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Semi Scientific Battery Drain Test on Two Identical iPhone 4Ss
- Thread starter 7timethecrystal
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my serial is C35, and i've had significant drain since receiving the phone last friday.
after reading some on this board and others, i followed the suggestions of recalibrating the battery, restoring as new, and a few mods listed here: http://cydiahelp.com/ios-5-battery-drain-problem-heres-some-tips-to-fix-this/
i've now got over 10hrs of standby, 1.5hrs of use, and battery is sitting at 80%. this is MUCH better than what i was getting previously.
after reading some on this board and others, i followed the suggestions of recalibrating the battery, restoring as new, and a few mods listed here: http://cydiahelp.com/ios-5-battery-drain-problem-heres-some-tips-to-fix-this/
i've now got over 10hrs of standby, 1.5hrs of use, and battery is sitting at 80%. this is MUCH better than what i was getting previously.
My old iPhone 4 with iOS5 was getting a full day and possibly overnight the next day on one charge, at least until 12am when I went to bed.
The new iPhone4S with iOS5, same accounts, etc is dropping to 10% by 8pm. I deleted all accounts and reset the network settings, then re-added my two email accounts. One is set to push and one is manual. I was at 100% after unplugging at 7:15am. By 10:30 I was still at 100% which was encouraging. I received a few text messages and checked my email once. After that it dropped to 92% within 30 minutes. Now at 11:46am I am at 85%. This is dropping a lot faster than I remember the iPhone4. I don't have any location reminders current. It seemed to start when I receive some text messages. I vagely remember a problem similar to this when I first beta tested ios5.
The new iPhone4S with iOS5, same accounts, etc is dropping to 10% by 8pm. I deleted all accounts and reset the network settings, then re-added my two email accounts. One is set to push and one is manual. I was at 100% after unplugging at 7:15am. By 10:30 I was still at 100% which was encouraging. I received a few text messages and checked my email once. After that it dropped to 92% within 30 minutes. Now at 11:46am I am at 85%. This is dropping a lot faster than I remember the iPhone4. I don't have any location reminders current. It seemed to start when I receive some text messages. I vagely remember a problem similar to this when I first beta tested ios5.
That's a bandaid fix at best.
My 4S lasts 1/2 as long, at best, than my ip4 did with identical settings.
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After 20 mins on hold I got a scripted response from an AppleCare support tech who had minimal knowledge of any battery issues (of course she might not have been willing to divulge such information).
While on the phone with her -- ~ 10 mins -- my battery dropped 2%. The screen was activated (50% brightness) just to show the serial number that I read off to the tech.
My 4S was getting fast drain the first day. I reset the network settings and also disabled "raise to talk" but not sure if the latter did anything or if it was just the former, but I'm getting good battery life now with 100% after 2 hours of standby.
Mine starts C39. Battery sucks! Dropped 7% while on the phone for 20mins with phone display on. My 4 never had that problem.
I'm hoping this is a software issue.
I know smart phones aren't expected to last all weekend on a charge, but I can't get through a day of college right now.
Here is my day of college:
Take phone off charge at 8:50.
First lesson 9 - 11. (Maybe 3 or 4 texts throughout)
Dinner 11-12:30. Get food and sit around with friends, maybe some RSS checking and 10 minutes of cut the rope.
Second lesson 12:30 - 3. (Again, a couple of cheeky texts under the table.)
45 minute break, again sit with friends, bit of RSS, facebook and twitter and games.
Final lesson, some texts and get home for 7pm.
I used to get home with 60-70%.
Last night with my 4s I got home with 8%.
Same settings and accounts.
Imagine I actually used my phone for calls and emails all day? Forget about it.
I know smart phones aren't expected to last all weekend on a charge, but I can't get through a day of college right now.
Here is my day of college:
Take phone off charge at 8:50.
First lesson 9 - 11. (Maybe 3 or 4 texts throughout)
Dinner 11-12:30. Get food and sit around with friends, maybe some RSS checking and 10 minutes of cut the rope.
Second lesson 12:30 - 3. (Again, a couple of cheeky texts under the table.)
45 minute break, again sit with friends, bit of RSS, facebook and twitter and games.
Final lesson, some texts and get home for 7pm.
I used to get home with 60-70%.
Last night with my 4s I got home with 8%.
Same settings and accounts.
Imagine I actually used my phone for calls and emails all day? Forget about it.
