how to
How to Fix Bad iPhone 4S Battery Life in 5 Minutes
The iPhone 4S has been plagued with battery life issues since it launched in October.
Apple has been working on fixing these battery life issues with the iOS 5.0.1 update, which didn’t do a whole lot for most iPhone 4S owners.
I shared how to get better iPhone 4S battery life, but this tip can help those of you who are experiencing horrible battery life even after using these tips.
I can’t promise this will fix every iPhone 4S battery issue, but it was able to fix my horrible iPhone 4S battery life.
Unlike others, I had good battery life to begin with, but after a few weeks of use my iPhone 4S battery life plummeted so much that it didn’t last to the end of the day.
After looking at my iPhone 4S battery usage, I discovered that the iPhone 4S was using my battery the same amount of time it was on standby. Here’s how I fixed my bad iPhone 4S battery life.
These tips are most helpful if you used to have bad battery life, but Step 2 is worth a shot for all iPhone 4S owners who have bad battery life.
Uninstall Recent Apps
If you recently installed a number of apps, one of them could have a bug that is keeping your iPhone 4S from entering standby, thus eating your battery life like the Cookie Monster in a Keebler Elf factory.
Hold down on your recent apps, and when they start to jiggle tap the X. I also did Step two at the same time to get this fixed up fast, but you can stop here and go for a day if you want to test it out. If battery life improves, you can start installing those apps again, one at a time.
Reset All Settings
If you want to fix sudden onset iPhone 4S battery life issues, a settings reset is the easiest way to clean things up without doing a full restore. The nice part about this battery life fix is that you can do it right on your phone in just a few minutes. The whole settings reset took me about 5 minutes. You won’t be able to use your iPhone while this is happening.
1. Tap on Settings.
2. Go to General.
3. Scroll to the bottom and tap on Reset.
4. Tap Reset All Settings.
5. Enter any passcodes you are asked for.
6. Wait for the process to complete.
You will need to go through and re-do any setting tweaks you have made, but all of your apps, media and data will still be in place.
This solved the bad iPhone 4S battery life for me.
Update: For those asking, I am seeing around 4 hours of use and around 16 hours of standby. This dips If I play a game like Infinity Blade II.
Thanks to @geekaren
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ppl r getin dumber
12/02/2011 at 11:19 am
MY iPHONE 4s battery life is around 8.5hrs for normal usage like games, news, fb, net, n some calls; 24.5hrs standby before battery is dead. is this consider normal battery life or not? Note… this is my first iPhone ever.
Anonymous
12/03/2011 at 10:40 pm
I have roughly the same battery life as you. Is this normal?
Jayg
12/04/2011 at 2:50 am
Yes that is good battery life.
Georgevj
01/05/2012 at 11:20 am
My experience is that my 4S battery life is only about 1 hour usage/ 5 hours standby. Its pretty pad. I wonder i made a bad judgement in buying 4S !!!!
Mohsin Diwan Ali
01/28/2012 at 10:09 am
You can get a repair for free by apple if yOur under warranty, just go into an apple store and show them your warranty this is same for people with buttons that don’t work properly l, however if you have water damage then it’s not gonna work
Michael_w
01/05/2012 at 5:52 pm
My complete run time was just under 10 hours… Does that suck?
jing zhong
02/05/2012 at 11:29 pm
here’s a true story, I replaced my N9 with the 4 S when i basicly
drowned it in alcohol on new years eve. The iPhone drains 1% every
fucking minute compared to the N9 who could do 2 days easily with the
same use of apps etc. After I got a external battery, everything works like a charm, https://www.eachsupplier.com/pineng-pn-902-100-genuine-universal-portable-power-source-high-capacity-mobile-phone-battery-5000mah-with-beautiful-cloth-bag.html, you guys should give it a try.
Bleeblun
03/31/2012 at 12:22 am
my phone still has crap battery but i got an 80% data usage warning when on my homes wireless, since then i switch data off in network settings and my battery is great.. phone is crap though.. also i bought a running process app and seen absinthe was still running after my full restore.. dunno if this helps anyone find a solution
Wike2004
12/02/2011 at 4:00 pm
WARNING I tried the Reset All Settings on my iPhone 4 (5.0.1) and it blitzed it back to the pre-activated state requiring a restore from iTunes or iCloud. Now, I can’t use the iPhone until I get home and restore it from my computer. So, beware of this procedure!
Anonymous
12/24/2011 at 11:02 am
You are incorrect partially, While it does appear to reset back to new state is actually does not delete your data and apps. The correct way to do this that has worked for a lot of users is “reset all settings”, upon reboot select the “setup as new phone” option (not restore) DO NOT restore from itunes or iCloud. You do not need to be at your computer and do not need iTunes. Once you go through the wizard you will be back at your home screen with all stuff still there.
Paulo Robinson
10/24/2012 at 3:35 pm
Thanks goodness you commented!
Josh Smith please fix your column and add these directions! I followed your suggestions and panicked when I was confronted with the screen about setting up the iPhone as new again!
Richard
01/22/2012 at 9:09 am
yo Wike, I performed the Reset on my iphone 4s and it worked perfect for me. Before it was draining at 10% an hour without me even using it. Sorry it didn’t work for you.
