Apple inquires with users about iPhone OS 3.1 battery life

[AppleInsider]

With various reports of poor iPhone battery life following the 3.1 OS update, Apple has reportedly begun asking users about its experiences and usage habits in an attempt to address the issue.

AppleCare workers allegedly have a list of 11 questions they have e-mailed to customers in order to help identify battery issues. According to The iPhone Blog, the note also includes an unsigned attachment that enables battery life logging on the iPhone. The application syncs battery life information with iTunes and then shares the data with Apple.

Users are reportedly being contacted after posting in the Apple support discussion forums, with questions focusing on battery-eating tasks such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and push e-mail. One specific question cited asks "When you notice a power drop, does it seem to be a legitimate power drop, or rather an issue with the battery icon indicator?"

Users who install the Battery Life Logging application are reportedly asked to go a few days without syncing, and are also told they should disable the application once the information has been submitted to Apple. This issue allegedly stems from the file size of the battery life logs.

Earlier this month at its media-centric event, apple launched iPhone OS 3.1, bringing a Genius recommendation system for App Store software, along with a number of bug fixes. The software update also added ringtones from major labels directly into the iTunes application on the phone.

Any changes could come this week, as Apple is expected to release a new firmware update on Friday, Sept. 25, when multimedia messaging is due to be enabled for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS on AT&T. Officials with the wireless carrier said the update will be available as a download from iTunes. However, there have been some reports of users having MMS functionality enabled on their phone, regardless of the firmware number they currently have installed, leading some to believe it is not OS dependent.

[parky]

MMS should be a carrier enabled feature, it should not need a change to the software.

In the UK when we upgraded to 3.0 and the phone connected to the carrier for the first time we got a text message that said O2 would now enable MMS. A few minutes later we received an MSS message from O@ saying it was enabled.

[mosqueda]

[QUOTE=AppleInsider;1485839]With various reports of poor iPhone battery life following the 3.1 OS update, Apple has reportedly begun asking users about its experiences and usage habits in an attempt to address the issue.

I've never been contacted, but then I haven't complained- yet. I've never had good battery life. I did read letting the phone die, twice in a row would do the trick. It seems to have some impact, but I never have 3G enabled, keep brightness down to about 50%, and have forgone my Borg-like earpiece and use a headset.

I find battery life really frustrating with an otherwise great phone.

[Douglas Bailey]

I can't think what the problem is with the battery life. I charge my phone for about 8 hrs at night an then it will last all the way from from 7am till 11pm as long as I charge it for an hour at work. Phone should have shipped with 3 chargers; home, work and car.

[iGlaswegian]

I got the e-mail a few days back, not bothered replying to it yet. Here's a screenshot below:

[akhomerun]

i find it kinda funny that apple would want you to run an attachment from them. i mean, whenever i get an attachment from an unexpected email, i immediately assume it's a virus, that's what you're supposed to assume.

[saarek]

Perhaps I am just lucky, I use my phone a lot, lot's of internet browsing, calls and music. I have to recharge my phone every night, but it never dies on me during the day and usually has around a 30% charge left when I plug it in.

[al_bundy]

3.1 crapped out my battery. i had to restore as new and now it seems better than with 3

it's a decent phone and the battery is pretty good when you account for everything it does, but there are too many posting on forums telling people to restore as new.

[themoonisdown09]

The battery life on my iPhone 3GS with 3.1 is exactly the same as it was with 3.0. I'm wondering if this issue is effecting only iPhone 3G and earlier.

[Ireland]

If Apple don't mention WiFi in this article I'll be "VERY" disappointed. Several people have called Apple with no WiFi after 3.1, Apple will not admit 3.1 is the problem - but it is.

Apple admit you made a balls of 3.1, and issue a fix for WiFi very quickly.

Just read the article, WTF Apple!? No mention.... No admission?

[Mac Voyer]

Has Apple ever done anything like this in the past? I like it.

[al_bundy]

Originally Posted by Ireland

If Apple don't mention WiFi in this article I'll be "VERY" disappointed. Several people have called Apple with no WiFi after 3.1, Apple will not admit 3.1 is the problem - but it is.

Apple admit you made a balls of 3.1, and issue a fix for WiFi very quickly.

Just read the article, WTF Apple!? No mention.... No admission?

what is the wifi issue? the bug with long passwords is still there

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by al_bundy

what is the wifi issue? the bug with long passwords is still there

Thousands of people have noticed after updating to 3.1 they have no WiFi whatsoever, they simply cannot connect. Most times when I turn on wifi my network doesn't appear, and the few times when it does I try connect I get the message "unable to connect....". It's a widespread problem with no solution yet.

