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Other iPhone 5s shuts off randomly?

T

T909

Suspended
Original poster
Aug 16, 2008
196
61
Europe
Hello,
I have an issue with my iPhone 5s where it shuts down randomly. After it shuts down it shows me that the battery has ran out and it needs charging.
For example it even shuts off by itself when my battery is 50% and shows that I need to charge it. As soon as I connect my charger to my iPhone it powers on and still shows that the battery level is 50%. When I unplug it immediately it keeps working.

What could be issue here?
 
How long had you had the phone for? When was the last time you replaced your battery? By any chance do you know your battery wear level and cycle
Counts?
Possibly a bad battery
 
Hello,
thank you all for your replies. I'll post the picture of Coconut, recommended by @jav6454
iphone.png


Is it possible that it shuts down due to cold? It shuts off usually when I'm outside and it started kinda recently. I don't remember this issue from the last year when I bought it though.
 
It'll be the battery, and yes it may be exacerbated by the cold, but either way its the battery that ultimately needs replacing.

This is the exact situation that Apple's software patch on more recent phones is designed to prevent, by throttling down the processor when the battery reaches this sort of state (unfortunately they forgot to tell anyone they were doing this and are now facing lawsuits over it).
 
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jav6454 said:
Cold can have an effect, what’s the ambient temperature? Also, your battery looks very good at 85%. That said, it means not a bad battery and puts other factors in play.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I've been trying to take care of my battery & phone in general.
Usually it's around 5 degrees Fahrenheit ( -15C ) and I keep it in my pocket. Sometimes I do use it outside and the battery can be like 50% and then it'll shut down by itself showing me that the battery is empty. When I connect my portable charger to it it boots up and shows me that the battery is 50% (generally where it left off. It's not always 50%).

January was even colder during the last year and I don't remember such issue. What could cause it exactly then? Like realistically speaking I can't leave my phone at home even when it's colder outside since I need my phone daily and I usually have my bus / metro tickets on my phone, which is why it's extremely frightening and annoying.
 
Then it's quite likely that the OS is shutting the phone off due to battery wear and weather conditions. You see, battery wear and tear is just 1 of several factors that the OS takes into account when doing power management.

Temperature is also taken into account. Hence, the OS thinks there is no charge when there actually is. Cold temperatures decrease battery life on any battery. After all, there is no true battery measurement going on, just educated guesswork.
 
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Thank you.
My guess is either it's the OS or really the weather. I mean the battery health is still pretty good, so there's no need to replace nor I even know if they'd even replace it in Finland, since it's off the market these days and I assume it'd cost me at least 100€ :/
 
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T909 said:
Thank you.
My guess is either it's the OS or really the weather. I mean the battery health is still pretty good, so there's no need to replace nor I even know if they'd even replace it in Finland, since it's off the market these days and I assume it'd cost me at least 100€ :/
Click to expand...

In the end the battery will be the problem. Everything you say indicates a weak battery that is affected by the cold. Coconut battery has been mistaken before.
 
1) Your battery has reached end of life. The design capacity of 85.3% is unreliable as it's only an estimate. The cycle count of 543 is the most accurate indicator. Li-ion batteries are most commonly spec'ed for 500 cycles. And this is the case for Apple iPhone batteries.

2) Temperature has significant effect on li-ion capacity. There's up to a 40% loss in cold temperatures of -20C.
 
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It’s iOS 11 or the cold. Batteries aren’t really meant to operate at their best at -15c.

My 5S has twice as many charge cycles as yours (over 1000 last time I checked with coconutbattery) and it never shuts off randomly. Maybe the battery really is faulty.
 
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@Newton's Apple - But other apps from the App Store show similar results.
@JPack - To what? Android?
My buddy has way older phone than I do (iPhone 4) and his battery lasts him the whole day. It's not really an every day thing. When I am at home I've sometimes watched YouTube videos at 1% and it lasts good 5 minutes.

I really don't know. My MacBook's battery is 7 years old. It seems to be almost fine. It lasts about 4hours. I'll just carry my portable chargers with me then. Not much I can do.
It's just weird it shuts down at 50-70% sometimes and shows me to charge it and when I connect it to a charger and power it on the battery shows that it's like 50%.
Shouldn't it be empty then?
 