Micheal
12/27/2013 at 9:03 am
On my iPhone 4 running iOS 5.1.1 I have has 4 hours usage and it says 10 hours standby and my battery is at 3 percent, is this good or bad? I think it’s bad.
UncleZirky
12/03/2011 at 11:10 am
@Wike2004 I had the same issue with iPad (upgraded to iOS5.0.1) not USB-connected at the time), but not iPhone 4S (factory-installed iOS5, upgraded to 5.0.1, USB-connected). After the iPad restore, I tried it again, this time USB-connected, but it had the same problem: wanted to setup and restore from the last backup. Instead, I selected “use as new iPad”, and it worked: all apps still there. Again, the reset worked as described on iPhone 4S, but note that I did lose all of my iPad subscription content from Newsstand.
Webstertw
12/04/2011 at 6:25 am
I only have 4 hours of battery life! Very dissatisfied. I’m reluctant to do this reset procedure for the same reasons listed above.
Bri91dee
12/04/2011 at 9:41 am
I did the reset and it did bring me back to the original iPhone activation screen but after following the startup menus and turning off and on airplane mode when finished I was back to normal… Also battery does seem a little better after one day!
Toxdoc3
01/16/2012 at 8:25 pm
Same problem many people have cited with their 4s –short 8 hour standby time -battery drops 10%per hour with nothing running I the background the background. Resets, as per Apple, or others did not solve the problem. Disappointing but as the pone is brand new and covered, back ito Apple it goes.
Naztaz16
01/21/2012 at 2:09 am
Reset phone. Then erase and reset. Then turn off phone. Turn phone back on. Let phone fully drain. Charge back (can still use phone) and vola, should fix battery problem. Was going to return mine back to Apple but not now. Try before you return.
Trevor
12/04/2011 at 12:58 pm
I tried the “reset all settings” and got to the option to setup as new or restore. Yeah, chose restore and lost photos/messages since last restore. Any idea if it’s possible to recover those? Anybody else trying this should do a back-up first. duh…
Kns
12/29/2011 at 11:09 pm
i treid it and i didnt lost nothing hoppefully the battery life now it gona be ok because its really shit this.
Mdaz75
02/03/2012 at 8:55 pm
??
Anonymous
12/04/2011 at 7:00 pm
phlpn.es/829r8s
Dkm458
12/04/2011 at 8:49 pm
I did a few resets. Had two appointments with the apple store and they decided to swap out my phone with another. Same problem with the new phone. Battery life drains about 7% per hour without even using the phone. Apple care said engineers know of the issue and are working on another software update, but do not know when.
Jamal Young
12/04/2011 at 11:59 pm
UNBELIEVABLE IPHONE 5 CONCEPTS ON YOUTUBE HAHAHAHA! https://adf.ly/42aEk
Vladislav Rakov
12/06/2011 at 1:13 am
Different web services can offer a great number of various apps which can be used in the field one needs. For my apps I used Snappii web service and truthly speaking I got pleasure. Did anybody have the similar experience? Unfortunately I’m not a programmer and find such services a real and probably a single low cost possibility how to make an iPhone app.
Psalaxsfo
12/08/2011 at 10:50 pm
THIS IS INCORRECT INFORMATION. PLEASE POST A RETRACTION
You do not DELETE the app when closing it by tapping the home button twice. this only “closes” the active app paramaters. it does NOT delete the app. you have given people INCORRECT information in #1 above
Jdelco
01/24/2012 at 10:14 am
Your an idiot, read the first post again. It says tap and hold, not double tap. Stay in school.
Andrew Lighten
01/28/2013 at 9:46 pm
That would be “You’re an idiot”. Don’t lecture people about their comprehension with such poor language skills.
Joanna M. Wagner
05/01/2013 at 6:11 am
LOL, good one ;-)
Trevor
12/10/2011 at 9:11 am
btw, I may have lost my photos as mentioned above but my battery life problem is resolved!
Josh Gun
12/10/2011 at 10:42 pm
Mine doesn’t have any battery problems so I guess I’m lucky? My current usage since I last charged it is 4 hours 33 minutes and for the standby time it’s 1 day 7 hours. And it still has 53% left.
Anonymous
12/12/2011 at 9:42 am
Pics or it didnt happen. Too true to believe it man.
Alex
02/12/2012 at 11:00 am
Wow u are soo lucky something tells me u don’t have much or any apps?
Dlp2004ga
12/11/2011 at 7:55 am
i found this interesting and i wrote a letter to apple about my discovery. if you set your iphone down in a verticle position rather than horizontal position, a single charge can last 3 days with minimal phone usage.
Anonymous
12/12/2011 at 9:41 am
What kind of iTrick is this….
Nunya Bizzniss
02/29/2012 at 12:37 pm
Uh huh. Sure.
LoriT
12/12/2011 at 2:40 pm
Why would you suggest people reset their phones without first backing up their data — photos, messages, contacts, etc? This is so irrespondible!
Schwebbled
01/19/2012 at 1:23 am
Common sense…….so rare it’s like a superpower
Jdelco
01/24/2012 at 10:17 am
You reset the settings. Not the phone. Clearly your one of those people to buy fancy things and do not know anythig about them. Read up on what you buy. And also, read the whole post before you comment.
