iPhone 5 Release Date: Customers Angry at Poor iPhone 4S Battery - Is iOS 5 to Blame?
Apple customers have been grumbling about the short battery life of the new iPhone 4S, and some critics have been pointing at bugs within the iOS 5 as a possible cause of the problem.
The iPhone 4S has had the most successful release of any smartphone in history, however, users have been complaining by the thousands about the phone’s battery life. Now experts and tech communities are trying to solve the problem and extend the life of the battery.
The Register, a British tech publication writes that the most likely suspects in this case are iCloud (its syncing, specifically) and bugs in iOS 5. The system allegedly makes the embedded GPS work all the time and use all the power while tracking your location. Location-based reminders have been blamed as well.
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iTunes's Wi-Fi sync is another possible culprit.
Some have suggested turning off the option "Sync With This iPhone Over Wi-Fi" in iTunes's "iPhone Summary" pane might help.
Simply requesting a new device has also reportedly worked in some cases.
Gizmodo has confirmed that the GPS problems of iOS 5 might be causing the battery to malfunction.
Commenters on a forum hosted by Mobile Nations have been recommending to “check your multitasking.”
"I kill all my apps when i lock my phone usually, and i dont have backgrounder [sic]," one user shared.
The good old method of charging your battery fully the first time you do that has also been suggested.
According to the specs page on Apple's website, the iPhone 4S battery is supposed to be able to handle up to 200 hours of standby time, up to 8 hours of talk time on a 3G, or 14 hours on a 2G, and up to 6 hours of Internet use on a 3G or 9 hours on Wi-Fi. A discussion thread about the iPhone 4S battery life on Apple's website, however, reveals that customers are not getting what was advertised.
"My iPhone 4s battery seems terrible!" a customer who goes by the handle Scarface wrote. "Almost equivalent to my 3GS and its terrible battery life. When I got my iPhone yesterday and restored from backup I noticed nothing really changed with minimal usage and standby!"
Scarface was not the only one. Cripinuk shared his "low-life" experience: "I have an iPhone 4 and since putting iOS 5 on it the battery life has been really bad it drops at a ridiculous rate even when I'm not using it where as it would barely drop any charge when it was in standby," he said. "I've tried turning lots of thing off but it makes no difference. I've been looking around and a lot of people seem to be reporting this."
TechCrunch has also reported on the poor battery life of the iPhone 4S, and suggested that a part of the blame for the quick-to-die battery might be due to the high number of apps running, including Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, and more, suggesting that if these were turned off, the battery could last longer.
"But what's the point of having a state of the art mobile computer in your pocket if you have to disable its best features?" TechCrunch said.
