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mlazzara

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 17, 2008
1
0
I have been an I phone user since day one. I love the new phone and all of the new features. I am very displeased with the battery life. My old I phone would last 3 times as long with high use. If I have to turn off wifi, bluetooth,3g, and not use programs then why purchase the new phone. I have been a long time apple user but this is unacceptable. The battery life does not even make it through an 8 hour day. Is anyone else having this experience.
 
well mine lasts me all day even in to the next but i do charge it at night.... it should last longer then 8 hours forsure! i listen to mine all day at work. and play around with it. so thats about 9 hours of none stop using it with out charging. and i still have more then half battery power by the time i go home at 5pm.
 
Not Good

It is a serious problem - I'm having to charge the phone twice a day on top of my overnight charge. Very frustrating as it defeats the purpose of getting the phone to help alleviate being tied to the office and my computer.
 
This is nothing new and was explained in many threads before they even released the 3G. You add more functions and operations...then you are going to use more energy from a "smaller" device.

You want more life then you turn off more functions. My Classic still lasts at least 48 hours and I leave bluetooth and wifi on...the rest is all set to manual.

With all then new functions and apps you are also using it more then you did before and that is going to drain your battery. I use mine more then I do my computer now and charge every night just to be sure.

You all wanted more stuff and something has to give. You want small...you got it. You wanted 3G...you got it. You wanted GPS...you got it. They ALL take POWER and something has to give and here its going to be battery power.

Sorry for your loss but mine works just great without all that 3G, GPS, Light Leaks, Dust under Screen, Cracks in Case and lord knows what else. I have a few apps crash and slow backups, but that is about it.

So enjoy the functions you purchased for and live with the battery life that ALL 3G phones are known for.

Sorry ;)
 
I dont really know why people complain so much... I mean if you are outside in a movie or at work, why would you want your wifi to be on?? its really simple to turn on and off and you can do so when you want to browse the web, then turn it off (obviously). Wifi is constantly searching for a network hence using up your battery.

Same with 3G. If you want to use 3g on the go to look up youtube or mail then turn it on, otherwise when you're done turn it off. The phone is sitting in your pocket doing nothing for hours but you still "NEED" 3g and WiFi?? it takes 2 seconds to turn on and off.

Finally the same goes for location services. If you want the iphone to find you location, turn maps on, then when you don't need them anymore turn them off. Why would you want the phone to track you with a gps all that time when it's just sitting in your pocket playing the ipod or doing nothing??

This is how i use my phone and i get over 12 hours of usage with the ipod playing non stop all day even when im not using it. It also gets over 2 days standby time so... know how to use the device dont just leave everything on if you arent using it.
 
iPhone 3G newbie

SFC Archer and sonex...AMEN to that!! iPhone newbies like myself just need to educate themselves. There's always going to be complaints, but the iPhone 3G does SO much, it's forgivable the battery life doesn't last forever. This is why you got MANUAL shutoffs like 3G, Location Services, Wi-fi, Fetch New Data, light brightness...etc. EDUCATION and MANAGEABILITY will keep you a happy iPhone 3G owner like myself :D
 
I have been an I phone user since day one. I love the new phone and all of the new features. I am very displeased with the battery life. My old I phone would last 3 times as long with high use. If I have to turn off wifi, bluetooth,3g, and not use programs then why purchase the new phone. I have been a long time apple user but this is unacceptable. The battery life does not even make it through an 8 hour day. Is anyone else having this experience.

Being a new user, I had similar frustrations, and was starting to think I might have gotten a faulty battery or something.

As it turn out, many of these services are turned on when you purchase the phone. With all the mentioned services running (including the blue tooth which I only use some of the time) I was only limping through the day without using any 3rd party apps, yet still having no reserve by bedtime.

Selective use of wifi, bluetooth, mapping, and 3G seems to make all the difference and is now allowing me to actually use the phone's many apps and features without the fear of "running dry" before the day's end...

Thanks for the tips. I know it might seem both redundant and elementary,
but I was "falsely assuming that the phone would not need such tuning to make it through the day. Doesn't "downplay" the design in my mind...
This is a limitation that Apple has really been "up front" on.

Melsailsnorth
 
1st Gen versus 3G - 1st Gen wins!

I have both a 1st Gen 4GB iPhone and a 16GB 3G iPhone. I configured them as identically as possible including all push e-mail, network settings, etc. The only difference is my 1st Gen (personal phone) has bluetooth enabled and the 3G (work phone) does not. In my office, I can stand up and see the AT&T cell tower. It is perhaps 1/2 mile away. (Unfortunately, the 3G iPhone shows only 1 bar when I am in the office, so I keep 3G turned off.) With both phones using edge only, the 3G iPhone starts the morning at 100% and is down to 20% by noon. That is with NO usage ... no calls, no e-mail reading, no web surfing, etc. It just sits in the hip holster. The 1st Gen iPhone has been used for phone calls, e-mail reading, web surfing, etc. and is at 80-90% still.

Yesterday, I went out at lunch and purchased a home/auto charge kit so that I can keep the 3G iPhone from dying before I get home from work. My wife asked me if I was going to upgrade my personal iPhone to the new 3G iPhone at some point. My answer right now is NO.
 
You can increase your battery life to 8 hours or so by turning off all the features that make the iPhone 3G attractive. I turned off 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, location services, and push (using fetch at 15 min. intervals instead), and now I get about 8 hours on my phone, compared to 3 or 4 previously.
 