Gianna
12/12/2011 at 9:49 pm
what idiot would reset phone without backing it up
LowLife
12/14/2011 at 7:53 am
My 4s was down to 87% by the time I got out of the shower. RIDICULOUS!
Jon_k88
01/04/2012 at 1:29 pm
.. What were you doing with your iPhone in the shower ?? ;-p
Marcdpalmer
02/08/2012 at 8:59 am
I think i have the answer because my 4’s is crap, take it outside and stamp on it.
Cjarrind
12/14/2011 at 8:19 pm
what about having 10 hours of use and 14 hours of standby? is that considered a very bad battery? I left it charging all night long and in the morning when the alarm went off and i unplugged it i noticed it was already 93%!!!
Ryan
12/17/2011 at 3:25 pm
No that’s good battery. Ive done that on my phone and my phone is practically dead by the time I wake up. ATTENTION EVERYONE: If you HAVE to ask if you have good battery, chances are its good. You will KNOW when it’s shitty. Those of us that get through half a day from a full charge are the ones plagued by the Battery Bug.
Marco Flores
12/18/2011 at 4:16 pm
I found this information useful. i would like to make a note here to all iPhone 4 and 4s users: If you charge your iPhone trough a computer (desktop/laptop) that´s turned of or in sleep/stand by mode, the iPhone battery may drain. Hope this helps.
sindy
12/29/2011 at 11:14 pm
Marco i didnt understand exatly , sorry for my english, you mean if i charge the mobile by laptop/computer it may f*ck up the battery or it does not gets charged correctly? i will be thankfull if you can explain this to me thanks alot.
Jonny
12/31/2011 at 1:49 am
Hes saying the computer may turn off automatically during the night so it will stop charging and drain the battery during the night
Sindy
12/31/2011 at 10:47 pm
thank you Jonny, and yes guys it helped me this it lasted 7 hours usage, and 1 day and 6 hours standby the phone its better how it was before i restart it,
Wesleycintra
12/19/2011 at 5:16 am
Here in Brazil is the same. Just bouht my iPhone 4S and the battery didnt last at leats 9 hours… normal using. In fact there is another buzz problem. Every time it vibrats, a start to hear a buzz noise. Damn Apple.
Anonymous
12/26/2011 at 12:54 pm
I heard iPhones are very expensive in brazil.
Ricardoarista
01/10/2012 at 3:19 pm
Not only in BR I bought it in México withe/16gigs and it costed USD$910.00!
Dave
12/20/2011 at 4:36 pm
I’ve just totally backed up my iPhone and did a restore trough iTunes. I’m not using my backup at the moment. Gonna check out if the battery life is improved this way, and then i’ll slowly start reinstalling my apps. It’s still at 100% at the moment, when usually mine drops to 95-98% after a few minutes. I’ll check back in later if I have some definite results.
Dave
12/21/2011 at 6:34 am
78% battery after usage: 2 hours, 34 minutes and Standby: 4 hours, 29 minutes. It looks fair, but there are almost no apps installed and location services are off. Now i’ll charge it again and turn on location services. After that i’ll start installing the apps. I think it has a better battery life compared to before, but I’m still not satisfied about it. Apple has to come with a new update soon!
Dave
12/21/2011 at 1:46 pm
81% battery life. Usage 1 hour, 47 minutes and Standby 4 hours, 42 minutes with Location Services on. So a it drains a bit more, but it’s definitely not causing the battery problem. It’s just a problem in the software from apple, so I guess all I can do is wait till they finally fix the battery bug :(
Guest
12/23/2011 at 12:47 am
Too much work too much bs no thanks
Devil_like
12/23/2011 at 11:31 am
My iphone 4s battery life is only around 3 hours if I play games or fb.
SamBaez
12/23/2011 at 3:18 pm
Guys, I hope this help someone. When you get 4s out of the box and turn it on you must know all the setting that could drain your battery are on.
Out of the box:
-Bluetooth is ON, if you’re not using it just turn it off..that by it self drained %17 in a matter of 6 hrs in sleep mode.
-Set brightness to Auto, it really helps a lot-
-On location services/system services turn off compass calibration, location based iAds & traffic (if you don’t use it on a daily basis)
-On Siri, turn off the option “Raise to Speak” unless it is used in a daily basis. I rather press the home button but thats just me-
-On mail (optional) , fetch data less frequently unless your job or personal life really requires emails and all the additional info to be instantly pushed to your phone. This one is a biggie.-
-On WiFi, let me clarify something. If you use data on your iPhone quite a often, you actually safe more battery if that data is being used over WiFi rather than your 3g network. And that has been proven a lot of times. However, if you’re going to sleep and obviously won’t use your phone at all while you’re sleeping (like streaming music from Pandora) ..just turn it off.
Hope it helps!
Jram_ind
03/09/2012 at 9:07 pm
If we want to shut everything down then why we bought a smart phone ? We could have got a basic Nokia phone which will give you a better battery life !!!!
