites_ in the past.

Any battery engineers out there care to weigh in?

The last article I read (on a major website for tech advice) seemed to give the general advice that you should charge whenever necessary as long as you don't keep the battery at 100% or 0% for extended periods.

Yet, for years, the same websites commonly reported that you should charge as little as possible by running the battery to near zero and then charging to 100% while avoiding partial charges if al all possible.

Yet another example of the loss of journalistic integrity in today's "media".
 

rigormortis

macrumors 68000
Jun 11, 2009
1,813
229
i brought in my iPhone 5 in 2014 somewhat recently. for a battery change out. i t was under warranty. and the genius there gave me a choice. he told me he could either replace the battery in house or just swap the gadget out entirely. i told them i would rather have a new one, and i had it backed up to iTunes.

he pointed out that my home button was a little off, so we switched it out


as far as letting it go to 0% that was back in the nicad days.

when nimh came out people recommended the same thing to drain it cuz it can develop a memory , but the nimh didn't have memory


you should never let a lithium ion battery go to 0 % because the battery will be damaged and it will never recharge.. lithium ions batteries have chips in them that regulate the charge. and they cut off power to the device when the battery gets low, to prevent this from happening.

when you buy dodgy lithium ion batteries , you never know what you get. and your battery can be fine or it can catch fire and blow up. it all depends on how good that integrated circuit is.
 

iMacBooked

macrumors 6502a
Jul 19, 2013
541
3
4 8 15 16 23 42 ✈
Same problem

I'm having the same problem actually: 986 charge cycles done on my iPhone 4S, and max capacity is only 1197 mAh now, instead of the original 1430 mAh..
Is it worth upgrading? Would it really make a huge difference in battery use?
Oh and if you'd send it to Apple, would they update the 4S to iOS 8 when replacing the battery? Because I like it the way it is now, jailbroken on 7.1.1.. :/
Thanks!
 
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