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4s Battery problems after 16 months

erom43

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I got my iPhone 4s new in November 2013, with IOS 6.1.3 installed. It was normally turned off two out of every three days. Other than not being able to feel the vibrator well, it ran fine up until last month. First indication that something was wrong was when my alarm did not go off in the morning, because the battery had completely drained overnight. I thought I might have been to blame, except that it has happened a few more times since then. The battery would drain abnormally fast with no apps running. This seemed to be an intermittent condition, but is getting more frequent now. Yesterday, the battery drained down completely after a few hours on idle use. I also noticed it was abnormally hot at that time.
I tried troubleshooting by turning on airplane mode, and off for location services. This helped quite a bit, but would disable many useful functions. The only other thing that is different, is that when first turned on, I cannot slide to unlock until screen disappears and I bring up unlock screen again. Don't know if that is related. Is this more likely a battery problem, or software problem? If so, any easy solutions?
 
Might make road trip to apple store to check battery. 16 months if that is accurate, battery may not be taking full charge.

Sent from my iPad using iPF.net
 
Strange as it might sound to you, the battery needs to be used to stay in shape.
 
And you might want to look over these tips on battery usage. But if it's that bad, a trip to the Apple Store might be in order. They can check it out.
iOS 7 Battery Life Draining Too Fast? It?s Easy to Fix

Thanks. It could very well be the battery, but I was wondering if 16 months is a normal life for a new battery? I have been searching online, and most are suggesting software glitches or apps as culprits. And also, why would battery get so hot after rapidly draining? Is some sort of short a possible cause? BTW, the link is for ios 7, which I don't think is applicable to by ios 6.
 
Thanks. It could very well be the battery, but I was wondering if 16 months is a normal life for a new battery? I have been searching online, and most are suggesting software glitches or apps as culprits. And also, why would battery get so hot after rapidly draining? Is some sort of short a possible cause? BTW, the link is for ios 7, which I don't think is applicable to by ios 6.
Sorry, I missed the iOS 6 part. 16 months isn't that long for a new battery on average. It depends on usage. How much each day, what was done, etc. Some apps will drain battery, especially if they continue running in the background and use location services. (GPS). I don't really have an answer. Regardless of your use, the battery should not be behaving that way after only 16 months. If you're near an Apple Store, I'd make an appointment and let them check it.
 
Hi,
Like the others said if there is an Apple Store close to you go there and tell them the battery is acting up. If they won't fix it or give you a replacement for some reason you can try going back another time.
You could also buy a new replacement battery. You can get the batteries for under $10 online. The tools you would need would be a pentalobe screw driver and a Phillips screw driver.
Hope this helps.
 
I have poured through various forums on this issue, and tried numerous fixes, but nothing seems to solve the problem. I drained and recharged the battery, but my drain rate is still about 10% per hour sitting in standby, but significantly less in airplane mode....as I would expect. The overheating problem is not usually prevalent. Since the battery worked fine for over a year, I am leaning toward a hardware problem.
I was getting ready to replace the battery, when I noticed that the total usage time was essentially equal to the standby time. From what I read, this is not normal, and may be an indication of my problem source. Any ideas? BTW, Apple store not that close, and they said I would be charged for a repair, since it’s now over 18 months. Thanks.
 
I have poured through various forums on this issue, and tried numerous fixes, but nothing seems to solve the problem. I drained and recharged the battery, but my drain rate is still about 10% per hour sitting in standby, but significantly less in airplane mode....as I would expect. The overheating problem is not usually prevalent. Since the battery worked fine for over a year, I am leaning toward a hardware problem. I was getting ready to replace the battery, when I noticed that the total usage time was essentially equal to the standby time. From what I read, this is not normal, and may be an indication of my problem source. Any ideas? BTW, Apple store not that close, and they said I would be charged for a repair, since it’s now over 18 months. Thanks.

Try a hard boot.....hold the home and top key til the apple appears....may help

Sent from my iPad using iPF.net
 
Finally tried replacing the battery. BTW, it took me almost an hour. Did not have the best tools, and working with those tiny screws drove me crazy. At any rate.....the new battery is no improvement. Still losing 10% per hour, with airplane mode off. Time to try hard boot, and then possibly reset to new.
 
Interesting turn of events. After changing battery, and still seeing large battery drain after a hard boot, I took phone with me to another part of town. Much to my surprise, the battery drain disappeared. Lost a mere 2% in three hours, with limited usage. Fast drain came back when in a restaurant with no wifi, and accessed email and facebook. It appears that the phone searching for wifi or 3G connection, might be the culprit. Time since last charge now shows usage=21min, standby=4hours 49min......instead of being the same. Additionally, drain appears to have stopped at home now. Still not sure what is going on. Any ideas?
 
Keep WI-FI turned off when you are out of range of known networks. Otherwise you phone is constantly searching for a WI-FI conncection and that is probably what is causing the battery drain. Also turn off Ask to Join Networks (same reasoning).
 
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Understand Bear, but when home it showed connected to my wifi router, and still had large drain. Also, six months ago drain was normal....in same location with same router.
 
Honestly, Apple's batteries are on and off, and the software component is the wild card. A lot of users are experiencing battery drains left and right, while others have never seen a battery last this long. It's probably something running in the background that's eating up your processor and having it run 24/7 in the background. If you're jailbroken, you can check it yourself and manage it yourself. Otherwise, you'd have to restore the device to end the process assuming it's a system process. You can try calibrating it a few times in succession to see if that helps


Sent from my iPad using Tapa
 
Honestly, Apple's batteries are on and off, and the software component is the wild card. A lot of users are experiencing battery drains left and right, while others have never seen a battery last this long. It's probably something running in the background that's eating up your processor and having it run 24/7 in the background. If you're jailbroken, you can check it yourself and manage it yourself. Otherwise, you'd have to restore the device to end the process assuming it's a system process. You can try calibrating it a few times in succession to see if that helps


Sent from my iPad using Tapa
Calibrating may be the answer. I noted that OP said the iphone is always plugged in and I know that Apple even recommend that the phone be unplugged and allowed to drain some regularly although not below 20%. Something about the ions neede ing to bounce around to keep the battery healthy that I am sure you understand but I don't.
 
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