Berk
07/28/2012 at 1:14 am
but you can turn off these things when you aren’t using this these things i think when you are playing games you can turn off these things
Jimi
11/27/2012 at 1:03 pm
So true
Nani_mbw
12/24/2011 at 5:22 pm
i just restored my 4S and now i dont have any problem with the battery i has been on 7 hours till now 3 of usage and 4 in sleeping mode so its perfectly running after i made the restoring i worked perfectly no more problems…. but dont forget to back up your phone on your computer first
Anonymous
12/25/2011 at 5:54 am
I suspect iPhone 4S consume more power because it was built in A5 Dual Core Processor.. Obviously this two cores consume more than one core only.. I think this Apple People didn’t anticipate this “annoying thing”.. Its very unsatisfying.. I hope I didn’t purchased this “i-thing”.. tsk.. It’s so expensive also..Really…
Guest2110
03/01/2012 at 12:00 am
but it’s not really about the processor problem. theres a software glitch somewhere apparently because battery drains are also happening in iphone 4.
Anonymous
12/25/2011 at 6:07 am
I wondering also that all commented in this page has a normal acceptance of 7 to 15 hours of iPhone battery life.. Whew what is happening? A phone should have 2 to 3 days battery life with normal usage of fb, text and occasional calls… Phone should not consumed battery during sleep mode or standby mode.. For me I don’t accept this.. Its like consuming your life finding power outlet during traveling or with important meetings..
I apologize to the Josh Smith who posted this “Power” trick, it helps but I hope apple will Fix this battery glitches ASAP. Else I’m considering swap with other not power hungry phones, that still fits my needs..
Anonymous
12/26/2011 at 12:52 pm
You could have fake this result by playing music on your iPhone while it’s locked.
Just1ne1
12/27/2011 at 3:46 pm
Load of rubbish this reset does delete all apps etc. we have now lost stuff we have paid for….Thanks mate!!!!
Make sure you backup before trying this or you could lose everything!!
Harpsichord
01/04/2012 at 1:35 pm
You can redownload them from the app store for free. Apple doesn’t charge you to download apps you’ve previously bought.
Jasiefizzle
12/28/2011 at 6:52 pm
No offence meant to everyone who had their apps and photos wiped out, but if you did follow the instructions correctly, no data, app, and photos would have been deleted. And the phone will prompt exactly the same thing.
SUEZQ99
03/09/2012 at 2:37 am
what do they not understand, RESET SETTING NOT THE PHONE
Lim
12/29/2011 at 1:46 am
Jasiefizzle it right. I followed his directions and it fixed my battery issues; and I didn’t lose ANY data, numbers, apps, etc. This might have fixed it. I went to the Apple store today and it was also suggested that you allow the battery to die ALL the way down (0-1%) and then do a full charge (100%), then repeat once more. After the second charge, turn the phone off, wait 10 mins, then turn it back on. I was told that it “conditions and trains” the battery. Don’t know if it will actually help, but what the hell, I’m gonna try it!
Tim
12/29/2011 at 7:55 am
Fucking bullshit. You thick cunt
M2kahmed
12/29/2011 at 2:48 pm
how do u back up your data before restore?????
Sindy
12/29/2011 at 11:28 pm
i did the restore and nothing got lost no images no apps deleted if you do the restore correctly then 100% nothing can be lost/deleted
User
12/31/2011 at 5:31 am
Chose to read the whole stream before trying this. Noticed a fair few people saying they lost their data-firstly you should know to back things up before playing around with it also its very clear there is 2 steps posted to help improve the battery life. One of which is resetting your settings and the other is deleting your apps-deleteing your apps will delete your apps. Theres no surprise there. So i went for just resetting my settings and I’m hoping it works. Thanks for the help :)
Ut
01/01/2012 at 12:52 pm
I get about an hour and a half of battery life but standy is like 6-7 hours i never keep apps running in the background
Braggi
01/28/2012 at 9:01 am
I can tell you are in a place you don’t get phone service. This happens to me when I’m in my forest cabin. The phone keeps on searching for phone signal but there is none and it drains the battery. If I put the phone in “Airport Mode” the battery drain stops.
I think this is a software bug or at best a programming oversight. If the system detects no phone signal it should slow down the check to once every few seconds. I’ll bet it’s checking thousands of times a second now and that’s what’s draining the power.
If anyone knows a programmer who works on iPhone software, this is something that Apple should include in the next iOS update.
guest
01/02/2012 at 7:24 am
if any of you guys lost apps, just download them again. you wont get charged again itunes keeps a record.
MonD
01/03/2012 at 12:43 am
i dont know if it’s a battery problem or is it just me? bought my iphone4s last week and the hell! with heavy use such as playing games, facebook, calls and text my phone only lasted roughly 6hours. i dont know if that’s normal. maybe i’ll try to drain it to 0% then charge it all the way to 100% w/o using it.
Lhammock1
01/04/2012 at 11:19 am
i have looked everywhere in settings to find info on the battery and the standby life. can’t find it. where do i look?
Braggi
01/28/2012 at 9:05 am
Go to iTunes Store and download Battery Life Pro -ALL IN ONE. It’s a free app.
I have also looked for a battery life indicator like the one on my wife’s iPad2 that indicates % charge. I can’t find on on the iPhone. I’m curious how all these people posting here know the exact % charge on their battery.
Alex
02/12/2012 at 11:06 am
You could google it. That’s how I found out how to do it, what iPhone do u got? If its like 2 or under u gotta jailbreak but I wouldn’t recommend it
Suezq99
03/09/2012 at 2:40 am
Go to Settings, then General the Usage then scroll down to battery percentage and turn it on. Percentage will appear up top by battery.
