Apple to patch iPhone battery bug with software update

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
A benign software bug is causing some of Apple Inc.'s iPhone handsets to reflect an incomplete battery charge when in fact the battery is properly charged to capacity, the company says.



Over the past two weeks, a significant number of early adopters have report that their iPhones will not indicate a full charge no matter how long they are left plugged into a power adapter.



"Your battery is fully charged, but the UI (User Interface) is just not correctly reflecting this," an Apple spokesperson told WirelessInfo. "We expect to fix this in a software update."



Apple, which has yet to publish any information on the issue publicly, declined to say when the software update would be released.



In following the issue closely, WirelessInfo reports on surveys that indicate the glitch may extend to over 60 percent of iPhones.



"We are still running tests to determine if this issue is really just a bug, but our early results seem to indicate [Apple] may be correct," the publication said. "After an intense series of charging/discharging sessions, the problem batteries on our test iPhones seem to be lasting for longer periods, so this may have been an issue with the batteries requiring some conditioning before they could hold a full charge."



In a related note, Apple's recent release of iTunes 7.3 prevents computers running the software from going into sleep (low power) mode when iPhone is connected via USB.



"This is to make sure iPhone continues to charge overnight," Apple said. "If you want your computer to go into sleep mode when iPhone is connected, you can manually set your computer to sleep. "
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    solsunsolsun Posts: 763member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    In a related note, Apple's recent release of iTunes 7.3 prevents computers running the software from going into sleep (low power) mode when iPhone is connected via USB.



    ][/url][/c]



    It would be nice if iTunes could somehow detect when the charge is complete and then allow the computer to go into sleep mode..



    I normally charge my iPhone at night and hate having to leave the computer awake all night.
  • Reply 2 of 26
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solsun View Post


    It would be nice if iTunes could somehow detect when the charge is complete and then allow the computer to go into sleep mode..



    I normally charge my iPhone at night and hate having to leave the computer awake all night.



    Me too so I had to buy the $29 power supply.



    edit: I meant that I bought a cable so I could charge it without having to unplug the dock from the computer. I did buy an extra power supply too but that was for my iPod.
  • Reply 3 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    Me too so I had to buy the $29 power supply.



    you could always have the computer go to sleep at a set time each night - eg 11:00pm



    Sys Prefs -> Energy Saver -> Schedule...



    The problem with it sleeping is that unlike an iPod, the iPhone uses power all the time it is in standby so it would not be fully charged when you woke up (unless you set the comp to turn on again just before you get up).
  • Reply 4 of 26
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solsun View Post


    It would be nice if iTunes could somehow detect when the charge is complete and then allow the computer to go into sleep mode.



    Good idea.





    Any takes when the first iPhone OS X update will be released? I'm putting down for Wednesday at 2pm EST.
  • Reply 5 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thefunky_monkey View Post


    The problem with it sleeping is that unlike an iPod, the iPhone uses power all the time it is in standby so it would not be fully charged when you woke up (unless you set the comp to turn on again just before you get up).



    Charging like that reduces the life of the battery expeditiously (as does leaving it plugged in fully-charged).



    The best option is to have it turn off at a certain time, as funky monkey stated, a couple hours after you typically go to bed.



    -Clive
  • Reply 6 of 26
    But the battery level problem is one of many I've read about. I assume the first Software Update for iPhone will be nontrivial.
  • Reply 7 of 26
    buckbuck Posts: 293member
    It really is quiet these days... After such a noisy launch and all the hype there's just too much silence. No exploits being released, no news on the unlocking side, no news regarding how many units they sell... it's too quiet.
  • Reply 8 of 26
    solsunsolsun Posts: 763member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Buck View Post


    It really is quiet these days... After such a noisy launch and all the hype there's just too much silence. No exploits being released, no news on the unlocking side, no news regarding how many units they sell... it's too quiet.



    Apple generally never release hardware sales numbers before the quarterly report..



    The MacWorld announcement for 14 million iPods in 2006 was the exception..
  • Reply 9 of 26
    morrismorris Posts: 25member
    Could you actually charge the iPhone using a powered USB hub instead?
  • Reply 10 of 26
    physguyphysguy Posts: 920member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Morris View Post


    Could you actually charge the iPhone using a powered USB hub instead?



