iPhone XS Why are iPhone batteries so bad?

[eyoungren]

That’s nuts man!! I live in San Tan Valley and work in Tolleson and get off at 3:30pm. Couldn’t imagine no AC.

I live north of your work location in West Phoenix. Work was in Glendale for 14.5 years, so not too much of a problem. But the job I have now is in Mesa (off Broadway). This is why I switched to a schedule that had me out by 10pm.

The A/C worked up until about 2016 or so, at least enough to make it comfortable. It's a 1997 Accord. The pandemic changed things though. It's mainly been sitting now because I've been working from home since last March.

 

[MisterSavage]

My 6s+ though. 5.5 years later, normal use and two summers of riding around in 110º Phoenix heat with no A/C and windows that couldn't be rolled down. Extreme heat kills batteries.

Damn. When I was fresh out of college I had a crappy car where the AC would go out. The highs never went past the 90's and I could roll down the windows. I thought that was borderline unbearable.

 

[eyoungren]

Damn. When I was fresh out of college I had a crappy car where the AC would go out. The highs never went past the 90's and I could roll down the windows. I thought that was borderline unbearable.

The downside of power windows.

 

[firedept]

I live north of your work location in West Phoenix. Work was in Glendale for 14.5 years, so not too much of a problem. But the job I have now is in Mesa (off Broadway). This is why I switched to a schedule that had me out by 10pm.

The A/C worked up until about 2016 or so, at least enough to make it comfortable. It's a 1997 Accord. The pandemic changed things though. It's mainly been sitting now because I've been working from home since last March.

Wow uncomfortable! I live in San Diego area and feel for you. We saw a lot of the high temps you have last summer as well. I can't imagine being trapped in my car and no air. I'm glad you are at least working from home now.

 

[MisterMillz]

It’s pretty much been confirmed everywhere that the XS has one of the worst battery lives out of newer iPhones. Smaller capacity than the X. A bit much suggesting “iPhones have bad battery life” when all you’ve listed are two phones. The 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max have phenomenal battery life. The 12 mini is ok. 12/12 Pro is good and the 12 Pro Max has excellent battery life too.

 

[LFC2020]

I love everything about Apple but their battery life is shockingly bad. Are the batteries much smaller than equivalent Android phones? Or is this more a software issue?

When I had an iPhone 4 it would last up to 4 days! My iPhone XS needs charging daily...

Hmmm, nothing comes close to the iPhone 11-12 pro max in real world battery use, hit 10 hours usage the other day still had 15% battery left. their batteries are way smaller than most batteries in android phones.

Just because android phones have bigger batteries doesn't mean they last longer, android phones need the bigger batteries because their software is terrible and not efficient enough.

Have a friend who upgraded from a samsung s10 plus to a iPhone 11, after a week of using the phone, first thing he said to me the battery life is amazing, his s10 plus would lose battery just siting there, also amazed by the iPhone stand by battery performance.

Bigger doesn't always mean better, in Australia people are already complaining about their 5000 mAh battery in their s21 ultra phones some are only getting 3-4 hours battery usage.

If you don't have a proper efficient operating system that bigger battery is useless.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I think the biggest problem with the Apple iPhone battery is the wrong expectation of many, many users as to battery usage and condition.

 

[eyoungren]

…android phones need the bigger batteries because their software is terrible and not efficient enough.

I have no idea if my Pixel 3a XL has a bigger battery or not, but I've been happy with it's battery life. Right now it's sitting at 86% after being taken off charger over 12.5 hours ago.

I've done nothing different with it that I haven't down with any phone I've had before. It goes on charge at night with a clock app and the screen on all night. Taken off charge in the morning and not put back on until I go to bed again.

Perhaps, being an actual Google phone it may be more efficient? IDK.

 

[eyoungren]

I think the biggest problem with the Apple iPhone battery is the wrong expectation of many, many users as to battery usage and condition.

I second that. Since my first smartphone in 2009 I have never expected more than a day of battery life off charger.

 

[Spetsgruppa]

iPhone batteries are very good considering the relatively low mAh batteries they contain. 12 series phones are matching androids with 1000s more mAh. Imagine a pro max model with 5000 mAh. Not to mention standby time.

Pro Max with 5000mAh battery is gonna be insane...like maybe 12-16 hours of SOT.

 

[ian87w]

I love everything about Apple but their battery life is shockingly bad. Are the batteries much smaller than equivalent Android phones? Or is this more a software issue?

When I had an iPhone 4 it would last up to 4 days! My iPhone XS needs charging daily...

Smaller batteries for the size.

In the early live of the phone, that might not be an issue, but as the phone ages, the iPhone will have a severely less battery capacity (it started a lot less already), while many Android phones can still comfortably have plenty.

Your XS has about ~2600mAh battery. It doesn't have good battery life to begin with. Now with age, it is expected to be worse.

As for your iPhone 4, imo it's probably because you didn't do as much on it as you do today on a smartphone. That might be the reason it felt that it had longer battery life.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Smaller batteries for the size.

In the early live of the phone, that might not be an issue, but as the phone ages, the iPhone will have a severely less battery capacity (it started a lot less already), while many Android phones can still comfortably have plenty.

Your XS has about ~2600mAh battery. It doesn't have good battery life to begin with. Now with age, it is expected to be worse.

As for your iPhone 4, imo it's probably because you didn't do as much on it as you do today on a smartphone. That might be the reason it felt that it had longer battery life.

Very good point about the iPhone 4. You really couldn't do a lot on the iPhone back then. I had a 4s and I primarily used it as a phone, because it was so slow to do anything on. Memories easily get skewed in the clouds of fondness.

 

[pbonitati]

I'm a fan of both iOS and Android so I'm neutral in that respect. In most cases, non scientific of course it takes close to 40% more batter capacity (mah) on Android to get the same on screen time as iOS. Now there are a ton of factors and I understand that, but iOS is definitely more optimized than Android is. I can sum Android's issues up pretty quick with this "Google Play Services". I have built "De-googled" Phones to find the battery lasting into two day territory. Essential Phone running Linage OS ...... Butter.

Either way, just enjoy whatever it is you're using. Maybe we will be lucky and batteries will soon be replaced with some new and great tech! Currently, I have been using the S21 Ultra and it is beastly. This battery lasts me all day without the need for any battery anxiety at all. And that screen thou! LOL. It would appear Android and "some" of their vendors are getting better with each year. They've come a long way.

 

[Mistborn15]

The iPhone 11 was the first time I thought Apple managed to do battery right. Many people say the same about XR but I came from X and it was quite mediocre

 

[MacBH928]

Personally, I am astonished that a slice thin battery can run a palm size screen in HD full, SSD, RAM, touch screen, face ID, camera, download apps, run 3D games, play videos and audio, and everything else meanwhile can last for 10 hrs if not exhausted.

I remember the 90s Nokia had a double battery accessory that was literally like half the size of a red brick