Posnetski
01/04/2012 at 2:55 pm
Well havent tried any of the above and was getting 16 hours standby and 4:45 hours usage. This was after “Conditioning the battery” over a couple of days. (Running down to 0% then charging to 100%) three times.I also switched off the following:-
Location services/Siri/Bluetooth/Mail to manual push – THIS IS PANTS!
Spoke to guy in Apple store he suggested icloud off as well, so I did.
Now have14 hours standby and 4:15 hours usage and have 36% left so slight improvement.
Might turn off Diagnostics as that seems to be sending alot of info back to Apple
This is my second Iphone (Which I love) – might be my last!
Anonymous
01/08/2012 at 2:11 am
with BATTERYLIFEGUARD it wont hurt …:)
@cneroots
01/08/2012 at 10:17 am
I found Apple’s article more informative and detailed. https://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html
Lawsey
01/09/2012 at 6:24 pm
My 4S batterey would not last a morning at work withoutr a re charge. Tried turning off the usual suspects but still no improvement. As a last resort I performed the reset as described above (using the phone only not through a computer) using the ‘New Phone’ set up. Apart from having to re insert a couple of passwords for Networking etc the process worked perfectly with NO LOSS of DATA. I charged the phone last night and left it in standby mode overnight and it still has some 44% 18 hours later with WiFi and Bluetooth on!! FANTASTIC!
Prior to this I had been searching blogs, internet sites and even spoke to Apple who suggested it was a hardware issue and offered a replacement. One worthwhile thing I did find however was an APP which allows you to track your phones battery life and processor useage in real time which may help identify any processes that are using up battery. Download SYSTEM ACTIVITY MONITOR (99c) from the App Store.
Tlsaltz
01/09/2012 at 8:12 pm
The fetch data less frequently is the ticket. My battery was being completey drained in less than four hours. I am on a corporate exchange server. I noticed the hundreds of unread emails indicator would drop to zero and then start reloading every time it fetched. I changed the fetch rate to manual and saw instant relief. It’s now 14 hours since I started my day and I am at 54% (phone was on car charger for about 30 minutes, 5 hours ago.) To think I was about to throw the darn thing in the bay.
Tlsaltz
01/09/2012 at 8:19 pm
Forget about my last comment about the fetch data. While that is a contributor to the problem it certainly wasn’t the real cause. I had the same experience as Lawsey. I think something gets messed up with the corporate exchange server where a partial packet of data gets messed up and it continues to retry the data transfer. You can see it in the processes. I did a restore, deleted my corporate profile, reloaded it and now my battery performs as expected. I was about to throw this thing into the bay.
Ben18_hil
01/11/2012 at 4:09 am
Did this. And also did the procedures on the comments below. You guys are amazing! I tur ed off i Cloud, Location services, and did the BATTERY CONDITIONING. Saw the effects after the first drain/charge. Now i have 4 hours of usage and 10 hours of standby. Thanks guys! I really hope apple release 5.0.2 SOON!
Mike171
01/13/2012 at 9:12 am
It made a huge difference when I did this , I have not plugged the phone in since Wednesday evening . Thanks so much !
Sandrotokic
03/27/2012 at 5:41 am
What have you done. Your battery on iPhone 4s is amazing!
Zee
05/02/2012 at 3:46 am
See the the image again it says “iPhone has been plugged in since last full charge”…
Kathy
01/21/2012 at 11:50 pm
I’m very disappointed with the battery life on this 4s. I have a cell phone for convenience and fun. Having to charge this more than once a day is not convenient or fun. I barely consider it a wireless phone since I have to carry around the phone PLUS the cord and adapter. What a rip. I am thinking about selling it since I can’t return it because my thirty days were up right before the bad battery life became unacceptable battery life. I thank you for the tips and I will try them. And p.s., I have been to the Apple Store twice with this issue. Why aren’t they recommending the reset business?
Pn51792
01/22/2012 at 6:45 am
I get a good 20 hours out of my battery life on my 4s. I use it quite a lot but rarely have to charge it I dock it at night before I go to bed and it lasts me from 9am until midnight easily.
Michele
01/22/2012 at 11:55 am
My battery life was good when I first purchased my 4s then it declined so I was always thinking about where I will get my next charge, where is an outlet, I don’t like that feeling. I read this article, followed the procedure carefully and my iPhone battery is back to where it was when I first purchased the 4s.
Thanks for this fix!!!
Raman
01/28/2012 at 5:07 pm
I used it for 48 mins on one phone call – and it went down approx 35%, Amazing that Apple has not really ‘fixed’ the issue. I paid a hefty $299/= for my phone,and I am always worried about where the next wall socket is! Just cannot use this phone the way I thought. Really disappointed by the battery life issues. Really – I or any other user should not be looking for tips on the internet for improving the battery life. Its a failed product from a usage perspective. If I need to always have a wall socket nearby, then its really not useful IMHO.
Raman
01/28/2012 at 5:28 pm
For the record, here’s what Apple claims in their 4S specs:-Talk time: Up to 8 hours on 3G, up to 14 hours on 2G (GSM)Standby time: Up to 200 hoursInternet use: Up to 6 hours on 3G, up to 9 hours on Wi-FiVideo playback: Up to 10 hoursAudio playback: Up to 40 hours
Clive Sherman
02/03/2012 at 3:34 am
Turn off raise to speak on Siri.
