iPhone 4S Battery Problems
After months and months of speculation about the latest iPhone release, the iPhone 4S is finally available to the public. If there was ever any disappointment over Apple's decision to release an upgraded iPhone 4 rather than a revolutionary new iPhone 5, Apple's reported figures for the first weekend of 4S sales suggest otherwise.
By now we're all aware of the new features in the iPhone 4S: a dual-core A5 chip for faster processing and graphics capabilities; 8 megapixel/1080p rear camera; and of course iOS 5 and Siri. One thing that concerns a large majority of iPhone users is battery life, so we were wondering: with these new features, how does the iPhone 4S compare to the iPhone 4 in terms of battery life?
We'll be putting our own iPhone 4S devices through some tests to investigate just how well the battery performs, but initial online discussions about the iPhone 4S battery life appear quite grim. While battery performance generally varies from network to network, it seems there have been a lot of reports of the iPhone 4S battery draining significantly faster than its predecessor's, regardless of the network in use. It's also apparent that upgrading to iOS 5 on your iPhone 4 will cause your battery to drain faster.
It remains to be seen whether these instances of poor battery life will escalate to a significant widespread problem. While it seems many people are experiencing the problem, there are sure to be many others who don't have any issues with the battery, and we can't say for sure why this is the case. It may be an issue within iOS 5, which could be easily rectified with a subsequent update from Apple. It may be that iCloud constantly running with Wi-Fi Sync enabled in the background is eating up your battery. Or it may be that other apps or settings are running without your knowledge.
We suggest that you condition your battery by letting it drain completely to 0% then fully charge it to 100%; do not leave it plugged in for too long after it has been fully charged, and repeat this process for a few cycles. Obviously your usage and phone settings determine how much power is being used up. Many would agree that disabling all power-hungry settings would defeat the purpose of having an iPhone, so we would suggest that you tailor your settings to your individual usage behaviour. Disable Location Services for apps that you use less frequently; turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when you don't need them; disable Diagnostic & Usage reports as well as Time Zone Adjustments; and close all apps when you're finished with them.
Let us know whether you're having problems with your battery, and what you've been doing to fix it!
