iOS 5.1 Battery Life is Significantly Improved
Battery life has been an ongoing issue for some iOS 5 users, particularly those with iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The recent iOS 5.1 update aimed to fix that with “improved battery life” mentioned in the release notes, but just how improved is it? With casual use since the update was released, the consensus at OSXDaily suggests the improvement is substantial, and thus if you haven’t updated your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iOS 5.1 yet, it is highly recommended to do so now.
Every user is going to notice different gains depending on their device usage and general battery health, but overall the improvements seem to be most noticeable on cellular iOS devices, particularly iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and iPad 2 3G models. The assumption is that some of the potential location services issues has been resolved, though its certainly worth mentioning that users of the standard Wi-Fi models and iPod touch also report a nice boost, even if it doesn’t seem to be quite as dramatic (likewise, the original drain problem usually wasn’t as bad either).
Monitoring Your iOS Device Battery Life
To get a good feel for the improvement and to monitor battery drain, it’s best to have made note of the prior usage history and then compare it to the iOS 5.1 battery usage, but those who have already updated won’t be able to do this obviously. Nonetheless, it also helps to turn on the “Battery Percentage” indicator and make a mental note of usage data too. Here’s how to do both of these in iOS:
- Tap on “Settings” and tap “General”
- Tap “Usage” and then swipe down to “Time since last full charge” to find the usage time (actively using the device) and standby time (device is on, but not in use)
- In the same “Usage” screen, swipe “Battery Percentage” to “ON” to follow precise drain
The percentage indicator displays alongside the battery icon in the upper right corner of the screen:
Update iOS, Calibrate the Battery, and More
Update to iOS 5.1 and hopefully any lingering battery drain problems will be resolved once and for all. Don’t forget to calibrate an iOS devices battery about once a month by letting it charge to 100% and then running it down to 0% before recharging again, that helps keep the battery in good health. It’s also a good idea to disable battery draining services you don’t use often, be it Bluetooth or Push Notifications, and you can check out some general iOS 5 battery life tips we have discussed before for more on that.
On a side note, if you’re unable to download and update iOS 5.1 try the DNS change we discussed recently, it should resolve that problem immediately and allow you to update without the network errors.
Did iOS 5.1 help your iPhone and iPad battery life too? Let us know in the comments.
so much trolls back in 2012.. samsung was playing hard back in then with peoples mind lol
I cant find automatic update. Please indicate it by steps.. Please . Thanks in advance
I updated to ios 5.1.1 and then what i could see was , the percentage getting reduced once in two mins . I got so irritated doing so much of restores . But finally ONE perfect solution worked wonders …. “”GO to settings . Turn off automatic update of time and date “” . Tats all . But after recharging to 100 percent , u should power off and then reastart . Nw i charge once in 30 hrs . Its really amazing . Try it !!!
Upgraded my relatively new Ipad2 to iOS 5.1. Battery now won’t charge to more than 84% even after charging for 10 hours or more. Plus, it drains in no time. Forget the techie fixes; this must be impacting millions of non techie people Worldwide and is a consumer scandal.
iphone 4 battery will not last the day anymore, phone unusable !! when new 7 months ago it was fantastic , but after every update it seems to get worse , now unusable
considering selling !!!
With my iPhone 4S, diminished battery performance happened seemingly overnight. Over about a week I noticed far faster drain than I’d been accustomed to since acquiring the phone in 11/11.
Since updating software a couple days ago, the improvement has been dramatic! Wish I’d looked into this much sooner.
I’ve had the iPhone 4S since it came out and never had an issue with the battery, before or after the update designed to “fix the battery problem”. Now, all of a sudden, my battery completely drained, killed my phone, 5 hours and 32 minutes after the last full charge. I did a bit of browsing, listed to my iPod for about 20 minutes and set a timer for 15 minutes and it went off for about 5 minutes. Now that I’m charging it, it’s taking a really long time! Normally when I charge, it takes no time at all…
Has anyone else encountered this problem? If so, have you found any solutions? I don’t particuluarly want people to respond just saying they’ve experienced the same thing, I’d like a solution.
Guys, this methods are useless. Believe me, they just don’t work. This is what I do: I just run my app called ENERGIZER, and all problems are gone!
5.0.1 effed my iPod Touch 4G battery life horribly. I also noticed it starts from 98% then jumps up to 100% then it goes to 81% then jumps up to 90% ect…
However, this new update has did some help and fixed crashing apps :D. I couldn’t even start Black Ops without of crashing on 5.0.1 and yes I did re-install it but 5.1 fixed it and runs perfectly fine. Eff 5.0.1 and eff Apple lol
After updating my old 5.0.1 to 5.1 os of my iphone 4s my battery sucks! It is consuming battery so fast and drained the battery even i still have 40% of battery! But when i plug the charger it indicates that i still have 40% battery! I hate this situation. I bought my phone even this is so expensive. Apple please do something!!!