I was advised to do this by the Apple store as they said if this is on when the phone moves about Siri thinks it is being used.
It definately seems to help battery life.
Javier872
02/07/2012 at 6:19 am
I went from 6usage 6standby to 1.5 and 14standby , with 77% left overnight.
Many thanks , I almost threw it against the wall.
Frustrated
02/14/2012 at 8:44 am
I tried this and it worked great for 24 hours, I felt human again!!Woke up this morning and now the battery is already at 95 percent after being off the charge for an hour, I’m afraid the bad battery issue is back. Didn’t think I’d have to reset every day. I do not love this phone. Why can’t apply fix this?????????????????
Pani W007
02/16/2012 at 3:40 am
i buyed iphone 4s white 32gb on 10 th feb/12 i was shoked that it’s charging was worst…i retured in store…they change my mobile completely with new box…on 13th feb and i got same prob with that……..today i.e 16 th feb i again retured it in store……………….
WITH MY IPHN 4S I CAN IRON my cloths……that much of heat it was……….it’s ony 8hrs standby…….
oscar
02/16/2012 at 9:15 am
I bought an Iphone 4s and was with an operator with good coverage in my area. the battery lasted a couple of days. I have changed my operator, has more bad (but inexpensive) coverage and the battery lasts only one day
Jumpyblocku
02/22/2012 at 6:38 pm
is Usage: 8 Hours, 27 min
and Standby: 15 hours, 14 min
good?
Jumpyblocku
02/22/2012 at 6:40 pm
oh and i have about 22% left
Sandrotokic
03/27/2012 at 5:44 am
Great. Tell me what have you done?
Jumpyblocku
03/27/2012 at 8:26 am
I turned location off, brightness almost down, vibration off( if I am home) time update off, diagnostic and usage off, push off, ping off, and I put wifi on at home and turn off cellular data. I will reply if I have more tips. Hope this helps
Ric9009
02/23/2012 at 5:56 am
what I dont understand is why iPOD Touch or iPADS does not have similar battery problems.
my iPAD2 with Wifi and Cellular network on only loses about 1% per hour on standy by. The ipod with Wifi connected and listening to music also lasts as adverstised.
Davimich75
02/23/2012 at 10:41 am
everyone buy a mophie charging case for the iphone. my phone with constant use lasts 9 hours. That will easily get you through the day.
Davimich75
02/23/2012 at 10:42 am
and the phone is over a year old also.
Lou loser
02/26/2012 at 8:42 pm
I see no issue with the battery life: 2 hours of heavy 3G usage, 24.5 hours standby, 65% charge…
If I were you I would check you the Chronic Dev Team’s Crash reporter. It definitely fixes something. Maybe removing the crash logs?
44budkitclydesdale
03/01/2012 at 4:09 pm
My battery can be 90%, or 30%, the phone will just die as if battery is dead, you plug it in and boom, it’s back to 90% or 30% were ever it was.
HK989
03/03/2012 at 4:32 pm
Made my battery life worse why did I listen to you
Braggi
03/03/2012 at 10:58 pm
iPod Touch and iPads don’t have the problem because the problem is caused by the phone. It only happens when the phone can’t make contact with a cell tower. Then it just keeps on trying over and over until the battery goes dead. The cure is to put it in airplane mode if you’re going to be in a place where the signal sucks for any length of time. Sorry, but you have to do that until Apple figures it out and changes the software to quit trying so hard (so often) when it doesn’t detect a signal. HK389, we have no idea what you’re complaining about. 44budkitclydesdale, your phone is messed up. Take it to an Apple store and get it fixed. Best of luck everyone.
Leiane15
03/04/2012 at 8:32 pm
I had my i phone 4s last feb 17 i notice that it gets hot while im using this and about the battery life i got it fully charge at night when i woke up it is 88% left siri is turn off locationservices is off cellular data is off notifications where turn off i used it at around 9:30Am and it is 12:29pm and it is 29% left on my battery with 3g usage..does it have a good battery life?
vrsasik
03/07/2012 at 3:23 am
hi anyone tell me should i buy iphone 4s or not
i am sales person , my phone will be bizzi hold day
PMF
03/08/2012 at 8:40 am
AMAZING. I used to have to recharge my phone during the day, if not i would get 20% by 18.00. Did the whole backup to cloud, reset all settings, now i get 80% – 65% left by 18.00. Sorted my wife’s iphone out as well who now thinks the sun shine out, result.
Ganeshakid
03/08/2012 at 12:29 pm
i had a lot of problems with it too even after turning off blue tooth, adjusting the brightness and all the others that have been mentioned. i could just watch my phone and it would lose battery life. then my friend double clicked the box button and saw all the apps that were running. i charged my phone last night. took it off at 9 o’clock. its 12:30pm now and i still have 100% so i recommend trying that as well!
