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iOS 10.3.x Battery Life Killer

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0388279

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Original poster
Feb 27, 2014
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Hi All,

I have 3 iOS device: iPhone 6s, 2017 iPad, and a 2016 iPad Pro. Since installing iOS 10.3.x every device is experiencing very poor battery life. Always hard to tell with an iPhone because so much can depend on usage. However, with my two iPads that are essentially stock configuration (that I use for my drone with the exception flying app) both devices not being used ended up with less 5% battery sitting idle for the past three days.

Anyone else having this issue?

Don
 
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My battery life is awful. Seems like it drains more than twice as fast as 10.2.x. I've tried turning off all location services, dimming the screen, etc. but the battery will drain even when the phone is not being used.
 
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Jrtesq said:
My battery life is awful. Seems like it drains more than twice as fast as 10.2.x. I've tried turning off all location services, dimming the screen, etc. but the battery will drain even when the phone is not being used.
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Sounds like something isn't right. Something is stuck running or something like that. Have you tried restating, or resetting some or all settings?
 
Well on my Ipad air 2 i can confirm battery consumption is a little more intensive on ios 10.3.1 definitely... =(

Thanks God i'm still on ios 9.3.5 on my iphone 6s...
 
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Thanks God I am still on 10.2 on my 6S, this is going to turn the best version of iOS10
 
On 10.2.1 and 10.3 and 10.3.1 i have battery draining faster than ios 9.3.5->10.2. And battery drains overnight , went to the retailler and gave me brand new iphone 6 . Problem still persists , if i put it on airplane mode it wont drain , could it be the carrier signal ? it goes from 2-3 and rarely 1 circle .
 
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dobra94 said:
On 10.2.1 and 10.3 and 10.3.1 i have battery draining faster than ios 9.3.5->10.2. And battery drains overnight , went to the retailler and gave me brand new iphone 6 . Problem still persists , if i put it on airplane mode it wont drain , could it be the carrier signal ? it goes from 2-3 and rarely 1 circle .
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2-3 is getting pretty weak. That definitely could be causing some issues. I would keep WiFi on and if your carrier supports it, WiFi Calling. That can greatly increase your battery life.
 
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mpavilion said:
I have read the opposite about WiFi Calling? Things like this: http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-fix-wi-fi-calling-battery-drain-on-iphone/
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Personal experience has been the complete opposite of any article claiming WiFi calling uses more power. Maybe if you are in an area with 5 bars of constant signal, but anything lower than 3, WiFi calling saves battery.

For example. Over the last 6 months, if I forget to turn WiFi on at school (1 bar of service) my 7Plus will drain from 90%-20% in 4-5 hours completely untouched. No screen on time. If I turn WiFi on, and WiFi calling kicks in, that same 4-5 hour period will conclude with 5-10% battery life lost. Same goes for my friend's phones as well.
 
Btw -- my battery life on 10.3(.x) seems comparable to 10.2; though I did notice that my Background App Refresh list had been reset, with BAR turned *on* for all apps. For those having battery issues, maybe check app usage and see if certain apps are running in background (especially apps for which you previously had BAR disabled)?
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Mlrollin91 said:
Personal experience has been the complete opposite of any article claiming WiFi calling uses more power. Maybe if you are in an area with 5 bars of constant signal, but anything lower than 3, WiFi calling saves battery.

For example. Over the last 6 months, if I forget to turn WiFi on at school (1 bar of service) my 7Plus will drain from 90%-20% in 4-5 hours completely untouched. No screen on time. If I turn WiFi on, and WiFi calling kicks in, that same 4-5 hour period will conclude with 5-10% battery life lost. Same goes for my friend's phones as well.
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Interesting... but have you tried at school with WiFi *on*, and WiFi Calling *off*? Seems like that's the third variable in your scenario...
 
mpavilion said:
Btw -- my battery life on 10.3(.x) seems comparable to 10.2; though I did notice that my Background App Refresh list had been reset, with BAR turned *on* for all apps. For those having battery issues, maybe check app usage and see if certain apps are running in background (especially apps for which you previously had BAR disabled)?
[doublepost=1491666439][/doublepost]

Interesting... but have you tried at school with WiFi *on*, and WiFi Calling *off*? Seems like that's the third variable in your scenario...
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Yes I have, up until WiFi calling was available on AT&T. Results of draining battery life were the same. It appears WiFi calling turns off cellular 'searching'. As long as WiFi calling is active, it doesn't need to search for stronger signal, therefore, battery life is not decreased.

Not sure how that is a third variable though. If something is held at a constant, its not really a variable.
 
Mlrollin91 said:
Yes I have, up until WiFi calling was available on AT&T. Results of draining battery life were the same. It appears WiFi calling turns off cellular 'searching'. As long as WiFi calling is active, it doesn't need to search for stronger signal, therefore, battery life is not decreased.

Not sure how that is a third variable though. If something is held at a constant, its not really a variable.
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It's a variable with a constant value. Semantics!

It's still going to check the value of the variable and measure the signal strength. My assumption is that with a weaker signal the device will consume more power regardless of wifi/calling in order to achieve a response from the cell tower. The device is still going to measure the connectivity to the cell tower in order to display the number of bars. How would it be able to decide to send packets via wifi rather than the cell tower otherwise? It needs that measurement.
 
