Maybe for some, but not for me. I buy all my tech products from the high end category, like my Mac Book Pro and my iPhone 13 Pro, and I still consider them to have bad batteries considering I upgrade infrequently and am a hardcore Tech user. I use them every day. Yes, some people can get great battery life out of their high end smartphones if they are a light user but some light users do not necessarily want the high end smartphones. Battery needs to be good regardless of who's using the phone or what the phone is aimed for. I feel like Apple has cheaper end phones with terrible battery (3 hours) and then their pro phones which can sometimes get you from 3-10+ hours depending on what stuff you do on your phone.
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Other i'm leaving the iPhone
- Thread starter firelighter487
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I don't know why Apple neglects to add battery features on the software side. They don't have a charge limiter, and they could certainly add this issues found save power feature and suggestions based on how the user uses the phone. Also not sure why macOS has words for battery health when the iPhones have percentages. Both the Mac and iPhones should have percentages, cycles and the word like normal, change battery soon.so i daily'd an iPhone SE second gen for the last 2 and half or so years, and i'm leaving the iPhone now.
the reason is battery life. it was ok when my SE was new, but now it's at the point where it's basically empty around dinner time, which is not fun. i'm not a heavy phone user either. i don't play games or watch movies on them, i use my computer for all of that. my phone is used for music while i'm cycling (an hour or so a day), texting and a bit of scrolling twitter when i'm outside smoking. totalling 2 hours ish of screen on time a day and an hour of screen off playing music a day.
the phone i'm switching to is an old one i bought from a friend of mine. it's a midrange phone from 3 years ago, an Oppo A72. the reason for the switch is this:
now, i haven't charged it since i got it from him. i did an OS update as it had been collecting dust for a year since he bought an iPhone 11, i installed all my apps, synced all my stuff and then used it like i normally do. all without charging it at all. and i got more than 2 days.
mind you, this phone is old. it's not brand new by any means.
this brings me onto my rant about the iPhone. why can't Apple put a decent battery in the lower end models? this Oppo was a midrange phone around the same time my SE 2 was new, and look at the difference. it doesn't take much browsing around either to find that most low end android phones that cost less than the cheapest iphone have WAY bigger batteries. why can't Apple do that?
i know if you buy a high end iPhone, you won't have problems. but why must apple be so mean to the lower end phone market? why not put a decent battery in those? i simply don't understand it.
I don’t think you can expect amazing battery life regardless of usage. Heavy usage obliterates battery life. It’s what the current battery technology allows. Full brightness, heavy cellular data usage will not produce good battery life results, regardless of the phone used. I think iPhones since the Plus models have very good battery life (on their original iOS versions). Or I’ll rephrase: since the plus model’s advent, you can buy iPhones with great battery life (for any user but the most demanding).
The vast majority of iPhones released since the 11 (and the Xʀ) have great battery life. Barring the SE and the two Mini models. Definitely enough for a full day for almost everyone. Do you remember the iPhone 5s? It wasn’t good, even on iOS 7 or 8. We’ve come a long way since.
I don’t understand the obsession with tiny iPhones. Must be small hand issue. My 14 pro max with go nearly two days without needing a charge, depending on use. Ditch the SE, get a better iPhone. I don’t think Samsung has a small phone like the se.
Phone manufacturers differentiate their product lineups in many ways. If you feel the need for a large phone for whatever reason, then get one. Others who want smaller phones can buy what they want.
What you may see as an "obsession" is just people buying what they want, and it's different from what you want. That's all the understanding needed.
Some 6s users have reported that they’ve replaced several batteries. Even if they were 5 or 6, I think that’s still a lot for a phone that’s only 7 years old.
It makes sense. People have reported very paltry battery life as soon as battery health decreases a little if the device is updated. Many have said that it’s around 85%. How long can a heavy user take to degrade a battery to 85% on a 6s on iOS 15? Not long...
Whole family of iPhone users since the first one here, none of us have experienced anything like that.. Maybe those unlucky people live in a hot climate? But anyway. By all means, if those are your experiences they should change phone.
Funnily enough, those reports of a stark difference after battery replacements only occur on older iPhones with smaller batteries that have been severely updated. The 1st-gen SE, the 6s, the 7.
Newer iPhone users like the Xʀ and the 11 don’t report such a stark difference, even if on iOS 16. In fact, many report that battery life isn’t even all too different (and way behind that of iOS 12).
I live in a hot climate and have literally nothing bad to report.
11 Pro Max, good battery life. iOS 16.4.1 (a). Battery is 99% (note, this phone was a replacement in May 2022).
6s+, good battery life. iOS 16.7. Battery is 98%. This is the second battery for this iPhone, changed in November 2021. The first battery took six years to degrade.