    Or you could charge the iphone with the charger that's provided in the box.
  • Reply 11 of 26
    ckellyckelly Posts: 8member
    The iPhone comes with a AC adaptor, why not use that? The old iPod Firewire AC adaptors will charge your iPhone as well.
  • Reply 12 of 26
    s10s10 Posts: 107member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    Me too so I had to buy the $29 power supply.



    Why? My iPhone did come with a free power supply.



    Ok, noticed you corrected you post.. but basically, you didn't need t buy a separate cable, but you did because you don't want to unplug the other one...
  • Reply 13 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Clive At Five View Post


    Charging like that reduces the life of the battery expeditiously (as does leaving it plugged in fully-charged).



    Really? I remember reading that in regards to the claim of "80% battery life after n charges" (don't remember what n was), a half-discharge and recharge uses, in effect, only one-half of one charge toward your n charges. So no reason to fully discharge the battery before plugging it in.



    And I would seriously doubt that the phone is dumb enough to try to keep charging a fully-charged battery, or whatever it is you're picturing it doing.



    In any case, I'm certainly not going to either a) refrain from topping off the battery in the hopes I don't run out of juice or b) Try to figure out when to put my computer to sleep so that the phone fully charges BUT doesn't keep charging past full. Especially considering that the best possible outcome of such diligence would be merely a delay of some months of your inevitable purchase of a new battery.
  • Reply 14 of 26
    solsunsolsun Posts: 763member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ckelly View Post


    The iPhone comes with a AC adaptor, why not use that? The old iPod Firewire AC adaptors will charge your iPhone as well.



    Because you can also sync when you charge from the USB port....



    It's just easier to make it a one step process rather than having to sync from the usb port and then charge from the AC adapter.
  • Reply 15 of 26
    sunbowsunbow Posts: 67member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solsun View Post


    I normally charge my iPhone at night and hate having to leave the computer awake all night.



    An alternative would be to use Energy Saver to sleep the monitor after a few (say 15 mins) of non-use and yet leave the Computer awake indefinitely. This way you could install Folding@Home (see http://folding.stanford.edu/) and put the amazing levels of processing power your Mac (or PC) has to socially good effect by joining in this excellent research project!
  • Reply 16 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Universe Man View Post


    Really? I remember reading that in regards to the claim of "80% battery life after n charges" (don't remember what n was), a half-discharge and recharge uses, in effect, only one-half of one charge toward your n charges. So no reason to fully discharge the battery before plugging it in.



    And I would seriously doubt that the phone is dumb enough to try to keep charging a fully-charged battery, or whatever it is you're picturing it doing.



    Memory Effect explains the effect of overcharging. I can't find anything on the partial charging. So I might not be right about the partial charging thing, but I the overchanging is documented.



    -Clive
  • Reply 17 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Clive At Five View Post


    Memory Effect explains the effect of overcharging. I can't find anything on the partial charging. So I might not be right about the partial charging thing, but I the overchanging is documented.



    -Clive



    I'll see your wiki article, and raise you another wiki article.



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery



    The article you quote generally refers to Nickel Cadmium batteries with regards to memory effect. Lithium-Ion batteries, such as the one in the iPhone, don't suffer this effect.
  • Reply 18 of 26
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    ...when iPhone is connected....



    [/url][/c]



    AN iPhone...AN iPhone...For Gods sake it is a device, an inanimate object, and it is the general name of a device, not a specific one: if for lord knows what reason, you name your iphone....lets just say, chips: then you would say "when chips..." but if it is just a general product, you say "when an iphone..."





    I am far from a grammer nut but I see this all over the net and it pisses me off
  • Reply 19 of 26
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    Me too so I had to buy the $29 power supply.




    $600 for a cellphone and they didnt GIVE YOU a power adapter?!?!?!?!?!? I think you got HOZED...dont you feal...i dunno...violated?
  • Reply 20 of 26
    trragantrragan Posts: 10member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by a_greer View Post


    $600 for a cellphone and they didnt GIVE YOU a power adapter?!?!?!?!?!? I think you got HOZED...dont you feal...i dunno...violated?



    My iPhone came with a power adapter; USB cable and dock. More than Apple usually gives bundles with their products, except for the Mac line.
Sign In or Register to comment.