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Theory regarding iPhone 6 Battery Life

Trey M

Trey M

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 25, 2011
971
370
USA
So, I own an iPhone 6 64GB (not a plus), and recently I've been noticing some really poor battery life. As in, worse than what I got with my iPhone 5 a lot of times.

I think a lot of this can be attributed to what it is that I'm doing, and since I've been using Google Maps a lot lately I believe this has been the detriment to my battery life. However, I noticed something the last couple of days that I think may prove true regarding battery life on iPhone 6's.

When I use my 5W adapter to charge up the phone (aka the one included), it seems like my battery lasts significantly longer than when I use my iPad 12W adapter. I have not scientifically tested this with times and such, but I'm noticing significantly longer times between charges when I use my 5W adapter to charge my phone overnight vs. the 12W adapter.

Obviously this is just one case with just one phone, but I'd like to see if anyone else has noticed this same thing or if people would begin testing it as I have. Anyone?
 
Well, I always charge my iPhones with either the 10watt/12watt adapters I have for my iPad, or more recently with an Anker 40W multi-port charger that will rapid charge the iPhone 6 Plus and my iPad Air 2 at the same time.

The 5w mini chargers that Apple includes with iPhones, usually end up staying in the box, and I never use them.

Even so...

6JXkggN.png
 
Are you unplugging right after the phone hits 100%?

The battery isn't really at 100% when it says "100%". At that point it's still getting a "topping charge" which gives you another good 10-15% of additional life on top of it. That's why when you charge overnight, the battery meter stays at 100% for so long before it hits 99% during usage.

That topping charge can take another full 30 minutes, since the battery charges very slowly at that point. If you typically pull the phone off the iPad charger as soon as it gets to 100% (maybe you're using it to charge faster because you're in a hurry) this may be the cause of the apparent reduced battery life.
 
Check your signal.

Low signal makes battery life go sour really easily.
 
Trey M said:
When I use my 5W adapter to charge up the phone (aka the one included), it seems like my battery lasts significantly longer than when I use my iPad 12W adapter.
Click to expand...

I have not done any scientific comparisons - it's pretty hard unless you can set aside the phone for what would be essentially lab-type use only - but my impression is the same. BTW, I had the same feeling with my 5S.

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zorinlynx said:
Are you unplugging right after the phone hits 100%?
Click to expand...

Excellent question for the reasons you stated; speaking for myself, no in both cases (5W and 12W).
 
Sheza said:
Check your signal.

Low signal makes battery life go sour really easily.
Click to expand...

Scaredpoet has a low signal in his 16hr usage screendump. It really isn't the huge battery drain that people make out. Sure a poor signal causes battery drain, but it isn't severe and it doesn't scythe several hours off someone's usage time.
 
zorinlynx said:
Are you unplugging right after the phone hits 100%?

The battery isn't really at 100% when it says "100%". At that point it's still getting a "topping charge" which gives you another good 10-15% of additional life on top of it. That's why when you charge overnight, the battery meter stays at 100% for so long before it hits 99% during usage.

That topping charge can take another full 30 minutes, since the battery charges very slowly at that point. If you typically pull the phone off the iPad charger as soon as it gets to 100% (maybe you're using it to charge faster because you're in a hurry) this may be the cause of the apparent reduced battery life.
Click to expand...

While I have certainly heard this theory before, I have never read any material on the theory and, while it probably is true to some degree, I highly doubt there is an extra 10-15% being added. That is a lot of extra capacity. I would imagine it's more in the 3-4% range if it is true.

I always charge my phone overnight and am usually unsuccessful getting it to last all day, so as far as my initial charge goes, I don't think this scenario applies to my theory posted.

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Newtons Apple said:
I would bet the size of the charger has nothing to do with how long your battery is lasting.
Click to expand...