T909 said:
@Newton's Apple - But other apps from the App Store show similar results.
@JPack - To what? Android?
My buddy has way older phone than I do (iPhone 4) and his battery lasts him the whole day. It's not really an every day thing. When I am at home I've sometimes watched YouTube videos at 1% and it lasts good 5 minutes.

I really don't know. My MacBook's battery is 7 years old. It seems to be almost fine. It lasts about 4hours. I'll just carry my portable chargers with me then. Not much I can do.
It's just weird it shuts down at 50-70% sometimes and shows me to charge it and when I connect it to a charger and power it on the battery shows that it's like 50%.
Shouldn't it be empty then?
Click to expand...

The phone can report the charge to be what ever when the battery is going south.
 
T909 said:
@Newton's Apple - But other apps from the App Store show similar results.
@JPack - To what? Android?
My buddy has way older phone than I do (iPhone 4) and his battery lasts him the whole day. It's not really an every day thing. When I am at home I've sometimes watched YouTube videos at 1% and it lasts good 5 minutes.

I really don't know. My MacBook's battery is 7 years old. It seems to be almost fine. It lasts about 4hours. I'll just carry my portable chargers with me then. Not much I can do.
It's just weird it shuts down at 50-70% sometimes and shows me to charge it and when I connect it to a charger and power it on the battery shows that it's like 50%.
Shouldn't it be empty then?
Click to expand...

Apps don't know the chemical state of the battery. Without dissecting the battery under a microscope, the "capacity" readings from all apps are estimates. The apps use a lookup table and estimate based on age and cycle count.

Batteries age due to time, heat, and mechanical stress. If you use apps such as GPS that draw significant amounts of power and heat up the phone, it negatively affects the battery. Besides heat, there there is also mechanical fatigue as the lithium ions move through the anode during operation. This occurs more rapidly if you run apps that cause high current draw.

In short, you can't compare battery age alone as the aging depends on many factors. Cycle count is a good indicator.
 
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UPDATE:
My battery was 100% and it was charging and while I was typing a message on WhatsApp my phone suddenly shut itself off.
I don't think it's the battery. It's something else.
 
T909 said:
UPDATE:
My battery was 100% and it was charging and while I was typing a message on WhatsApp my phone suddenly shut itself off.
I don't think it's the battery. It's something else.
Click to expand...

Could still very well be the battery, I’d be booking an appointment at an Apple Store and get them to take a look and run some diagnostics.
 
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-Gonzo- said:
Could still very well be the battery, I’d be booking an appointment at an Apple Store and get them to take a look and run some diagnostics.
Click to expand...


OP is stubborn and refuses to believe it is the battery. Everything he has described points to needing a new battery.

Like I said, in the end, it will be a new battery.
 
Newtons Apple said:
OP is stubborn and refuses to believe it is the battery. Everything he has described points to needing a new battery.

Like I said, in the end, it will be a new battery.
Click to expand...
Nah, I'm not that stubborn. It's just when you power an Android phone on without the battery connected to the AC adapter it'll work just fine. Why wouldn't it be the case with an iPhone?

It was connected to the AC adapter and it just shut off. I don't want to waste money on such things. If it's true then it's a shame that the iPhone lasts about a year only. But once again, it was connected to the AC adapter, so I don't believe that it's the battery.

#2 Sometimes I see a spinning wheel on a black screen while for like 15 seconds and then it asks me the passcode. It doesn't shut down.

I googled and I'm not the only one with the issue. Most people recommended to do a system restore, but will iTunes backup backup even my WhatsApp conversations? Anyways, I'll try restoring the system first.
 
Last edited:
T909 said:
Nah, I'm not that stubborn. It's just when you power an Android phone on without the battery connected to the AC adapter it'll work just fine. Why wouldn't it be the case with an iPhone?

It was connected to the AC adapter and it just shut off. I don't want to waste money on such things. If it's true then it's a shame that the iPhone lasts about a year only. But once again, it was connected to the AC adapter, so I don't believe that it's the battery.

#2 Sometimes I see a spinning wheel on a black screen while for like 15 seconds and then it asks me the passcode. It doesn't shut down.

I googled and I'm not the only one with the issue. Most people recommended to do a system restore, but will iTunes backup backup even my WhatsApp conversations? Anyways, I'll try restoring the system first.
Click to expand...

If you take it to an Apple Store they can run a diagnostic to see what the issue is.
 
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