Using the camera flash kills my iPhone 5 battery

[L T]

Well this has just happened to me for the 10th or so time and as I had MacRumours open I decided to write this.....

I just picked up my iPhone 5 which had 18% battery showing, I took 2 pictures with the flash on and then the phone died.

This also happened yesterday when the phone was on low battery, double figures but showing red. It isn't too bad when using the flash as a torch but when I take flash pictures it rinses the battery.

This has happened loads of times before, I remember I was on holiday one night and taking a load of pictures with the flash and then phone just died on 27%.

It isn't as if the phone rapidly goes down to 1% and then dies, it just goes to the black screen and makes me plug it in to get it going again.


Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[maflynn]

I think the iPhone warns you about low battery when you get into the 20s so I'm not surprised that if you try using it with the battery level in the teens and it dies.

I've not had any really negative issues with the flash and the battery but I generally try to keep my battery fairly full. I think the warning is valid and using the phone with such a low battery level will be problematic.

 

[scotrinaf]

I found this applicable...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow0lr63y4Mw

 

[solo118]

I can't believe a couple of photos made the phone die!

I know by leaving it on with an app would seriously drain it, but that is crazy. I would get it checked out

PS- Sometimes the battery meter is calibrated incorrectly. A quick reboot shows the actual battery.

 

[darricksailo]

Well this has just happened to me for the 10th or so time and as I had MacRumours open I decided to write this.....

I just picked up my iPhone 5 which had 18% battery showing, I took 2 pictures with the flash on and then the phone died.

This also happened yesterday when the phone was on low battery, double figures but showing red. It isn't too bad when using the flash as a torch but when I take flash pictures it rinses the battery.

This has happened loads of times before, I remember I was on holiday one night and taking a load of pictures with the flash and then phone just died on 27%.

It isn't as if the phone rapidly goes down to 1% and then dies, it just goes to the black screen and makes me plug it in to get it going again.


Has this happened to anyone else?

You might need to recalibrate the battery. Either that or it might defective/bad battery

 

[aztooh]

Using my iPhone 5 period made the battery die.

I was recently having the same issue with the phone dying with 20/30some % life being shown. A few weeks ago, I turned my phone off for a flight while showing 19% life. When I turned it back on it had 20%. I sent a text saying I had landed, then it immediately died and wouldn't turn back on until plugged in.

The kicker was, as soon as it was plugged in and popped on, it would show the 20/30 whatever % that it showed before it died. So why did it die and why wouldn't it turn on?

If I wasn't getting rid of it, I'd take it to Apple to get a replacement.

 

[L T]

I can't believe a couple of photos made the phone die!

I know by leaving it on with an app would seriously drain it, but that is crazy. I would get it checked out

PS- Sometimes the battery meter is calibrated incorrectly. A quick reboot shows the actual battery.

How do I recalibrate it?

 

[zorinlynx]

Battery may be marginal and developing high internal resistance.

When the flash goes off it draws a lot of current, pushing battery voltage below the cutoff. Take it into the Apple Store to get it looked at. This behavior is expected at 1-2%, but not above 10.

 

[zaxdude]

Mine earlier did this for the third time.. I have had plenty of battery life when it occurred (usually 25-30%). I open the camera app to take a picture. If the flash is set to be used, the phone will shut down without any warning after taking the picture. It won't let me turn it back on until I plug it in to charge. I plug it in and the phone will turn on immediately. When iOS7 loads, it indicates I have the same battery percentage as it had when it restarted.

Tonight -- 27%, camera picture with flash caused shut down. Plugged it in and when restarted I had 27%. Very odd. Just glad I'm not the only who has experienced this.

 

[Merkie]

Nearly everything that involves using the phone kills the iPhone 5 battery.