My battery consumption went from about 24-30 hours (on standby) to about 2.5 hours (on standby) when going from the latest iOS 4 to iOS 5.1 :-/ It’s not a mobile phone anymore, but a piece of unusable junk.
[…] iOS 5.1 Battery Life is Significantly Improved […]
I’m confuse about update my iPhone 4s to iOS 5.1 related to battery life. Many people said that they have got worse after update iOS 5.1 to their device (iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPod, iPad). But otherwise, some people said that it has fixed battery issue. Is there anyone give the true explanation? is it really fix the battery life for “iPhone 4s”?
I would recommend reading the article for the answer to that question.
WTF are you talking about, after last update my iPod 4G battery runs out immediately, actually its not usable anymore….
Anyone notice battery drain while the SIM Card supports Alternate Line Service (ALS)?
My iPhone 4S 5.1 when installed with SIM Card where ALS is supported, gets warm then eventually hot –there are occasion where temperature warning occure, since I’m currently at tropical area– (for sure, draining battery as well), even with EVERYTHING off (Data off, 3G off, Location off, all Notification set to off, no Mail Account, Restriction on PING)
You can notice ALS if you insert SIM Card on some older phone that support ALS, it will show “Line 1” icon, and when it’s clicked, it will give an option to switch to “Line 2”
The battery life on my iPhone 4S has REDUCED by 30% after upgrading to 5.1. Several of my colleagues report the same. I don’t know anyone who reports the contrary.
All that stuff about improved battery use is just hype in my opinion.
In case anyone is having WORSE battery drain after updating to 5.1, reset your network settings by going to Settings->General->Reset-> Reset Network Settings. You will have to re-input your WIFI password, but this fixed my issue completely.
After the 5.1 Update my battery drained in a few hours (location off, notifications off, 3g off, programs closed),
I´ve tried almost everything and finally I SOLVED THE PROBLEM for my IPHONE 4S and other 3 FRIENDS PHONES… Now 13 hours of use with 3g, notifications and location on and my phone is with 50% charge)
SOLUTION:
“”Backup contact list if you want….””
1.- Download the latest Iphone 4s Firmware – file extension is IPSW
(http://appldnld.apple.com/iOS5/041-1530.20120307.LDDac/iPhone4,1_5.1_9B179_Restore.ipsw)
2.- Reset the phone (Settings > General > Reset > Erase all contents and settings)
3.- Once you have the firmware file and Phone reset process finished, CONNECT IPHONE AND OPEN ITUNES
4.- Select the device in iTunes
5.- On a Mac, hold down the “Option” key and then click on “Update”
6.- On a Windows PC, hold down “SHIFT” key and then click on “Update”
7.- Select the IPSW file you downloaded and click “Choose”
8.- Let the iOS device update as usual
With this clean installation most of the battery drain problems should be solved….
What is the option if not using that crappy program (iTunes)?
I am on the cloud, don’t use iTunes.
iOS 5.1 battery drain significantly worse it’s 12pm and I’m at 51% from full charge in the morning! The phone has become unusable for a normal day without charge Apple wtf have you done?? How do we roll back?
I had no issues with battery before updating to 5.1
I updated from 5.01 to 5.1 on Monday night for Iphone 4.
Fine Tuesday.
Battery was 100% Wednesday morning 7.00am. At 9.30am complete drain.
Had attached to charger – and turned back on 4.00pm. got charge to 100%
Okay overnight – turned everything off
Turned bluetooth on for car and wi-fi on at 7.00am.Dead at 8.30am after 2 phone calls.
I have it on charge again – but hasnt turned on.
Any ideas?
[…] Apple iOS 5.1 Battery Life is Significantly Improved […]
Upgraded Iphone 4s on AT&T from 5.0 to 5.1. Battery life much worse after update.
Really? Better than on 3?…I don’t think so…I came from 4.2.1 getting 3 days from charge… First time on 5.0-5.1 I get about maybe 2 days… Have gone back to 4.2.1 every time…4.2.1 is best on 3GS!…I always say…
iPhone 4, ios 5.1
I was not in the horrible battery category, but noticing good improvement.
I was noting down my battery usage since upgrading to 5.0 after I came to know about bad battery life through various forums. I used to get around 5.5 hrs of battery while using from 99% to 20% on ios 5.0 (I never upgraded to 5.0.1 due to fear of loosing battery life after reading so much against it)
Now after upgrading to 5.1, I’m getting close to 8hrs while using from 99% to 20%. Thats pretty damn good improvement. I’ve also noticed that standby time has improved tremendously. It only looses 1% overnight while I was used to loosing around 6 to 8% overnight with ios 5.0
I’m in the happy camp.