Mlrollin91 said:
Yes I have, up until WiFi calling was available on AT&T. Results of draining battery life were the same. It appears WiFi calling turns off cellular 'searching'. As long as WiFi calling is active, it doesn't need to search for stronger signal, therefore, battery life is not decreased.

Not sure how that is a third variable though. If something is held at a constant, its not really a variable.
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I know that based on what you've observed it seems like that's a fitting explanation, but I'm not certain of whether or not that's actually the case. I'm often in an area that's between 2 and 3 signal dots and my Wi-Fi calling seems to come and go as the signal changes a bit this way or that way, meaning that singal searching and switching is still something that's fairly active all along.
 
C DM said:
I know that based on what you've observed it seems like that's a fitting explanation, but I'm not certain of whether or not that's actually the case. I'm often in an area that's between 2 and 3 signal dots and my Wi-Fi calling seems to come and go as the signal changes a bit this way or that way, meaning that singal searching and switching is still something that's fairly active all along.
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That is definitely not my experience. Once WiFi calling connects, my signal never changes unless I turn off WiFi or leave my house where WiFi is no longer active. Its the same for everyone in my family as we live in a poor reception area. Same goes for all my friends at school with AT&T.

I mean, I have over 18 months of daily evidence to prove my point. Days WiFi is turned off, my battery is consumed. Days its turned on and active to WiFi Calling, my battery is not consumed. Day after day, month after month.
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Mcmeowmers said:
It's a variable with a constant value. Semantics!

It's still going to check the value of the variable and measure the signal strength. My assumption is that with a weaker signal the device will consume more power regardless of wifi/calling in order to achieve a response from the cell tower. The device is still going to measure the connectivity to the cell tower in order to display the number of bars. How would it be able to decide to send packets via wifi rather than the cell tower otherwise? It needs that measurement.
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What do you mean decide to send via WiFi or Cell? If you turn off Cellular and enable WiFi the device still connects to AT&T WiFi Calling, even though cellular is completely disabled. It has the ability to do everything via WiFi and therefore does not need to depend on the cellular network.
 
Mlrollin91 said:
That is definitely not my experience. Once WiFi calling connects, my signal never changes unless I turn off WiFi or leave my house where WiFi is no longer active. Its the same for everyone in my family as we live in a poor reception area. Same goes for all my friends at school with AT&T.
[doublepost=1491671203][/doublepost]

What do you mean decide to send via WiFi or Cell? If you turn off Cellular and enable WiFi the device still connects to AT&T WiFi Calling, even though cellular is completely disabled. It has the ability to do everything via WiFi and therefore does not need to depend on the cellular network.
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I certainly see it come and go both at home and at work. This is with Verizon (using iPhone 7 now and iPhone 6 prior with similar experience).
 
C DM said:
I certainly see it come and go both at home and at work. This is with Verizon (using iPhone 7 now and iPhone 6 prior with similar experience).
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Don't Verizon and AT&T use different modes of WiFi Calling? I know TMO and AT&T do. So that could be it right there. Every carrier has its own criteria.
 
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dobra94 said:
@Mlrollin91 : thanks for suggestion , i enable it via Orange Wi-fi . If the overnight drain dissapears i will send u positive vibes :D
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This should be a perfect test. You have verified putting it in AP mode prevents battery drain. So lets see how your carrier handles WiFi calling. Good luck!
 
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Mlrollin91 said:
Don't Verizon and AT&T use different modes of WiFi Calling? I know TMO and AT&T do. So that could be it right there. Every carrier has its own criteria.
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Based on what I've seen on the forums it seemed like AT&T and Verizon used similar approaches to it (somewhat different from T-Mobile).
 
Mlrollin91 said:
That is definitely not my experience. Once WiFi calling connects, my signal never changes unless I turn off WiFi or leave my house where WiFi is no longer active. Its the same for everyone in my family as we live in a poor reception area. Same goes for all my friends at school with AT&T.

I mean, I have over 18 months of daily evidence to prove my point. Days WiFi is turned off, my battery is consumed. Days its turned on and active to WiFi Calling, my battery is not consumed. Day after day, month after month.
[doublepost=1491671203][/doublepost]

What do you mean decide to send via WiFi or Cell? If you turn off Cellular and enable WiFi the device still connects to AT&T WiFi Calling, even though cellular is completely disabled. It has the ability to do everything via WiFi and therefore does not need to depend on the cellular network.
Click to expand...

Oh so you mean when you enable Airplane mode and wifi? Yes, I believe this should give the best battery life. My comment and assumption is for wifi and cellular on with wifi calling enabled.
 
Mcmeowmers said:
Oh so you mean when you enable Airplane mode and wifi? Yes, I believe this should give the best battery life. My comment and assumption is for wifi and cellular on with wifi calling enabled.
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The best battery life I get is AP + Wifi Calling. Next is cellular + WiFi Calling. Lastly its straight cellular being the worst.
 
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I just keep the usual things turned off: Locations, Background app refresh, Raise to wake, auto-brightness.

I also keep WiFi shut off, unless I am using the phone for internet purposes. That slows down the battery drain tremendously, but I understand not everyone can do that. Searching for a signal does cause a hit to the battery on my Verizon 7+. I am getting about 7.5 - 10 hours depending on my usage, which is a lot more than than my first two 7+ got.

I do wish Apple would optimize more though.
 
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