Filed under: Bugs/Recalls, iPhone
Singing the iPhone battery blues
"My iPhone's been draining awfully fast since I installed 3.0," I commented to a fellow TUAW blogger just a few days after the release of the iPhone 3.0 firmware. At first, I wanted to think it was my phone. But, my iPhone 3G wasn't even 90 days old at the time of the observation and I'd been able to keep it on standby for several days before it needed a charge. Now, I could barely make it through a 10-hour workday before rushing out to the car to hook it up to a power source.
Aaron Vronko of RapidRepair says that this isn't an isolated incident. The iPhone 3G may now deplete its energy supply in roughly two hours, and the first generation iPhone lasts less than a day. Vronko tells Macworld that the cause is most likely push notification placing a drain on the battery's reserves. The issue has also led to complaints on Apple's support forums.
I've definitely noticed the difference. If I leave myself logged into BeeJive IM while I'm at work, my phone drains much faster than it does if I'm logged out. Regular push mail notification from MobileMe doesn't affect the battery level all that much, even with the high volume of e-mail I receive through TUAW. So, to save on the battery for now, I'm avoiding the push applications as much as I can if I don't have a charger within reach.
Vronko believes that the 3.1 release will solve the battery issues.
[Via MacNN]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
joshuamarketis said 3:07PM on 7-07-2009
I find not having my phone logged into IM while I'm supposed to be WORKING does wonders for the battery life. :p
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Megan Lavey said 3:10PM on 7-07-2009
Well, considering that my fiancé lives in the UK and I'm in Arizona, he can IM me when he needs me and I check my phone on my breaks and lunch. :P Far cheaper than texting.
Manu said 1:17AM on 7-08-2009
I had to do a hard reset and turn off PUSH to get decent battery life out of 3.0. Also had several other problems such as battery not charging and battery overheating etc.
http://www.manu-j.com/blog/fix-iphone-os-30-battery-charging-problems/353/
SeB_or_Sam said 3:11PM on 7-07-2009
Apple didn't want to allow apps to run in the background, mainly because they "killed the battery life." Insted they gave us push notifications, and said that they wouldn't hurt the battery life. Oh, the irony.
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Avian said 3:15PM on 7-07-2009
My 3G gets exactly the same battery life. I love the stories where people claim to have worse battery life with every single freaking update. Perhaps you're using it more because you like the new features? If people are pushing IMs to you and you're constantly checking them, yes, your battery life will go down. Imagine that.
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Rob said 3:32PM on 7-07-2009
My 3 month old 3G iPhone now gets HORRENDOUS battery life since 3.0.
I use my white 3G no differently than when I was running 2.2.1.
I never use push. I never have fetch turned on. Nothing's different in my usage save for the fact when I now unplug it from a full charge the battery will drop right before my eyes.
It will literally start to drop from 100% to 97%, to 94% within FIVE MINUTES! Whereas before 3.0 it would take damn near a half-hour with the same usage for the needle to budge off of 100%.
This is real. This is a problem...
oliver hart said 3:38PM on 7-07-2009
I haven't made any changes to my iPhone habits or apps/settings prior to 3.0, and my battery life since 3.0 has turned to SHIT. I took it off the charger at 9:30 am this morning and it is down to 62%. I have made 1 phone call (3 minutes) and checked google maps for an address I needed. I have MobileMe push turned on and own NOT ONE push app. 3G turned off, brightness low, etc. At 2.2.1 my battery would still be around 80% with this sort of usage. So go figure. 3.1 or 3.0.1 was seeded to devs, so hopefully that fixes whatever is causing this.
Mark said 4:03PM on 7-07-2009
Mine's been off the charger for more than 8 hours, and it's at... 95%. That's with Wifi on / Bluetooth off.
I've noticed no difference at all on 3.0. Both before and after, I've had no trouble getting through a couple of days of use without looking for a charger. That's with frequent email checks, but only a couple of phone calls a day.
Only time I've managed to run it down was with marathon sessions of Knights.
Juaquin said 12:38AM on 7-08-2009
I'm not going to marginalize those with issues, but I (like Avian) am having no problems whatsoever with battery life on my 3G with 3.0. I'm even jailbroken (with background programs like SBSettings running). I don't use 3G data much, but my battery lasts as long as it ever did. Sorry to those who aren't having such good luck.