Maybe you can try this for yourself and see what results you get? (assuming you own both 12W and 5W adapters)

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scaredpoet said:
Well, I always charge my iPhones with either the 10watt/12watt adapters I have for my iPad, or more recently with an Anker 40W multi-port charger that will rapid charge the iPhone 6 Plus and my iPad Air 2 at the same time.

The 5w mini chargers that Apple includes with iPhones, usually end up staying in the box, and I never use them.

Even so...

Image
Click to expand...

You do have a 6+ though, which has significantly more battery capacity than the 6 I'm referring to. While, if my theory were to be true, it would still affect a 6+, I don't know that the comparison between the 2 makes a whole lot of sense. I am considering a 6+ when the S refresh occurs solely because of the battery life, however. I know there are battery cases out there to help with this but I'm not a fan personally.
 
sunking101 said:
Scaredpoet has a low signal in his 16hr usage screendump. It really isn't the huge battery drain that people make out. Sure a poor signal causes battery drain, but it isn't severe and it doesn't scythe several hours off someone's usage time.
Click to expand...

Two things:

1. Two "bars," while low, doesn't cause problems in terms of battery life. It's the absolute fringe signals, barely hanging on to 1 bar, that battery life starts to go south. It's not the low signal itself that causes the issue, but rather the need to constantly transmit and retransmit because there are too many errors in the data coming across.

So, a weak, but stable, signal isn't so bad.

2. In my experience, the bigger battery drain happens when you have no LTE signal, but LTE is enabled. Even if the phone is connected to a good HSPA/"4G" signal, it'll keep trying to find an LTE signal now and then, and that search wastes energy.

So, if you have good LTE coverage, even if it's a consistent 2 bars, leave LTE enabled and you should be fine. But if you find that you're constantly hopping between LTE and 3G/4G, or you never see LTE at all, you'll probably get better battery life by turning off LTE until the coverage improves.
 
Last edited:
scaredpoet said:
Two things:

1. Two "bars," while low, doesn't cause problems in terms of battery life. It's the absolute fringe signals, barely hanging on to 1 bar, that battery life starts to go south. It's not the low signal itself that causes the issue, but rather the need to constantly transmit and retransmit because there are too many errors in the data coming across.

So, a weak, but stable, signal isn't so bad.

2. In my experience, the bigger battery drain happens when you have no LTE signal, but LTE is enabled. Even if the phone is connected to a good HSPA/"4G" signal, it'll keep trying to find an LTE signal now and then, and that search wastes energy.

So, if you have good LTE coverage, even if it's a consistent 2 bars, leave LTE enabled and you should be fine. But if you find that you're constantly hopping between LTE and 3G/4G, or you never see LTE at all, you'll probably get better battery life by turning off LTE until the coverage improves.
Click to expand...

Based on my experience as well, I completely agree with all of the above you wrote.
 
I think with any battery related topic you need to address software settings just as much as what techniques you're employing for charging. I've given people hours extra of battery life by showing them how to turn off notifications properly for all apps you don't need notifications for.
 
In theory you should be able to use any charger since the device shouldn't/won't draw any more power than it can safely take, so it shouldn't make a difference what charger you use, and it should charge at the same speed regardless.

That said, I stick with the chargers Apple gives me for each device. My battery life is killer on my 6.
 
puma1552 said:
In theory you should be able to use any charger since the device shouldn't/won't draw any more power than it can safely take, so it shouldn't make a difference what charger you use, and it should charge at the same speed regardless.
Click to expand...

That's actually a false statement.

https://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/22/iphone-6-and-6-plus-charging/

The link above discusses that the 6 and 6+ are the first iPhone's capable of taking advantage of the faster charging capacity the 10W/12W adapters provide.

I never said it would be unsafe to charge using a 12W adapter, my theory simply questions the quality of charge that the 12W adapter provides vs. a 5W adapter.
 
Trey M said:
That's actually a false statement.

https://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/22/iphone-6-and-6-plus-charging/

The link above discusses that the 6 and 6+ are the first iPhone's capable of taking advantage of the faster charging capacity the 10W/12W adapters provide.