I did following to upgrade.
1). Upgrade your laptop OS
2). Upgrade iTunes
3). Delete all apps from iphone and RESTART the phone
4). Charge to 100%
5). While charging download the latest version but not install
6). Once charged to 100% upgrade to new version
7). Restart phone
8). Install all apps
9). Use the battery all the way to 0% so that phone automatically shuts down.
10). Charge again to 100%, use as normal
FIXED FOR ME: I was one of the ones with HORRIBLE battery life immediately after updating to 5.1. It was fixed by doing a complete wipe of my phone and setting up as a new phone (NOT restoring from backup).
it seems better after i updated to 5.1, not sure. im a pretty heavy user and the battery usually lasted about 4-5 hrs when on 5.0.1 but now i can get about 6 hrs use + 20 hrs standby. looks like an improvement at least for me though im not sure for others.
To be honest, this update did fix the battery issue.
I didn’t change anything in the settings (push, brightness…etc) yet the battery now lasts for 20-21 hours under heavy use of push notifications, mail push, mail fetch for non exchange accounts (every 30 mins), and location services all on (including system services) … and of course WiFi.
I highly recommend 5.1 update.
Thank you Apple :)
Hi, I have a 3GS 16g, my wifi signal has increased as it never worked in the garden before update to 5.1. My signal has increased as I listen to the tune in radio which lets me listen to all digital radio stations in my car .as for my battery life, I used to come home after work and it would be at 20 per cent by 7 pm, now it’s at 50 per cent. Stanby after 4 hours went down 1 per cent. Usually would have been at 90 per cent. I am so happy, thanks apple. Nice to get an update that works a treat on my phone and not cock it up. I would highly recommend this update.
another vote for horribly decreased battery life on 5.1 (had no problems on my 4S prior to the update). Will try wiping the phone and creating “new phone” as has helped some people…
The iOS 5.1 update significantly improved my battery life (iPhone 4s). Before 5.1 I was normally at 30-40% by the end of the day. Now – with no changes except the update – I have 70-80%.
I had major major problems with my 3GS when I “upgraded” to ios 5.0. My battery would drain in 2-3 hours of use, and last no longer than about 12-14 hours sitting on a table without being touched. I know that 5.1 hasn’t necessarily sorted everyone out but it’s certainly fixed my problems. Battery life now arguably better than it was when running ios3!! My faith in Apple is restored.
My battery life was much improved by 5.0.1, but 5.1 has tanked my battery life. I’m normally at 70% or higher by 2:00pm and the last few days I’ve been closer to 30%. Today I’m at 25% at 2:00pm and I’ve not been using the phone any more or any differently than usual.
My battery life drains moo ore faster now. :((((
And I think Photos have more noise, expecially in HDR mode.
I’m on iPhone 4S
WHEN I FIRST GOT MY 4S IT WAS PERFECT BATTERY. EVER SINCE THE FIRST UPDATE IT SUCKED. LAST NO LONGER THAN 4 TO 5 HOURS WITHOUT A CHARGE. AVERAGE USE OR LESS
it’s probably because you’re using the CAPS LOCK key, it drains battery faster
;)
[…] OS X Daily notes that iOS 5.1, released on Wednesday, has increased battery life significantly on their device: The recent iOS 5.1 update aimed to fix that with “improved battery life” mentioned in the release notes, but just how improved is it? With casual use since the update was released, the consensus at OSXDaily suggests the improvement is substantial, and thus if you haven’t updated your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iOS 5.1 yet, it is highly recommended to do so now. […]
I have a 4s. After updating to 5.1, my battery got worse. I see lots of people have this problem all over other blogs and apples support pages. Hope they can fix it soon or there is no point to having this phone.
Try to Restore the iPhone, it should be a lot better with iOS 5.1 installed
My battery life is worsen after latest update….it automatically drain out when in off mode….
I used to have great battery life on iOS 5.0.1 on my iPad 2. Since updating to iOS 5.1, my battery life is about half what it used to be, both standby and when using it.
I am holding off updating my iPod Touch. Wish I could go back to 5.0.1 on my iPad 2.
[…] Source TFTS, Os X Daily […]
My battery life got worse after updating from 5.0.1 to 5.1 – With 5.0.1 battery was usually 60-63% at the end of the day which I was already pretty disappointed about – but after the update it’s down in the 30% range. Very angry!
I have the same experience of PMx above. With iOS 4.x.x the battery life was at least acceptable. After the update to 5.0, it was terrible, 5.0.1 was better, but 5.1 is worst yet.
iPod Touch 4gen – don’t see any difference.