And a note about the 6s+. It survived two summers of Phoenix, Arizona heat during August. In a car with no A/C and windows that could not be rolled down during an hour drive at midday five days a week. There were literally days where it was so hot inside the car the phone had to shut itself off.
Both my kids have the SE2 and neither have reported battery problems.
This is just my experience.
This is literally what they have been doing. For years.
The thinnest iPhone ever (iPhone 6, 6.9 MM)came out in 2014. Since then they’ve gradually gotten thicker and thicker.
The upcoming iPhone 15 Pro is rumored to be around 8.3 MM thick… Which is literally right in between the iPhone 4 (9.3 MM)and the iPhone 5 (7.6 MM)from over a decade ago.
there’s not much more thickness they can add (especially the pro max) without it literally becoming uncomfortable to hold for most. Some say the current iPhone is already hard to hold. And obviously the thicker it gets, the heavier it gets. And people are already saying the iPhone is too heavy.
Apple gave up on the thinnest phone race years ago.
I hear what you’re saying, but also the capabilities and longevity of iPads has dramatically increased.
The first generation iPad came out on April 3, 2010.
It got its final software update on May 4, 2012.
By comparison, the iPad Air 2 came out in October 2014, and got its final update a couple weeks ago, and at least has another year of security patches to go.
Also… not all 32 bit iPads aged very well, ask owners of the iPad 2 or third generation iPad on iOS 9…
Or on the iPhone Side you could point out the 4S, which had reports of bad battery life from the day it launched with iOS5 all the way up until it lost support with iOS 9.
Yes, though I'll amend that. min: 2~4 charge per day. 4~5 is excessive use (mostly on cellular use while going and at work).
my SE2020 still going strong though, still satisfied with it. Might buy a new one after 2~3 more years.
Oh, agreed. It is even arguable (like many here have argued when discussing iOS updates in general, me as a proponent of staying behind and never updating anything, and them on the functionality and app compatibility side of things) that software updates have their advantages. I agree with that.
Some people don’t care about perfect performance and battery life. They are okay with occasional lag, and they’re okay with reduced battery life instead of reduced functionality and compatibility, especially on iPads. They’d gladly receive as many iOS updates as possible. I disagree, but it’s not an inherently incorrect view. It’s just different priorities.
32-bit devices aged horribly performance-wise, but we are discussing battery life on this thread, and they have aged gracefully as far as that is concerned. It is the opposite for 32-bit devices. Abhorrent battery life, decent performance.
Twice I can understand, but I doubt the phone is degraded enough to need five charges, that’s why I was skeptical. I understand that battery life on iOS 16 may not be great, and 4.7-inch iPhones don’t have a great battery life either, but yeah, five times sounded too much.
Four times... you’d need GPS at full brightness all the time. It is poor, but it isn’t one-hour-on-its-original-version poor.
LOL, based on the complaints I read on this forum all the time, I don’t think any of you know what you want. Definitely don’t appear to be satisfied with what you have.
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I don’t understand the obsession with huge iphones. Must be a tiny d*ck issue. My 13 mini will go nearly two days on a charge, depending on use. Ditch the phablet, get a phone. Samsung makes better phablets anyway, plus they fold.
It's disappointing how bad the battery gets after a year or so. Brand new, all iPhones have pretty good battery life.
In conclusion, this whole problem could be avoided if batteries were easy to replace by the user.
In conclusion, this whole problem could be avoided if batteries were easy to replace by the user.
The main issue for most of the SEs is the small battery size:
You might think there’s no big caveat to in a smaller smartphone with a 1800-2000mAh battery instead of one with a battery in the 3000mAh+ range. The smaller display and less brightnes, less pixels will make up for it, right?
No, not really.
The reality is that the smaller display and older features are not very well-optimized on SEs. So even with a brand new SE, you’re going to run through charge cycles at a much higher rate than with a $799-$999+ iPhone.
With an SE, you should expect to hit the 500 charge cycle mark within about 1.5 years if you use it every day, maybe sooner. And at that point, battery health should sit at 80%, maybe a little more or less.
But that number, 80%, doesn’t worry you because that’s just like about 4/5ths less than a new battery, right?
Yes, technically. But then take into account that your SE only came with a 1800-2000mAh battery to begin with AND you’re most likely on a newer iOS version now.
So now, after those 500 charge cycles, you’re actually dealing with a 1400-1600mAh battery. That’s like iPhone 5 specs.
With a $799 iPhone, you’d still have 2400mAh after 500 charge cycles. But not only that. The 3000mAh battery won’t even reach those 500 charge cycles as soon as the SE at the 1.5 year mark because you most likely will finish many days with a lot of charge left on a 3000mAh+ battery.
SEs look like a sweet deal at launch but quickly become a losing game.