Resetting your WiFi stuff or even restoring the phone doesn't fix the issue. It's an issue with 3.1 itself. Like I say Apple won't admit this, but it is the issue. Apple will bring out 3.1.1 in a while and there will be no mention of the issue, yet miraculously it will be fix - that's the hope anyway.

Some people have even had the issue since 3.0, and 3.1 didn't fix it for them. More people got the issue with 3.1 however. Reading the threads of on the Apple discussion forums one guy even mentioned getting a replacement phone 4 times and each time he got the issue on each phone.

Some people suggest changing settings on your router, which I actually find insulting. You update your phone and some people are somehow convinced the issue is their router? Sometimes you got to wonder with this user base? No backbone.

[Roc Ingersol]

I had a god-awful battery experience right after installing 3.1. I didn't think much of it, I had the same experience with 2.1 and 3.0 when they came out. Battery life would suck. After a sync and a power-cycle it would be fine. But not this time. Then I started noticing that my phone would actually be disconnected from time to time. As in: no calls/texts/data could go out, none could come in. Wifi worked fine though.

I noticed my signal in general had been shit since the update, so I figured it was a 3G thing.
I disabled 3G and restarted the phone. After a day with no issues, I turned 3G back on. It's still been fine. I'm back to charging it over-night and it being fine for a full day of use.

I wonder if the carrier settings file that was supposed to disable tethering jacked things up for some.

[JupiterOne]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Most times when I turn on wifi my network doesn't appear, and the few times when it does I try connect I get the message "unable to connect....". It's a widespread problem with no solution yet.

Does this happen on your home network? I'm just curious because I have two networks I set up myself, (one at home and one at my weekend place). I have never had this problem on my home networks, but I HAVE had this problem at places that offer free wi-fi and such. Either everything LOOKS fine but it will simply not connect to a free wi-fi spot, or I get the error message you point out above. I always just figured it is a problem with the wi-fi at that particular spot.

Also, when you say "...my network doesn't appear..." do you mean that the iPhone gives you a choice of networks and your network doesn't appear in that list? Or do you mean something else? I haven't read through the discussion groups but I was just trying to figure out if you are having a problem with SEEING networks or JOINING networks.

[joe in miami]

I resist the urge to be an early adopter of anything tech-related, especially with Apple.

[al_bundy]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Thousands of people have noticed after updating to 3.1 they have no WiFi whatsoever, they simply cannot connect. Most times when I turn on wifi my network doesn't appear, and the few times when it does I try connect I get the message "unable to connect....". It's a widespread problem with no solution yet.

Resetting your WiFi stuff or even restoring the phone doesn't fix the issue. It's an issue with 3.1 itself. Like I say Apple won't admit this, but it is the issue. Apple will bring out 3.1.1 in a while and there will be no mention of the issue, yet miraculously it will be fix - that's the hope anyway.

Some people have even had the issue since 3.0, and 3.1 didn't fix it for them. More people got the issue with 3.1 however. Reading the threads of on the Apple discussion forums one guy even mentioned getting a replacement phone 4 times and each time he got the issue on each phone.

Some people suggest changing settings on your router, which I actually find insulting. You update your phone and some people are somehow convinced the issue is their router? Sometimes you got to wonder with this user base? No backbone.

my wife bought a 3G back in february and with OS 2.2.1 i could get on my home and work wifi

i have a 3GS and I can get on my home wifi, the unofficial one at work but the real work wifi has a very long password and the 3GS won't authenticate.

my home is an old linksys router. i think it's 5 years old or maybe even older. the unoffical one at work is some really old Lucent I think. and the real one at work is a corporate Cisco product. it was like this on 3, 3.0.1 and 3.1. My guess is that it's something in the 3.x software. even then the standard is just a guideline and everyone does things differently and you can expect some problems like this


one problem i had was when i restored as new last time i first wiped my phone clean on my phone and then connected it to my laptop. had all kinds of problems including the battery life going crazy low and my phone getting hot all the time. few days later i restored as new again but this time did it all from itunes and turned my wifi off before i started. everything works great, battery life seems to have improved and the phone is deathly cold most times. even during heavy use. my guess is there is an issue of file locking similar to what you have in Windows and you have to tinker with it to restore properly. and always restore as a new phone

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by JupiterOne

Does this happen on your home network? I'm just curious because I have two networks I set up myself, (one at home and one at my weekend place). I have never had this problem on my home networks, but I HAVE had this problem at places that offer free wi-fi and such. Either everything LOOKS fine but it will simply not connect to a free wi-fi spot, or I get the error message you point out above. I always just figured it is a problem with the wi-fi at that particular spot.