Jram_ind
03/09/2012 at 9:11 pm
Hi All,
After the new upgrade Im seeing some improvement in the batter life. Try that and update your comments
Nonna
03/10/2012 at 12:01 pm
Have just received an update from Apple which, amongst other things, is supposed to address the battery issues. Mine went from 86% to empty in 7 hours overnight, with all apps closed. Had just found this site to see what I could do, so let’s hope this fixes it
Yarmony
03/13/2012 at 7:59 pm
So why wouldn’t “killing” the apps work. Instead of uninstalling my apps. Reinstall would be a bitch day by day.
Ngwmail
03/19/2012 at 1:51 pm
I found the best way to get away from the iPhone sucky battery life problem is to upgrade to a Blackberry! I use my BB regularly throughout the day and usually get 2-3 days of usage before I have to plug it in.
Rima
03/24/2012 at 1:56 pm
I bought my 4S 10 days ago and i was shocked that the battery is awful and didn’t last till noon after charging overnight . After receiving an update IOS 5.0.1 the battery was still the same. I did my research on the internet and found that lots of people were suggesting that the battery should reach 1% until the phone turns off and that it should be done at least couple of times or three. I did twice so far and it changed drastically.
y.pango
03/25/2012 at 3:37 am
I have tried the above tips and after using my iphone 4s for a few weeks, my battery life has somewhat improved. However, there’s something interesting that happens when I charge my phone over night… it decides to come “off charge” and drain. Sometimes it drains to 92%. Other times it states 100%, but the status is “draining”… I suspect when I leave my house in the morning, my phone isn’t completely 100% charged, unless I unplug and re-plug it in for another hour.
Have a look at my battery statistics using Battery Logger: https://bit.ly/GN1yCV
I can’t work out if this is a problem or an intentional feature of the iPhone 4S or iOS…?!
Vimal SR
04/03/2012 at 2:59 pm
my iPhone 4s says usage 8 minutes and standby 3 hours19 mine and battery is 98% is that gud
Vimal SR
04/04/2012 at 11:18 am
iPhone 4S usage 2 hours 51 minutes Standby 23 hours36 minutes 54% left Is that
Normal…
enileuqcaj
04/10/2012 at 2:28 pm
i bought an iphone 4s coz i tot it was great phone…. yah its nice but the battery life is the worst that ive got…. every minute the battery comes down…… i think i made a wrong decision to buy iphone4s…. what should i do????
Tsohel
04/17/2012 at 6:42 am
Nice post, I tried for last two days above methods. Not clear is it really working or not. Today I googled and found sys activity manager plus application. It says it can improve battery life. Does any one have idea on this?
Theo Picchu
04/26/2012 at 5:12 am
Hi! I have iPhone 4s and it has 89% of battery with 1h 11min of usage fith wifi , location service on and 8 h and 34 min standby… Yesterday I was playing all day temple run and some other games and it had 5h 40 min of uscate and 18h of standby … Is this a good battery life?
Kafir
04/27/2012 at 7:05 pm
For me, it turned out to be the brightness setting. When I set it back to regular brightness, it stopped discharging.
Drugge
05/06/2012 at 7:20 am
worked perfectly, thanks!
Rutger
05/13/2012 at 3:49 pm
In general-settings-about-diagnostics&usage-diagn& usage data I see at
LowBattery log:
mediaserverd: com.apple.audio.AudioSession-150.isplaying
PreventUserIdleSystemSleep == 255, held for 05:18:35
I am not aware of anything playing any media.
I (neurotically) close all my apps on every exit (always).
I was abroad when it started happening with roaming off, 3g off, cell data off, wifi off, bt off.
Only cell and txt functionality on, but later also in airplane mode it drains in no time at all.
Fw: latest and greatest.
anwar
05/14/2012 at 1:52 am
my iphone 4S was performing very well, but last three days it was like a horrible set for battery drainage. I charge it 100% and after 7 hrs sleep in night i found my phone usage 7hr standby 7hr and battery 80%. how can i solve it. Any expertise suggestion is highly appreciated.
Judy
06/05/2012 at 7:23 pm
A word of warning to anyone attempting to use the “reset” option…Make sure you do a full backup before you proceed!!!!! I opted to try the “reset all settings” route. I should have known better, and I should have done more research! We’ll see if it improves my battery life, however… In spite of the fact that it clearly states no data or media will be lost, all of my photos from Camera Roll and Photo Stream are gone as well as notes and calendar entries! In other words, all of my data and media. I did not realize I would be required to “restore from a previous backup” from iCloud or iTunes. I could not get it to use the iTunes backup and was forced to use a 4 month old backup from iCloud. (I had been using iTunes to backup because my iCloud storage was maxed out). So, backup, backup, backup!
Judy
06/05/2012 at 8:00 pm
Update: According to other info I’ve read, if I had chosen the option “set up as new iPhone” instead of the iCloud or iTunes options, it would have left the data intact. To me this is counter-intuitive, but I guess we live and learn!
Mary
06/11/2012 at 7:21 pm
Thanks so much. I reset it and it is charging again. You saved my 100 dollars and a 2 year contract with ATT which I did not want.
none
07/01/2012 at 3:37 am
Above all, the most important thing to do:
Go to location services > system services and disable all options, those litteraly suck battery life by running GPS activity background.
Some of those features like iads locate your position all the time so thru apps you might receive advertising depending on your location.
You probably don’t need or want a permanent compass calibration, setting time zone or diagnostic and usage function which also use GPS running background all the time.