This is why Apple holds back on so many features (video on the 3G, background processes, etc) - because new functions cost battery and people are going to bitch an moan anytime their battery runtime drops. Just use it carefully (read: turn off 3G when not actively using it) and you'll be fine.
Mike said 12:26PM on 7-08-2009
I've had a 3G since July 2008. I use it almost all day at work checking personal email, social networking, games etc. Other than I've noticed a steady decrease in battery capacity over the year, my battery life with 3.0 is the same as with 2.2. I probably need to charge my phone twice daily due to use, but in reality, I keep it on a charger most of the day. Off the charger, I've always gotten about 3 hours of constant use and about 36 hours of standby time when full. That doesn't sound like much, but it is what it is. And 3.0 didn't change that at all. If anything, I've had fewer instances where I've actually run out of battery with 3.0 than with 2.2.
jrmwvu04 said 3:17PM on 7-07-2009
Go back in time about 6 months and you will see everybody begging for apps-in-the-background and Apple saying no on the grounds of demolishing battery life. And everybody said, "oh come on it can't be that bad just give it to us." And now here we are with an implementation that is even more battery-friendly than that and lots of folks find themselves not wandering far from an electrical outlet.
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Andre said 3:17PM on 7-07-2009
My 3GS doesn't seem to last any longer than my old 3G with 2.x on it.
I just turned off notifications to see if it lasts longer.
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Robert said 3:37PM on 7-07-2009
I have a 1G and was experiencing this same problem. To solve it, used the phone until it died, left it off for four hours, charged overnight, and everything is back to normal. Read a blip that the IPhone should be put through this cycle about once a month. I suppose, like all computes, it needs to reboot every now and then.
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Rob said 3:44PM on 7-07-2009
Excellent point! I do this for my MacBook, but I never thought to do this with my iPhone. Will try this tonight. ;-)
Jerry said 3:23PM on 7-07-2009
I think this whole issue does have to do with push notifications - but the real reason everyone is having different experiences is that battery life is most affected by the ATT network.
With Beejive on all day, I have no battery problems. I lose like 15% over 4 hours. When people are at work, with poor service, the iphone has to work really hard to stay connected to apple for push notifications to work. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that even when you are on wifi, when you sleep the phone, it reverts back to 3g for background data needs.
So the moral of the story is: if you have lousy 3g service, push notifications are going to affect your battery life even more. Otherwise, they will be a modest drain.
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Mark said 4:05PM on 7-07-2009
AT&T headquarters is literally outside my office window, and I've got 5 bars both here and at home. May be why I can go all day and never lose more than 10-20%.
Johnny said 4:38PM on 7-07-2009
That is an interesting theory and possibly a valid one. I work right next to a cell tower and get full bars all day long, although I also use wifi. I use several push notification apps, push contacts, calendars, email, use the phone quite often (for apps more than calls) and get pretty decent battery life. It's definitely the most batter draining phone I've ever had, but it is also the only one that I use all day long because it's a computer first and phone second.
Has anyone with battery troubles tried turning off Notifications in Settings? If the problem only started just after the update, then I'm sure it will be easy enough for them to fix in 3.1.
Gwydion said 5:46PM on 7-07-2009
I don't think it's AT&T fault because I live in Barcelona (Spain).
Do you know that USA isn't the only country in the world.
Jerry said 5:57PM on 7-07-2009
The US isn't the only country in the world, but TUAW is based out of it ... you need to check the chip on your shoulder at the door if you are going to read this site. Did you notice the 4th of July posts? Or did you comment on those too?
Next time you read my comment, substitute "poor 3g connection" for ATT and maybe you won't miss the point of my comment.
Joshua Meadows said 3:27PM on 7-07-2009
I'm using an iPhone 3G with jailbroken/unlocked 3.0 in Australia. Push Notification doesn't work so far with the unlock (the dev-team hasn't fixed it yet), and my battery life has been pathetic since installing 3.0. A couple days ago I woke up and my phone, that had been 100% charged when I went to sleep, was hovering around 30%. Nothing had happened to it in the interim. I've never had the phone's battery life drain so quickly before, especially when it's essentially just "idle."
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