The problem is the OS, not the network. Notice you never get this crap on your laptop - if you have one. I never got this before 3.1, I know the issue is 3.1. It's not the router, there are thousands of people like me with this issue. I'm an not going to even talk about my network or router anymore, as I said I find it insulting.

[freelander51]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Thousands of people have noticed after updating to 3.1 they have no WiFi whatsoever, they simply cannot connect. Most times when I turn on wifi my network doesn't appear, and the few times when it does I try connect I get the message "unable to connect....". I

I find that this particular "feature" exists since 3.0.

2.x picked up my WiFi in no time, with 3.0 I have to launch either WiFi Track of go into the settings to trigger a search. Then it connects fine though.

Another thing that they might want to enable again, is the possibility of activating tethering for those ones of us, who are lucky enough to have an OFFICIALLY unlocked phone on a carrier that does not give a monkey's about tethering. They do exist.

I can understand that they dont want to allow this on the official carriers that want to charge extra. Keepi it if you feel like it. But allow those of us who have an officially unlocked phone to excercise our choice. You can easily set that up by comparing the SIM card in the reader with an XML file of all carriers. Enocde that list iof you want to.

In turn I might upgrade to the newer version and send you my crash logs. But Apple - you gotta give me sth in return....

[subie09lega]

I got the email from Apple about the battery life. I posted a couple times on their forum because I noticed that battery life was not as good with 3.1 as it was before the update. Mine was not as bad as others who posted but it was apparent. After a coupld power cycles everything seemed to smooth out.

I have noticed problems with the wifi. It will just drop, even when I'm standing next to the router. I have to turn off the wifi on the phone and back on then it's fine. Very unpredictable.

[JupiterOne]

Originally Posted by Ireland

The problem is the OS, not the network. Notice you never get this crap on your laptop - if you have one.

I've taken my MBP to one or two places with wi-fi. My iPhone goes to hundreds of places.

Originally Posted by Ireland

I never got this before 3.1, I know the issue is 3.1. It's not the router, there are thousands of people like me with this issue. I'm an not going to even talk about my network or router anymore, as I said I find it insulting.

OK, fine. I was just asking a few questions. I'm sure there is something in the OS that is doing this. But I don't think it is as cut and dried as you suggest. Thousands may be having this problem, but I suspect millions are not. Obviously something else is going on too, especially if you have no wi-fi, 100% of the time which you seem to be saying.

[physguy]

I've had several instances where the battery drain quickly. Using the System Activity app I can confirm that there is some application that is running the CPU and 100% constantly when this is happening. I checked several times over a 10 min period with the System Activity app and it was always at 100 % about 60% User and 40% Kernal. Additionally, as expected, the case remained warm. The only solution was to reboot.

[al_bundy]

Originally Posted by subie09lega

I got the email from Apple about the battery life. I posted a couple times on their forum because I noticed that battery life was not as good with 3.1 as it was before the update. Mine was not as bad as others who posted but it was apparent. After a coupld power cycles everything seemed to smooth out.

I have noticed problems with the wifi. It will just drop, even when I'm standing next to the router. I have to turn off the wifi on the phone and back on then it's fine. Very unpredictable.

have you tried to turn off the locking? could be that it's trying to put the phone to "sleep" to save battery

[Chris_CA]

Originally Posted by Mac Voyer

Has Apple ever done anything like this in the past? I like it.

Yeah.
Apple engineers contacted me a few times for an issue with iTunes importing CDs very slowly (like less than 1.0 x). Ran a few tests and sent them the results back.

[Rokken]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Thousands of people have noticed after updating to 3.1 they have no WiFi whatsoever, they simply cannot connect. Most times when I turn on wifi my network doesn't appear, and the few times when it does I try connect I get the message "unable to connect....". It's a widespread problem with no solution yet.

However I wish Apple would solve your problem and thousands of others (if that number is legitimate) as soon as possible, how come it is a widespread problem when they sell millions of iPhone and iPod touch?

[joerabbit]

Wish Apple would address the battery issues with 15" MacBook Pros that have been "upgraded" to Snow Leopard.

Guess the Snow Leopard adopters with battery problems have been officially marginalized...I truly hope Apple puts some effort into helping us as much as they are doing for their Iphone Cash cow.

I am/was an apple advocate for over 20 years but this frustrating battery issue is not helping to perpetuate that.

