1. 

   John Tracy
   Member

   I don't talk on the phone a lot. To me, my iPhone (4S with Verizon) is more of a PDA with phone capability, rather than a smart phone. I don't play games or do much texting either.

   When I was using iOS 5.0, I was getting 3 days between charges and would sometimes slip to 4 days with the battery dropping to the mid teens percent. Then when iOS 5.1 came out, I was easily getting 4 days and often letting it slid to 5 days as the battery dropped to around 20%. Now with iOS 5.1.1, I barely get 2 days. Ouch! -- YMMV

   What the h*ll has happened? Is Apple turning into a typical company without Steve Jobs?

   Does anyone know how I can get back to iOS 5.1? I've got a camping trip coming up and 5.1.1 just won't do.

   I just found a procedure on CNET for (hopefully) clearing up the problem. It looks like a 2+ day effort. The first step s to back up on iTunes. When I did the first step, iTunes told me that my carrier had an update. I said YES. I hope that clears the problem and saves me from the rest of the CNET procedure. I'll know in a couple of days.

   Posted 1 year ago #
2. 

   Chuck
   Administrator

   not to minimize your problem...is it a big problem to just charge at night?

   Posted 1 year ago #
3. 

   Steve Bennett
   Member

   thanks for this
   I was just starting the download
   Steve

   Posted 1 year ago #
4. 

   Steve Bennett
   Member

   not to maximise it :)

   Isn't there an optimum number of recharges before the battery begins to lose strength. I understood that you let the battery run down and then recharge to extend battery life: if it needs recharging every 2 days not 4...
   Steve

   Posted 1 year ago #
5. 

   Chuck
   Administrator

   it is what it is.....2+ years of charging when it needs to be charged....not to minimize it

   Posted 1 year ago #
6. 

   Stephen Bryant
   Member

   What you're referring to is called Memory effect, and shouldn't affect the lithium-ion batteries used in the iPhone.

   Posted 1 year ago #
7. 

   Alan Hoyle
   Member

   My understanding of lithium ion batteries is that it's best to let them run down a bit and then top off, not run through full discharge/recharge cycles. It is also bad for them to be left on a charger for long periods of time with no usage (think "weeks" not "hours" in this context). This is different from previous NiCd and NiMH batteries, where full cycles are apparently preferred (last I checked anyway.) More so, I have read that it is actually bad for Li-ion batteries to have a full "deep discharge" like you used to do to try to reset the "memory effect" in other batteries.

   I haven't noticed any differences in battery life from the 5.1.1 update on my 4S, but I recharge every night and often at work too. However, one of my apps which was recently updated has a bug which causes it to use location services all the time (solid purple arrow in the status bar). If you set up a geo-fence reminder (i.e. "when I get home, remind me to put out the trash") that might cause you to use more battery as well. (it's an outline purple arrow in the status bar).

   Posted 1 year ago #
8. 

   John Tracy
   Member

   The drop in battery performance is not a battery problem. The rapid drop in battery state was dramatic and started with the 5.1.1 upgrade. Here is the link to CNET with more information:

   http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-57436506-233/how-to-fix-battery-issues-after-upgrading-to-ios-5.1.1/

   Charging every night is not really a big deal unless my routine is changed by travel and I forget. A planned 5 day bicycle ride and camping trip in late June would be a major problem.

   BTW. I mentioned a provider update when I plugged into iTunes. (That's plugged - not wifi) The problem may be limited to Verizon users. That quick update seems to have stopped the battery hemoraging. I have had only 1% drop in battery charge state since my post over 3 hours ago.

   Posted 1 year ago #
9. 

   GeekyGirl
   Administrator

   Did the update create a new user preference, e.g. certain processes, apps, or protocols are turned on by default, and if so, you'd need to change them. Just a thought.

   Posted 1 year ago #
10. 

    John Tracy
    Member

    Hooray! My battery performance is back to how it was under iOS 5.1. The most helpful thing I did was to cycle the phone off with a hardware OFF. This is holding the edge on/off switch in till you get the confirmation screen that you really want to turn it off. It turns off when the circling dot with the fading trail goes away. To turn it back on, hold the edge on/off button in till you see the Apple Logo. I just ended my third day after the power-off reset with more than 50% on the battery.

    If anyone else has battery problems after installing 5.1.1, I recommend this as the first try at fixing. If it doesn't work you'll have to go on-line and start trying some of the more arduous and lengthy procedures, some of which end with the hardware power-off.

    My experience, if you're interested: I started with the CNET procedure which started with a back-up to iTunes, followed by a software reset, then a complete battery discharge. The Plug-in to iTunes produced a notice that my carrier had an update. I accepted and was hoping that had fixed the problem. It didn't. I was heading for the complete battery discharge which did not last for three days. I had some calls to make and had to abort the discharge with a charge. I let it charge that night with the intent of starting over on the discharge. The next morning the battery was down to 94% after only a few hours. This seemed excessive so I went on-line and found some forums where some were reporting the need to do a power-off reset. I did that and the battery recovered to 98%.

    Let me repeat that last. My battery recovered from 94% to 98% just by doing a power-off reset. Something was really pulling the battery down.

    Posted 12 months ago #

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