Random/sudden iPhone 4 battery issue

[djr7572]

Well, up until yesterday I could confidently exclude myself from those that are having degraded battery performance since 5.0.1. I downloaded 5.0.1 the day it was released and haven't battery performance issues until now. Which seems odd - you'd think if there were (are) battery issues you would see the difference right away - not weeks later. The puzzling thing is, I'm not doing anything differently that would cause dramatic battery degradation. My battery life has been just fine until yesterday. No new power-hungry apps, all of my Location Services settings are optimally set, and I force quit anything that is constantly using data and I quit all apps before going to sleep.

The biggest example I can illustrate is, I go to bed at night with 100% battery charge. The phone remains locked/asleep for those 8 hours and I'll usually get 3 or 4 notifications in that time and my battery percentage typically drops down to 96% at the worst. This morning I get up, there's about 5 or 6 notifications and my battery percentage is down to about 75%. So something is definitely wrong. And this afternoon I'm noticing a rather rapid decline in battery life just from doing the same, very basic things I do every day.

Am I basically just experiencing the same thing that everyone else is? Or could there be more to this? Or, am I just at the mercy of hanging on until the next software update that's supposedly going to resolve this .... ?

 

[HazyCloud]

Just wait to see if 5.0.2 helps. 5.0.1 didn't help with my 4S, but then again my battery isn't dropping right before my eyes. I'd assume 0.2. will fix this. Especially since Apple is already wanting to push it right after we just got 0.1.

 

[djr7572]

Let me clarify - I wouldn't say my battery percentage is dropping rapidly, but the degradation is definitely a lot faster than normal ... it's dramatic enought that I notice a difference.

 

[HazyCloud]

I understand what you're saying. I'd definitely agree that with iOS 5, the battery has been slightly worse on my wife's 4. Something software-side is doing something it shouldn't be. (For some strange reason I think it's iCloud.)

 

[djr7572]

I understand what you're saying. I'd definitely agree that with iOS 5, the battery has been slightly worse on my wife's 4. Something software-side is doing something it shouldn't be. (For some strange reason I think it's iCloud.)

Weird, I have iCloud completely turned off/inactive. But maybe that doesn't matter. Just seems weird that this would happen all of a sudden ...

 

[djr7572]

Should I not even bother bringing it into an Apple Genius?

 

[HazyCloud]

For battery issues, probably not. Now if your iPhone was getting so hot that you couldn't touch it, definitely.

 

[djr7572]

For battery issues, probably not. Now if your iPhone was getting so hot that you couldn't touch it, definitely.

Thanks. I guess I'm just stuck (like everyone else) hoping that the next update solves whatever the problem is.

 

[HazyCloud]

Thanks. I guess I'm just stuck (like everyone else) hoping that the next update solves whatever the problem is.

FWIW, I took my 4S in due to horrible uploads speeds while using a Time Capsule at home. I mentioned the battery while I was there, but only to make sure it was documented for me. The Genius swapped my phone thinking I had a bad Wi-Fi chip, but it didn't help either the speed or my battery.

I'm almost certain it's a bug with iOS 5. Hopefully 5.0.2 fixes this issue.

 

[uaecasher]

My friend had the same problem with his iPhone 4, lets just hope 5.0.2 solves it.

 

[valster3]

Well, up until yesterday I could confidently exclude myself from those that are having degraded battery performance since 5.0.1. I downloaded 5.0.1 the day it was released and haven't battery performance issues until now. Which seems odd - you'd think if there were (are) battery issues you would see the difference right away - not weeks later. The puzzling thing is, I'm not doing anything differently that would cause dramatic battery degradation. My battery life has been just fine until yesterday. No new power-hungry apps, all of my Location Services settings are optimally set, and I force quit anything that is constantly using data and I quit all apps before going to sleep.

The biggest example I can illustrate is, I go to bed at night with 100% battery charge. The phone remains locked/asleep for those 8 hours and I'll usually get 3 or 4 notifications in that time and my battery percentage typically drops down to 96% at the worst. This morning I get up, there's about 5 or 6 notifications and my battery percentage is down to about 75%. So something is definitely wrong. And this afternoon I'm noticing a rather rapid decline in battery life just from doing the same, very basic things I do every day.

Am I basically just experiencing the same thing that everyone else is? Or could there be more to this? Or, am I just at the mercy of hanging on until the next software update that's supposedly going to resolve this .... ?

I'm experiencing the same thing, no battery issues at all since I got my phone, and the last day or two im experiencing pretty rapid battery loss for no reason. Since I originally had no battery issues, I have not upgraded and I am still on iOS 5.0

 

[E365]

My iPhone 4 battery life has gotten significantly worse with 5.0.1. I used to make it through an entire day which included at least 3-4 hours of iHeartRadio streaming (often 6 hours+) through both 3G and WiFi. It would be about 20% at about midnight. Just today I'm down to 30% (at 2pm) from a full overnight charge in just under 3 hours of streaming. Normally it would be about 60%+ after that much streaming time.

I was at the airport a few days ago catching two flights. My phone was dying VERY fast just doing random web browsing, email checking before and between flights. No streaming at all. It never should have gotten below about 75% doing what I did by late afternoon but it got down below 40%.

My battery also drains 20-30% while I sleep That used to be just a couple percent.

 

[lelisa13p]

My iPhone 4 battery life has gotten significantly worse with 5.0.1. I used to make it through an entire day which included at least 3-4 hours of iHeartRadio streaming (often 6 hours+) through both 3G and WiFi. It would be about 20% at about midnight. Just today I'm down to 30% (at 2pm) from a full overnight charge in just under 3 hours of streaming. Normally it would be about 60%+ after that much streaming time.

I was at the airport a few days ago catching two flights. My phone was dying VERY fast just doing random web browsing, email checking before and between flights. No streaming at all. It never should have gotten below about 75% doing what I did by late afternoon but it got down below 40%.

My battery also drains 20-30% while I sleep That used to be just a couple percent.

My iPhone 4 is behaving exactly like yours since upgrading to 5.0/5.0.1 and it's become a real PITA. My tolerance for this nonsense is about gone. I've gained nothing from the upgrades and would go back to 4.3.5 in a heartbeat. My 1st Gen iPad is also screwed.

 

[stylinexpat]

My iPhone 4 had great battery life until this last ios update. Now battery life is horrible.