So try it before resetting and deleting…it’s amazing.
Brandon stokes
07/16/2012 at 12:11 pm
It worked out great,I didnt loose any pics maybe notes and calendar dates,but not sure if I had any to start with,but thanks man your a genius
Louie
07/21/2012 at 8:22 am
My Battery was geting drained within 2Hrs of use and 3.5Hrs standby. after reinstalling a new OS and replacing the battery the issue was still there. the Guys at thee Omaha Apple store were amazing and replaced my phone with a new one. Yea!!!! Apple Customer service is the best i have ever seen.
John
07/24/2012 at 8:35 am
i tried this and when the phone booted back up it took me through the setup wizard. then it asked if wanted to setup as a new phone or restore from the cloud. i restored from cloud and all my apps were there already however my music all needed to be redownloaded. and i know i didn’t press reset all content and settings. just settings.
hopefully this helps my battery life. otherwise its a few hours of sitting around a wifi that i’ll never get back.
MuhaiminAbd
08/15/2012 at 1:13 am
It doesn’t work…
F your dumb idea
08/22/2012 at 4:09 pm
F. You dude and your stupid ass idea. DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU ARE USING GEVEY SIM. OR HAVE UNLOCKED YOUR SIM. THIS MIGHT WORK IF YOU HAVE ORIGINAL CARRIER SERVICE OTHERWISE DON’T DO IT.
F your dumb idea
08/22/2012 at 6:33 pm
My bad. Lol my bad I had to do some extra work but it’s all good now. Haven’t had the chance to charge iPhone yet to c if it worked or not. Again my bad. You have to wait for carrier service to load. If using sim geavy Sam I had to tweak that b.cuz some apps I have required setting so I was able to get into SAM PREF. from there you have to set bundle pick sprint USA and then use this number for imsi 316010075677169 then spoof then paste again on both activate so you have it on Sam main page then turn off turn on and don’t accept geavy prompt just use back arrow.
fjpoblam
08/24/2012 at 6:35 am
Hey! Looks as if that worked. So far, so good. Two days from charge, and down to just 84%. Just for the heck of it, I’ll reconsider all apps that *could* be sucking power. I’ve already pruned settings, such as turning off Siri (bleah) and Bluetooth and even using an almost black wallpaper. We’ll see. Thank you very much.
aman dogra
08/29/2012 at 10:16 am
Very cheap battery quality just ruined the whole showoff
Savannah Reynolds
11/23/2012 at 11:55 am
I tried this tip but it didn’t help. Maybe if I explain you could possibly help? I’ve had my iPhone4s for a few months now and it has always worked just fine. Recently, My daughter dropped it in the toilet bowl. After sitting in rice for a day and a half my phone was completely back to normal. This past week it ‘died’ at 51% and did not come back on until a day later, even after being on the charger. Now, it works just normal but my battery percentage says 1% even after being on the charger. It actually charges but it always says 1% and I never know when it is going to die. I have tried everything and it still won’t work, and when it dies it stays off for a day or so. Do you have any advice?
LiZ
12/14/2012 at 8:59 am
I’ve lost EVERYTHING from following these instructions… And the worse thing is the phone won’t let me add my contacts back into the phone!!! So frustrated right now
darlene
12/30/2012 at 1:47 am
i accidentally forgot and left my iphone 4s inside the car parked in a covered parking area. When i got back in my car the phone was hot and from then on the battery started draining fast less than a day. You know any way to resolve it other than restore all settings? and is it ok to drain battery to the last % till it switches off on a daily basis? I do that hoping to restore my iphone battery like it was before 2days before i charge again. thanks..
Mike
01/29/2013 at 8:36 am
There appear to be other reasons for the battery drain and after following the potential fix it was not resolved. I did not loose anything when following the directions. Then noticed an e-mail in the draft box that had not been sent in 3 weeks and was continually cycling. With help from a friend we went into settings and turned off the e-mail then restarted it and the e-mail was gone. It appears to have helped solve my issue. FYI
Michelle
06/01/2013 at 8:51 am
I did this I don’t know what it will do for the battery but I have already noticed my apps are working faster… That’s good.
borodatuy
06/04/2013 at 1:31 pm
There is an app which can help figure out problems with battery – SynergiOS smart battery manager
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/synergios/id653045685?mt=8
Ana
08/29/2013 at 3:06 pm
I just got this phone the other day and it is going back because of it’s crappy battery life.
5 hours on one overnight charge is totally rediculous. Ease of use is about the only plus going for this phone. Personally, I think the iphone is severely over-rated and not for the tech savvy.
Toni
11/09/2013 at 2:34 pm
Old article, but I just wanted to say thanks. My battery was draining every 12 hours and the usage time was always the same as standby. After reading this I solved my problem. Thanks a lot!
dvershinin
02/10/2014 at 1:28 am
Consider calibrating battery if your iPhone doesn’t last long. Here are instructions for calibrating and other tips: https://www.iosappsandhacks.com/iphone-battery-calibration
TJ Ornedo
04/15/2014 at 8:57 pm
I’ve done those tips out of experimentation, long before I read this article. Worked wonders for my battery life. Also, consider logging out of apps that require sign in. Cut down on email accounts, as well.