Chances are that you can do without 3G and location services on. Those two will draw more battery power than anything. Just turn them on when you may need them.

Push email also draws allot of power. Switch it to fetch every 30 minutes or so.

I had about 6 hours usage and 3 days 12 hours stanby on my 3G phone by doing all of the above. I plugged it in just a few hours ago to charge it and sync some new music onto it.

My second iPhones stats showed 4 hours usage, 2 days 20 hours standby. It was less because I forgot that 3G and location services was on a few hours.
 
I have both a 1st Gen 4GB iPhone and a 16GB 3G iPhone. I configured them as identically as possible including all push e-mail, network settings, etc. The only difference is my 1st Gen (personal phone) has bluetooth enabled and the 3G (work phone) does not. In my office, I can stand up and see the AT&T cell tower. It is perhaps 1/2 mile away. (Unfortunately, the 3G iPhone shows only 1 bar when I am in the office, so I keep 3G turned off.) With both phones using edge only, the 3G iPhone starts the morning at 100% and is down to 20% by noon. That is with NO usage ... no calls, no e-mail reading, no web surfing, etc. It just sits in the hip holster. The 1st Gen iPhone has been used for phone calls, e-mail reading, web surfing, etc. and is at 80-90% still.

Yesterday, I went out at lunch and purchased a home/auto charge kit so that I can keep the 3G iPhone from dying before I get home from work. My wife asked me if I was going to upgrade my personal iPhone to the new 3G iPhone at some point. My answer right now is NO.

While I agree that the 3G isn't as good with battery, this doesn't make sense. I've been using my phone in EDGE-only mode, with WiFi, BT, and Location Services turned off, but using it for hours straight to listen to music. It also has email set to Fetch every 30 minutes. I can easily get this kind of use from 9am to 6:30pm and still be around 50% (including fairly frequent browsing over EDGE and some eBook reading).
 
3G iPhone batterylife tips

Since so many iPhone 3G users are complaining to the non-lasting battery life, i think here are some tips to get it "lasting". Well, just like someone has said, you've got to give something in exchange for another. But i think by turining off the Wifi, EDGE, 3G will allow the iPhone to last fo about 2.5-3 days, with about 1-1.5 hours of wifi usage per day. Moreover, i found out that turning on the 3G will cause the signal streangth to weaken, thus, shortening the battery life and usage. Therefore, i would recommend when not downloading files, just turn off the 3G will make the battery longer lasting.:)
 
While I agree that the 3G isn't as good with battery, this doesn't make sense. I've been using my phone in EDGE-only mode, with WiFi, BT, and Location Services turned off, but using it for hours straight to listen to music. It also has email set to Fetch every 30 minutes. I can easily get this kind of use from 9am to 6:30pm and still be around 50% (including fairly frequent browsing over EDGE and some eBook reading).

I am not happy about it. Since the 3G iPhone is used for app development, it typically gets left connected to either the MBP or a power adapter for long periods (days/weeks) at a time. Is is possible that this is killing the battery? I had always assumed that leaving 3G off would provide at least the same battery experience that I was getting from a 1 year old 1st Gen iPhone.

Does anyone know of a way to get the battery condition type information that I get for my MBP using iStat Pro from the iPhone?
 
Important discovery!!!

I have figured out why my 3G iPhone battery was dying so quickly.

I recently loaded Fat-Free Video Poker from Fat Free Games from the App store. This is the free version supported by ads. I have found that if I leave this application running in the foreground when I power off the phone, the battery will discharge rapidly (100% to 20% in 2-3 hours). If I return to the home screen before powering off, I can go a whole day and end with ~90% battery with 3G off and minimal usage of the phone. Otherwise, if the app runs in foreground when powered off, the battery is effectively dead by noon.

It appears that this application (and there may be others) is not "sleeping" when the phone power button is pushed or the phone times out and shuts the screen off.

I will send a note the the fat-free guys to point this out.
 
I have figured out why my 3G iPhone battery was dying so quickly.

the battery will discharge rapidly (100% to 20% in 2-3 hours). If I return to the home screen before powering off, I can go a whole day and end with ~90% battery with 3G off and minimal usage of the phone. Otherwise, if the app runs in foreground when powered off, the battery is effectively dead by noon.

It appears that this application (and there may be others) is not "sleeping" when the phone power button is pushed or the phone times out and shuts the screen off.

Yes, i have this problem sometimes too when i exit from Cydia. Then i have a circle or "loading" icon on top of my screen and the battery will just drop to 20% in a few hours. So far, my only way to solve the problem is to reboot the iPhone. Any other way to prevent this problem?
By the way, i know thi is out of point, but i still wish to post. My iPhone mave been reacting strangely recently after i've drop it like, one metre from the ground. The screen will have some "lines" and sometimes there will be nothing visible when i start an application, even though it the application will still work. When texting, i might exprience some lag. Any ideas how to solve this problems? I really appreciate any advise. Thanks!
 
Battery Life

I usually get through the day with the 3G iphone with wifi and bluetooth turned on, however today I looked at my phone and the battery was red! I fully charged it all night, and right now it says its dead! When I looked under usage since last charge, the usage and stanby part both say 5 hours, 56 minutes, I dont know what was being used and killing my battery so fast. Any ideas?
 
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