What? iPhone 3GS Battery Issue???? Yes!!!

[SethRogen]

It's been like this all day. I charged my 3GS last night and it's stuck on 98%. It won't go up it just stays there. I rebooted my phone and left it charged 5 hours and it's still stuck at 98% when I returned. What should I do?

 

[Diode]

It's been like this all day. I charged my 3GS last night and it's stuck on 98%. It won't go up it just stays there. I rebooted my phone and left it charged 5 hours and it's still stuck at 98% when I returned. What should I do?

This is normal. The batteries used in these phones are designed to avoid short discharge/charge cycles in order to prolong the overall life of the battery and therefore will appear "full" around the 96~98 mark.

You can try a full discharge cycle to recalibrate the battery. To do so simply fully charge the battery and then use it until your battery runs out (you get the black screen with the icon to plug the phone in). After that screen pops up wait an additional 1~2 hours for the battery to become fully drained and then simply plug the phone in until it recharges.

 

[javaGuru]

This is normal. The batteries used in these phones are designed to avoid short discharge/charge cycles in order to prolong the overall life of the battery and therefore will appear "full" around the 96~98 mark.

You can try a full discharge cycle to recalibrate the battery. To do so simply fully charge the battery and then use it until your battery runs out (you get the black screen with the icon to plug the phone in). After that screen pops up wait an additional 1~2 hours for the battery to become fully drained and then simply plug the phone in until it recharges.

I do not consider this to be normal at all. I am the owner of the first 2 iPhone models as well as the new 3GS model. The first 2 iPhone models always showed 100% when fully charged but the 3GS is definitely having problems showing 100% when fully charged. When it shows 100% charged it will randomly drop to 98% even while plugged in.

I think this might be a software issue though. I noticed this problem with one of the iPhone OS 3.0 beta releases. However, the problem was resolved in the next beta release. I think this same bug was somehow released in the final GM OS 3.0.

For the record, I have tried your suggestions but they did not work. I restored my iPhone and then power cycled it twice and the battery meter and battery icon are still acting goofy.