I'm beginning to think, based on the number of people on here and commenting on my Facebook updates, that it just couldn't be some random setting like Notifications or GPS causing this. Too many people are experiencing the same level of battery drain with a myriad of configurations for it to be a random setting. And how many people don't realize it's not normal with their first iPhone?
Is iCloud backup on? I had a similar issue with both my 4 and now 4S. Turning off iCloud fixed it. Later I turned it back on. Been working just fine ever since. No explanation why but it did that with two phones.
If I'm not mistaken, iCloud back-ups only take place when the phone is plugged into a power source and connected to a wi-fi network.
Anyway, the symptoms that the OP has been describing are definitely not normal.
DNT 16GB Black here, at 38% with 2 hrs 37 usage and 1 day 0 hrs standby. Nowhere near my 4, thats with brightness at 30% , no BT, wifi and no location services. I think it might be an iOS5 issue as it's being buggy for me, I'm getting loads of crashes on the 4s and iPad1 including apple apps. My dad's 3GS is else experiencing high drain.
That may be possible as I do not have Facebook, and I have been having a good battery experience. I think its all the new push notifications in iOS5 combined with the A5 and new GPU.
DNP, 64GB White - using the stock install. Battery life is fine. Exchange accounts on 30 minute push, iCloud and Photostream, screen brightness at about 50%, notifications for some apps.
My IP4, restored from a backup to iOS5 was suffering from poorer battery performance - not to the level of terrible as others, but it definitely got worse.
My IP4, restored from a backup to iOS5 was suffering from poorer battery performance - not to the level of terrible as others, but it definitely got worse.
I think, considering these are the first batches of the 4S, we are bound to see some hardware/construction issues that may be affecting battery life. I'm interested to see what the guys at the Genius Bar will say, considering you have what appears to be significant evidence of a consistently bad battery.
My Genius Bar appointment was subpar. I was able to show the excessive standby battery drain.
In the end, it was blamed on the iOS and that I was downloading data? I said what data, the email accounts are gone. If its the iOS, why are my other devices behaving normally? He said "it must be random". Didn't care for the line of reasoning, but he had no other ideas. Said I was the first to come in with that problem.
They had no replacement phones or batteries. Options were order with no obligation to accept and wait it out or nothing. So, the new phone was ordered. Manager ended up comingover because he could tell I wasnt happy; gave me his business card and said he'd be in touch. I'm testing a few more things to see if I can see some improvement. On my nightstand with 97%; see where I sit in the morning.
Any other folks with any luck?
In the end, it was blamed on the iOS and that I was downloading data? I said what data, the email accounts are gone. If its the iOS, why are my other devices behaving normally? He said "it must be random". Didn't care for the line of reasoning, but he had no other ideas. Said I was the first to come in with that problem.
They had no replacement phones or batteries. Options were order with no obligation to accept and wait it out or nothing. So, the new phone was ordered. Manager ended up comingover because he could tell I wasnt happy; gave me his business card and said he'd be in touch. I'm testing a few more things to see if I can see some improvement. On my nightstand with 97%; see where I sit in the morning.
Any other folks with any luck?
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)
Do you notice any temperature differences between your wife's phone & yours? I have crappy batt life compared to my iP4. What I've noticed, is my is really warm most of the time. Serial # is C39
Do you notice any temperature differences between your wife's phone & yours? I have crappy batt life compared to my iP4. What I've noticed, is my is really warm most of the time. Serial # is C39
I had lock screen email notifications with sound on and it was chewing up my battery like mad.
Once I turned them off, battery life got quite a bit better.
I think I used something like 45% battery from 9am to 8pm today.
Though my phone sits on WiFi most of the time and only gets looked at a few times a day to check new email.
i do have both my corporate and Google Apps email setup via Exchange.
I am pretty sure it has to wake up everything but the screen each time it receives an email which explains why it drains that quickly.
Once I turned them off, battery life got quite a bit better.
I think I used something like 45% battery from 9am to 8pm today.
Though my phone sits on WiFi most of the time and only gets looked at a few times a day to check new email.
i do have both my corporate and Google Apps email setup via Exchange.
I am pretty sure it has to wake up everything but the screen each time it receives an email which explains why it drains that quickly.
Is iCloud backup on? I had a similar issue with both my 4 and now 4S. Turning off iCloud fixed it. Later I turned it back on. Been working just fine ever since. No explanation why but it did that with two phones.
iCloud has no effect on battery life so why would that change things?
On standby, all night. Not polling any data. All battery draining things off (Location Services, Bluetooth, Reminder Center, etc.). Sitting on Wi-Fi.
12am: 95%.