I never said it would be unsafe to charge using a 12W adapter, my theory simply questions the quality of charge that the 12W adapter provides vs. a 5W adapter.
Click to expand...

Well if the 6/6+ can draw more than 5W, it doesn't seem to be working out too well, so it doesn't really matter. Charge faster, drain faster, it's all the same in the end then.

I'd stick with the 5W since that's what Apple ships it with and they've surely done that for a reason, and I'd wager cost isn't the sole reason; if they wanted to show off the fast charge time with the 12W, they would've shipped the phones with that.
 
Kilamite said:
Do you use Snapchat?
Click to expand...

Yes, and I can see where this conversation is going....something to consider. Snapchat is just so ubiquitous among my age group. Lol

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puma1552 said:
Well if the 6/6+ can draw more than 5W, it doesn't seem to be working out too well, so it doesn't really matter. Charge faster, drain faster, it's all the same in the end then.

I'd stick with the 5W since that's what Apple ships it with and they've surely done that for a reason, and I'd wager cost isn't the sole reason; if they wanted to show off the fast charge time with the 12W, they would've shipped the phones with that.
Click to expand...


Okay...I'm not sure what you're bringing to the convo. First you post a reply with false information, then your response is to tell me what charger I should use.

My post solely discusses a theory I have using a 12W adapter, which is very relevant because there are many people that use their iPad chargers to charge their iPhones everyday. No point in posting just to post...
 
Trey M said:
Yes, and I can see where this conversation is going....something to consider. Snapchat is just so ubiquitous among my age group. Lol
Click to expand...

That's your main battery killer there. The trouble with it is each time you open it, your camera gets powered up. It's an incredibly battery consuming app. If you can go a day without using it, you'll see a big improvement in battery.

Perhaps one day they'll release an update so you can make your snap history the initial view, meaning your camera doesn't get powered up unless you're actually going to take a snap.
 
Trey M said:
Okay...I'm not sure what you're bringing to the convo. First you post a reply with false information, then your response is to tell me what charger I should use.

My post solely discusses a theory I have using a 12W adapter, which is very relevant because there are many people that use their iPad chargers to charge their iPhones everyday. No point in posting just to post...
Click to expand...

Then I guess I'm not sure what the point of this thread is. So the 12W charger results in crappier battery life...ok then? It's not too far fetched to make the link between that statement and my statement that you should probably not bother to use the 12W charger then.

Not sure why connecting those dots was so difficult.

Sorry for trying to contribute. Also sorry I don't spend every minute catching every macrumors story to find out that the iPhone 6/6+ are the first iPhones in the past 8 years of iPhone production that can draw more than 5W. Who would've guessed?
 
sunking101 said:
Scaredpoet has a low signal in his 16hr usage screendump. It really isn't the huge battery drain that people make out. Sure a poor signal causes battery drain, but it isn't severe and it doesn't scythe several hours off someone's usage time.
Click to expand...

The reason his low signal isn't affecting his battery is because he's also on wifi. When you're on wifi, the phone will settle for the strongest signal to make calls and texts with, and leave data to the wifi antenna. Off wifi, its constantly trying to grab the strongest signal possible so you can use calls, texts, AND data facilities, which royally ruins your battery reserves if the best kind of signal available (i.e. 3g or 4G) is very weak.
 
zorinlynx said:
Are you unplugging right after the phone hits 100%?

The battery isn't really at 100% when it says "100%". At that point it's still getting a "topping charge" which gives you another good 10-15% of additional life on top of it. That's why when you charge overnight, the battery meter stays at 100% for so long before it hits 99% during usage.

That topping charge can take another full 30 minutes, since the battery charges very slowly at that point. If you typically pull the phone off the iPad charger as soon as it gets to 100% (maybe you're using it to charge faster because you're in a hurry) this may be the cause of the apparent reduced battery life.
Click to expand...