You might think there’s no big caveat to in a smaller smartphone with a 1800-2000mAh battery instead of one with a battery in the 3000mAh+ range. The smaller display and less brightnes, less pixels will make up for it, right?
No, not really.
The reality is that the smaller display and older features are not very well-optimized on SEs. So even with a brand new SE, you’re going to run through charge cycles at a much higher rate than with a $799-$999+ iPhone.
With an SE, you should expect to hit the 500 charge cycle mark within about 1.5 years if you use it every day, maybe sooner. And at that point, battery health should sit at 80%, maybe a little more or less.
But that number, 80%, doesn’t worry you because that’s just like about 4/5ths less than a new battery, right?
Yes, technically. But then take into account that your SE only came with a 1800-2000mAh battery to begin with AND you’re most likely on a newer iOS version now.
So now, after those 500 charge cycles, you’re actually dealing with a 1400-1600mAh battery. That’s like iPhone 5 specs.
With a $799 iPhone, you’d still have 2400mAh after 500 charge cycles. But not only that. The 3000mAh battery won’t even reach those 500 charge cycles as soon as the SE at the 1.5 year mark because you most likely will finish many days with a lot of charge left on a 3000mAh+ battery.
SEs look like a sweet deal at launch but quickly become a losing game.
If they were easy to replace by the user you wouldn’t have such good ratings for water resistance etc.
The fact that Apple offer a walk in service, done while you wait, is enough for me. You get a genuine battery with warranty and if anything happens they replace the whole device.
Topic author literally can't stand the fact that phones sometimes need a battery replacement. Especially 2,5 year phone... lol.
Absolutely no chance are you getting those kind of numbers - that would put the 6s at 15 hours + screen on time when new which wasn’t the case.
That said, given the battery health you will be being performance limited which will extend the battery life. Can you post the battery report?
Settings > Battery - take a screenshot?
The SE2 does have terrible battery life for me even on iOS 15, which is what mine was purchased with. Never updated and it is abysmal. I am a very light phone user, with only a few hours of texting a week, maybe an hour of web browsing a week and an hour or two of video a week, but I still have to charge frequently. Standby drain is very prominent and doing anything at all I can watch the percentage drop a few points in 5 minutes.
One example, and perhaps others can give insight as to whether this is an outright iOS/Safari issue, when I use the Reddit website on this phone it drops sometimes 5-10% in about 10 minutes. Phone gets real warm too. I see no reason to download their app as I am not an actual user of Reddit, but this is laughable.
I had figured the SE would be fine for my very light usage, but I am disappointed with the battery life. Barely an improvement over the ancient 70% health phone I had before on iOS 12. Next time I will buy a bigger phone just for battery life... What a pain.
One example, and perhaps others can give insight as to whether this is an outright iOS/Safari issue, when I use the Reddit website on this phone it drops sometimes 5-10% in about 10 minutes. Phone gets real warm too. I see no reason to download their app as I am not an actual user of Reddit, but this is laughable.
I had figured the SE would be fine for my very light usage, but I am disappointed with the battery life. Barely an improvement over the ancient 70% health phone I had before on iOS 12. Next time I will buy a bigger phone just for battery life... What a pain.
Etc.? Can you name a single advantage other than the water resistance?
And that one isn't necessarily true either. You have multiple choices, for example you can offer an easy replacement for users that comes with clear info that there will be no water resistance afterwards - because not that many users actually need that and would rather have a cheap new battery.
Cheap ifixit replacement kits come with new seals to restore the water resistance, what makes this SE battery replacement so hard is that the glued in screen needs to be lifted out (and the glue heated up), if the design allowed for a replacement via removal of the back, and if this back was perhaps not fragile glass, this would not be such an ordeal.
The older iPhones really are engineered in a way that makes repairs an ordeal. I think newer models are better in that regard.
Really though? Replacing the battery after 2 years isn't the worst thing to do. The problem with the SE charge cycles isn't actually hitting 500, the batteries are better quality than what Apple gives them credit for. My SE and I suspect OP's SE as well have hit a full 1k cycles in 2.5 years. That comes out as one full charge per day (as in, put the phone on the charger every night).
My SE's battery is ****ed now, but that doesn't mean Apple designed this thing wrong. It just means that the SE needs a new battery sooner than other phones. Most people are upset their midrange phone stops receiving updates after just a short year or two, yet in this thread people are upset that iOS 16 reduces battery life a bit. Other people like me buy the SE because they want those 4-5 years of major version upgrades.
I have no doubts that my SE on iOS 16, and later this year 17, would get me through the day easily if I spent the money on a new battery. And there are workarounds, for example at home I put the phone on airplane mode and I can still use Wifi calling (VoWifi). That reduces battery drain a bit.