8am: 45%.
So, this morning I tested the Wi-Fi radio. Turned it off. Still losing 5-6%/hr on Standby, nothing coming in and no e-mail accounts.
I tend to agree with the Genius Bar that it isn't a defective battery. I don't really see a drop in Airplane Mode. I do agree it's possible it's iOS 5, but why on earth did only one of the five iOS devices get this? And how in the world do you stop it?
I await my new device and I won't take ownership of it until I can be shown it won't drop 6-7%/hr on standby mode.
12am: 95%.
8am: 45%.
So, this morning I tested the Wi-Fi radio. Turned it off. Still losing 5-6%/hr on Standby, nothing coming in and no e-mail accounts.
I tend to agree with the Genius Bar that it isn't a defective battery. I don't really see a drop in Airplane Mode. I do agree it's possible it's iOS 5, but why on earth did only one of the five iOS devices get this? And how in the world do you stop it?
I await my new device and I won't take ownership of it until I can be shown it won't drop 6-7%/hr on standby mode.
actually... think about it.. if docuemnt data is enabled its saving stuff to icloud everytime you exit an app...this can consume battery if you are using 3g.
Anyway i've completely disabled icloud and my battery has improved.. 100% standby overnight from 11PM to 6AM... after a 30 min gaming session and browsing on 3g for another 30 min, and afterwards some sporadic usage here nad there i'm sitting at 75% battery with 1hour 52 minute usage and 11 hours 40 min standby..
It definitely seems very random.
Last night I was using the phone to read these forums. I think I made one post. Wasn't on wifi but had the screen brightness jacked to 100% w/ auto turned off (I was trying to cycle the battery). At some point I got the 10% warning and I believe it was at 9% by the time I went to sleep.
About 5 hours of standby later, it had only dropped 4%, but while I was using the phone last night I was watching the percentage points drop every other minute.
Also last night, to my wife's dismay, I did a DFU reinstall on her phone. Her 64GB AT&T phone is bone stock with only two apps installed (FB and 1Password). All settings completely and utterly stock/default, with the exception of Wifi turned on and connected to an access point. No email accounts or anything set up -- bone stock. (This, for the record, should be our baseline configuration for all tests. There's far far far too many variables at play here to draw sensible conclusions otherwise.)
Well, needless to say, her phone has dropped 8% in a tad under 4 hours standby (only 4 mins of usage on it), or about 2% per hour. This is considerably worse -- 4x worse -- than the 1% every two hours Apple advertises.
We're not going to exchange hardware just yet.
Last night I was using the phone to read these forums. I think I made one post. Wasn't on wifi but had the screen brightness jacked to 100% w/ auto turned off (I was trying to cycle the battery). At some point I got the 10% warning and I believe it was at 9% by the time I went to sleep.
About 5 hours of standby later, it had only dropped 4%, but while I was using the phone last night I was watching the percentage points drop every other minute.
Also last night, to my wife's dismay, I did a DFU reinstall on her phone. Her 64GB AT&T phone is bone stock with only two apps installed (FB and 1Password). All settings completely and utterly stock/default, with the exception of Wifi turned on and connected to an access point. No email accounts or anything set up -- bone stock. (This, for the record, should be our baseline configuration for all tests. There's far far far too many variables at play here to draw sensible conclusions otherwise.)
Well, needless to say, her phone has dropped 8% in a tad under 4 hours standby (only 4 mins of usage on it), or about 2% per hour. This is considerably worse -- 4x worse -- than the 1% every two hours Apple advertises.
We're not going to exchange hardware just yet.
There is definately something wrong. Last night I unplugged my phone just to see and I had 10 hours of standby and 1 hour of usage and only lost 4% when I woke up. Something is up with your phone.
Download AppSwitch from the app store, as well as A+ Monitor. A+ will tell you if your processor is running more than idle (with no background tasks, you should be at about 80%+ idle on the processor.)
AppSwitch will show you what apps are actually multitasking. If A+ shows high CPU usage, AppSwitch should be able to help you narrow down the rogue app. Kill apps until you find the culprit.
AppSwitch will show you what apps are actually multitasking. If A+ shows high CPU usage, AppSwitch should be able to help you narrow down the rogue app. Kill apps until you find the culprit.
so far since a full charge I'm at 61% battery
3 hours 20 minutes usage
7 hours 22 minutes standby
On Verizon 3G only, have not connected to any wifi networks
3 hours 20 minutes usage
7 hours 22 minutes standby
On Verizon 3G only, have not connected to any wifi networks