You're saying that 100% is actually 85%. This is incorrect.

What you maybe thinking of is the trickle charge that happens for the last bit to protect the battery.

Except for the battery meter going out of sync, the phone otherwise displays the remaining charge correctly.
 
The battery percentage indicator isn't exact. It's an approximation. And the 12w charger is supported for every single iPhone

----------
Jimmy James said:
You're saying that 100% is actually 85%. This is incorrect.

What you maybe thinking of is the trickle charge that happens for the last bit to protect the battery.

Except for the battery meter going out of sync, the phone otherwise displays the remaining charge correctly.
Click to expand...

What he is saying is mostly true. Go try it. As soon as your phone says it's 100 unplug it. Use it then charge it again and let it trickle charge for half an hour. You'll notice longer battery life. The % is just am approximate
 
scaredpoet said:
Two things:

1. Two "bars," while low, doesn't cause problems in terms of battery life. It's the absolute fringe signals, barely hanging on to 1 bar, that battery life starts to go south. It's not the low signal itself that causes the issue, but rather the need to constantly transmit and retransmit because there are too many errors in the data coming across.

So, a weak, but stable, signal isn't so bad.

2. In my experience, the bigger battery drain happens when you have no LTE signal, but LTE is enabled. Even if the phone is connected to a good HSPA/"4G" signal, it'll keep trying to find an LTE signal now and then, and that search wastes energy.

So, if you have good LTE coverage, even if it's a consistent 2 bars, leave LTE enabled and you should be fine. But if you find that you're constantly hopping between LTE and 3G/4G, or you never see LTE at all, you'll probably get better battery life by turning off LTE until the coverage improves.
Click to expand...

Thank you! Nobody seems to understand this. I have had battery life issues with my iPhone 6 since I first got it. Things have improved from software updates because I had the horrible issue with the "stacks+Backboardd" crash log being spammed 50-60 times over the course of a few days. Back then I got just over 4 hours on a charge, now it's more like 6 and a half. Still isn't favorable at all, but it's the most I can pull off so far.

Anyway, now onto the cell signal talk which is what I originially wanted to start with. I have been posting around these forums looking for reasons as to why my battery is kinda bad, posting screenshots of the usage section, etc, and people always take notice of the 1-2 dots of cell service (with wifi!). From there people automatically go: "You just have to deal with it, your issue relates to having bad service", and I can't help but think otherwise. "Low Signal" hardly ever shows under items in the usage list, and I pull 20 Mbps down with the 2 bars of LTE I get, I get no call drops, things are A-Ok. I explain this repeatedly and people still default to "You just have bad service". Very frustrating, especially when I get 5-6 hours and most other people get 8 to 10. Also, my iPad manages the 8 to 10 hour cycles as well. Because of this, I feel like I have to be careful about what I do on my phone or else the battery will drop like a stone, whereas on my iPad I can just enjoy it and still manage 8-10 hours.

Also I want to add that I am a snapchat user, but I rarely actually send snaps. I usually just check people's stories 4-5 times a day and be done with it. Snapchat usually sits at 1-5% on the usage list. Safari is almost always at the top at close to 25%, followed by "Home and Lock Screen" taking up 15%. From there usually Messages, Music (Audio), Trivia Crack, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Clash of Clans, and Hay Day switch around, depending on the day. Typically all are 10% and below, distributed evenly, if you will.
 
XTheLancerX said:
Safari is almost always at the top at close to 25%,
Click to expand...


You know... I hate to put blame on anything specific, but I think now's as good a time as any to point out that I've noticed that this very site (Macrumors) can be very energy inefficient at times. On my Macs the safari tab with MR almost always ends up on the "apps using significant energy" list, and my iPad tends to get a little warm when browsing here. I don't know if it's some of the ads or something else on the site, but I've got little doubt there's something here that sucks up a lot of juice.

Anyway, in your case, there's definitely some web content that you're frequenting that is hogging battery.
 
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