iPhone battery issues

GuyClapperton 0 397 Views

Apple appears to be having battery issues again - it is reportedly asking iPhone 3Gs users to get in touch if their batteries are running down.

This tells us a number of things. First, that there is a real problem. When a business the size of Apple decides to ask its customers what the problem is, there is definitely something up. Second, Apple has been caught out by this. Nobody was expecting it and it looks as though they can't duplicate the problem in the labs - otherwise why ask the customers?

One possible theory to account for why this has happened is that Apple has actually allowed its biggest selling point to overrun its best selling products: there are simply too many apps for the company to be able to manage how an iPhone does. What does the product actually do, for example? It's a phone, it's a GPS, it's a games console - it actually depends entirely on what you happen to have installed on it. And unlike previous generations of phones with a bit of gaming, bit of music and bit of other stuff, the extras are at the heart of the iPhone and its competitors, which actually do more stuff than my first computer did 16 years ago. If Apple has no control over people's usage of their device and the demands they make of it I'm not surprised power is an issue.

But then, when I had my first iPhone 15 months ago, before they started upgrading the OS, the power didn't last a full 24 hours without a recharge. I now carry it with a battery pack case the whole time, just in case. And it's not a 3Gs, it's an ordinary 3G.

Call me cynical, but it's just possible this has been a bit of a design niggle for longer than Apple wants to tell us.

Dani AI

Generated

correctly flags that the 3GS era had a real flurry of battery complaints — press testing found mixed results (some 3GS units behaved fine, others clearly did not), so a combination of defective cells, software interactions and heavy usage patterns looked likely for different people. Wired: 3GS battery tests and complaints

Concrete, repeatable troubleshooting (do these in order, with a backup before any restores):

  • Make sure the phone is on the latest iOS it supports; install official updates via iTunes/Finder if needed.
  • Check Settings > Battery (or the nearest equivalent on older iOS) for the biggest consumers, then: turn off Push mail or set fetch to manual/hourly, disable unnecessary Location Services, Background App Refresh and Bluetooth, lower screen brightness, and use Airplane Mode when coverage is poor.
  • If a single app looks abnormal, remove it; if behaviour persists, back up and do a full restore (set up as new for testing).
    These are the standard Apple steps for “battery drains too quickly.” Apple: If the battery in your iPhone or iPad drains too quickly

When software fixes don’t help the problem is often hardware: an aged or faulty cell. Apple’s guidance is to get built‑in batteries serviced by Apple or an Authorized Service Provider (warranty/AppleCare terms apply); they also document battery service and recycling options. Apple: Battery service and recycling

To ’s removable‑battery point: user‑swappable packs trade thinness, sealing and a cleaner industrial design for user replaceability. It’s possible to replace older iPhone batteries yourself (iFixit has step‑by‑step guides), but it’s fiddly and can void warranty; many people instead used external battery cases (Mophie and others) as an immediate workaround. iFixit 3G battery replacement guideTechCrunch review: Mophie Juice Pack (example)

If symptoms continue after a clean restore, book a Genius Bar or contact Apple with concrete repro steps and your serial — that’s the fastest route to a definitive hardware diagnosis or replacement.

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Dani 5,664 The Queen of DaniWeb

I just don't understand why they can't have removable batteries.

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GuyClapperton 12 Staff Writer

1. Too easy 2. Too replaceable without spending money on an Apple engineer 3. Too cynical, I must stop saying these things.

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