HELLO? Apple?

See these posts on the Apple forums:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....t=165&tstart=0

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

With various reports of poor iPhone battery life following the 3.1 OS update, Apple has reportedly begun asking users about its experiences and usage habits in an attempt to address the issue..

[Jaybyrd76]

Ever since I got my iPhone 3gs the battery life is horrible. This morning my battery was 100% . in 2 hours it's now 53%. I have made 2 phone calls and have went to this site.

[jrg_uk]

(of course, we're straying from the battery life issue.)

Originally Posted by Ireland

I'm an not going to even talk about my network or router anymore, as I said I find it insulting.

Which is a shame, because the only way to work out why it works for some and not others (and thereby help establish where the problem lies within the iPhone OS) is to try and narrow down the variables...

My LAN set-up is:
- iPhone 3G, with 3.1.
- 802.11g, with WPA/AES authentication (the SSID is different from default, and hidden, and the password is 15 characters.)
(it's an older Belkin access point: I did recently update firmware, because I switched from WPA/TKIP to WPA/AES and it then kept locking up. I found that there was more recent firmware that what I was running with, and that seems to have helped a lot.)
- DHCP (running on a separate server, not the access point.)

my phone is set to auto-join my home network, but I have the "Ask to join other networks" set to Off.

I do observe a delay sometimes, in the iPhone acquiring my network after unlock, but I've only had problems when the WiFi network itself had locked up (see above) or when other nearby networks have crowded out the channel I was using.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by JupiterOne

OK, fine. I was just asking a few questions. I'm sure there is something in the OS that is doing this. But I don't think it is as cut and dried as you suggest.

Oh but it is. I looking into this for about 3 hours the other night. It's very cut and dried. In 3.0 and 3.1 this is a bug, it's that bloody simple.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by jrg_uk

(of course, we're straying from the battery life issue.)



Which is a shame, because the only way to work out why it works for some and not others (and thereby help establish where the problem lies within the iPhone OS) is to try and narrow down the variables.

It's a bug in the OS. It's like buying new tires, you drive down the road and they blow up and someone suggest you check your oil. Fuck the router. As I said the issue is the OS, the OS, the OS, the OS.

[Rob55]

Here's my 2 cents.

Battery performance on my iPhone 3G (purchased in February '09) post 3.1 update is the same as 3.0 which was a slight improvement over the previous version. I can't complain. I have BlueTooth and WiFi always on but location services off (that really sucks the battery down). I do a fair amount of browsing, calls, SMS and some Apps. Like another poster said, for what the iPhone does, the battery performance is pretty good. Prior to my iPhone, I had a Crackberry Curve and it typically lasted only a little longer than the iPhone. But then the iPhone does a lot more.

As to the WiFi issue, I have not had any issues with 3.1. It connects just the same as it did with 3.0 and everything before that. It occasionally takes an extra second or two to find my network, but no different than previous software versions. My LAN setup is:

Linksys WRT-350N (802.11N)
Network mode is mixed
WPA-2 security
Phone is set to auto-join and "ask to join other networks" is on.

[Mr Underhill]

I posted on this battery issue the same day the OS 3.0 software became available but was pooh poohed by a few clever arsed techno boffins who also post here. Update's still haven't improved on it.

Indeed they almost convinced me it was something i was doing wrong or over looking. On saying that i've now got used to the slight reduction in battery life, so if the outcome of this is a fix then it's a bonus. Still a great phone though.

[noirdesir]

[QUOTE=Douglas Bailey;1485847]I can't think what the problem is with the battery life. I charge my phone for about 8 hrs at night an then it will last all the way from from 7am till 11pm as Since OS 2.2, my iPhone always last at least two days and often three days (and even then it is still at around 20%) UNLESS I use it really heavily. Normal usage for me is maybe 2 hours of audio per day, hourly e-mail check, and maybe a handfull of other interactive usages (weather, wikipedia, train schedule) and one or two (short) telephone calls. Wifi and Bluetooth are naturally off (I switch them on when I need them.) And during the night the phone is in Airplane mode (if somebody really wants to call me during the night, there is always my landline).
Sure, if I have an app track me via GPS and listen to music, it might be dead in six hours.
If you have the time, you can test things in stages:
0) How long does it last in Airplane mode (or how long does take to get down by one third)?
1) How long does it last in non-3G mode?
2) 3G mode?
3) Wifi on?
4) playing music?
5) making a call?

Another thing I have noticed, is that when travelling the battery empties much faster (I put this down to constantly having to switch to a different tower and to being in low-signal areas).

[Mr Underhill]

Originally Posted by joerabbit

Wish Apple would address the battery issues with 15" MacBook Pros that have been "upgraded" to Snow Leopard.

Oddly my new 15 inch Macbook Pro's battery life has improved since upgrading to SL. Prior to SL the battery life was way behind my wife's White 13-inch Macbook which is two year old and seemed more like my old G4 iBook. Certainly acceptable now.

[ktappe]

Originally Posted by Ireland

It's a bug in the OS. It's like buying new tires, you drive down the road and they blow up and someone suggest you check your oil. Fuck the router. As I said the issue is the OS, the OS, the OS, the OS.

Remember when (I think it was) Mac OS X 10.4 was released and suddenly hundreds of Mac owners started getting memory errors? They, like you, blamed the OS but the fact was 10.4 had more exacting memory checking and was actually finding RAM that had been substandard and out of spec.

To correct your analogy, it would be like buying new tires, they blow up, but the actual culprit is your rims that were out of spec and incompatible with your new tires that were rigidly specced unlike your old ones.

Sometimes the suspect you're sure you've implicated isn't necessarily the culprit.

[joerabbit]

Originally Posted by Mr Underhill

Oddly my new 15 inch Macbook Pro's battery life has improved since upgrading to SL. Prior to SL the battery life was way behind my wife's White 13-inch Macbook which is two year old and seemed more like my old G4 iBook. Certainly acceptable now.

Are you talking about a Unibody 15" or a C2D (core 2 duo) ?

The Snow Leopard battery problems are correlating to the C2D 15" Macbook Pros

Please post your wife's battery specs and model number

How much has it improved in mAh? Minutes? Hours?

I think the department/division in "charge" of the battery software / management really dropped the ball here.

Thanks-

[joerabbit]

Originally Posted by ktappe

Remember when (I think it was) Mac OS X 10.4 was released and suddenly hundreds of Mac owners started getting memory errors? They, like you, blamed the OS but the fact was 10.4 had more exacting memory checking and was actually finding RAM that had been substandard and out of spec.

To correct your analogy, it would be like buying new tires, they blow up, but the actual culprit is your rims that were out of spec and incompatible with your new tires that were rigidly specced unlike your old ones.

Sometimes the suspect you're sure you've implicated isn't necessarily the culprit.

Hmm, I see what you are saying but you are incorrect.

What is going on here is a closed system -

1) apple batteries
2) apple software
3) apple computer

The tire analogy
1) brand x tires
2) brand y rims
3) unknown road

a better analogy -

1) you pay a car dealer for a "performance upgrade" to your car
2) your car cuts out on you when the gas gauge says half full
3) you can now only fill the tank half way
4) car dealer says - you need to buy a new gas tank / fuel gauge

[Rob55]

Originally Posted by joerabbit

Are you talking about a Unibody 15" or a C2D (core 2 duo) ?

The Snow Leopard battery problems are correlating to the C2D 15" Macbook Pros

Though I'm not the one you directed the question at, I figured I'd chime in. I have a late '08 Unibody 15" MBP 2.4 GHz Core2Duo that seems to have improved slightly with Snow Leopard as well. Though, I have to say that the battery performance has never been all that great to begin with. My battery is the A1281 @ 50Wh

[Rob55]

Originally Posted by joerabbit

Hmm, I see what you are saying but you are incorrect.

What is going on here is a closed system -

1) apple batteries
2) apple software
3) apple computer

The tire analogy
1) brand x tires
2) brand y rims
3) unknown road

a better analogy -

1) you pay a car dealer for a "performance upgrade" to your car
2) your car cuts out on you when the gas gauge says half full
3) you can now only fill the tank half way
4) car dealer says - you need to buy a new gas tank / fuel gauge

I think in ktappe's analogy, the rims were analogous to the RAM. So, everyone doesn't necessarily have Apple memory (though I assume most do). I personally have OWC memory in my MBP.

[quinney]

Originally Posted by ktappe

Remember when (I think it was) Mac OS X 10.4 was released and suddenly hundreds of Mac owners started getting memory errors? They, like you, blamed the OS but the fact was 10.4 had more exacting memory checking and was actually finding RAM that had been substandard and out of spec.

To correct your analogy, it would be like buying new tires, they blow up, but the actual culprit is your rims that were out of spec and incompatible with your new tires that were rigidly specced unlike your old ones.

Sometimes the suspect you're sure you've implicated isn't necessarily the culprit.

Good call. Open-mindedness is an absolute necessity in debugging complex
systems.