[…] OSXDaily 在他们的报道中说： […]
My iPhone 4 is now at 23%. And 1 day, 17 hours without charging. 5 hours or so of usage. Didn’t change any settings, just updated software, so it must have fixed something. Used to get about 30 hours standby before, on 5.01, for comparison.
I di not make any changes to any of my settings, and I see a HUGE improvement. Usually by 5 PM my battery was down to 10%. Now it will last an additional 4 hours until 9PM. Thanks Apple.
My iphone is much better now. It was getting 24 hour battery life before. Now is at 48 hours without recharging. I was able to listen to a 300 song playlist, post to my blog, update facebook & twitter, and respnd to emails for 2 days straight! I can’t wait for the new IPHONE! MORE MORE MORE!
I’m seeing the exact opposite effect. I wonder what’s going on. Patch 5.0.1 had a great improvement for my battery, but it was like 5.1 reversed any gains I’d received from 5.0.1.
Its improved a bit on my iPod touch (4th Gen) :)
I was getting poor battery life with the previous IOS and now that I’m on 5.1 it’s amazing… 24 hrs after unplugged with checking e-mails a few times, it was still at 98% today haviving worked on it, read articles on internet, let the kids play for a solid 1/2 hour I’m still at 78%… wow thanks for the update! I’d normally be in the 50% range by now!
Ipad 2 3g 64g.
My iPhone 4S battery is greatly improved!
It had been poor since November, but now the ‘phantom’ usage seems to have stopped. When it goes to sleep, battery usage more or less stops.
The improvement is like night and day – I’m very impressed, absolutely recommend iOS 5.1!!
My battery life on my iphone 4 has greatly increased! Even playing games my battery lasts
This is not thrue on my iPhone
Batery Life on iPhone 4:
1. iOS 4.x.x : it was awesome. A few days without charging
2. iOS 5.0.x: was worse then iOS 4.x.x
3. iOS 5.1 : is worse then iOS 5.0.x
Notes:
– same apps
– same settings
I agree. My iOS 5.0x battery life was okay, but after updating, it is draining like water out of a strainer. Every time I look at the battery % it keeps falling. Last night I put it to sleep with 30% and woke up this morning (6 hours later) with 1%. That’s using Wifi! When is Apple going to get this right?
same here for my iPod touch 4G…..
My battery life is improved, but still not back to what it used to be.
and with the re-appearance of the ‘enable 3G’ switch there is another power saving option.
Two iPhone 4 are responding much quicker since the upgrade & one iPad 2 is responding scarily fast since the upgrade.
None of the above suffered battery issues running 5.0.1
I had a very bad battery life with my 64gb iPhone 4s. Believe it or not: 5.1 update has increased my iPhone 4s battery life upto 3x-4x. Case closed.
Not *significant* but I think battery lasts for about 5-10% more time now.
Running down the battery to 0% doesn’t keep it healthy, it really just calibrates the percent indicator to be more accurate. In fact, draining your battery frequently makes it age faster.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
http://lifehacker.com/5875162/how-often-should-i-charge-my-gadgets-battery-to-prolong-its-lifespan
Definatly makes a difference, about time, my battery life previously in my iPhone 4S was poor. Also the DNS tip makes browsing much quicker now so if you browse a lot with wireless I would highly recommend using external DNS servers!
Fresh restore did it for me
I thought I was imagining it, but it’s true. My battery is lasting considerably longer since I upgraded.
agreed.
Thank you.. I’ve been looking for someone to post this.. my 4S is freaking amazing now.. I was waiting for this update for a long time.. It didn’t matter about the jailbreak.. the battery now is freaking just as good as the 4 used to be.
Cant wait til the NEW iPhone
On a iPhone 4 I’ve probably added 50% to my battery life–even with a few location services turned back on.
People if your still experiencing battery drain after updating try restoring your phone in itunes and start a new phone instead of the backup. This has worked for a number people i know.
Yes. Backed up and restored to iOS 5.1 and battery problems were solved!
Don’t use iTunes, not an option. Could try reset a restore from cloud but I don’t think the same as what your getting at. Right?
My iPhone 3GS used to last a full 24 hours (unplugged around 7:00am before work and plug it in to charge 7:00-8:00am the next morning). Since I’ve updated to 5.1, I’m lucky enough if it’s not dead by 4:00pm the same day under the same usage.
No way this is true
agree with michael. on ios 5.0 i could go from 7.30 – 6.30 using about 70% of battery on a 3gs, and now with 5.1 it’s probably twice as worse..
After ios5.1 , I am facing lots of issue. I updates last night, I can see the performance degraded a lot..
Last night I see following issues,
> booting time increased to twice-thrice
> application start time increased.
> iphone hangs while during the calls and dont restart back
> Not charging through any of my USB ports neither from Laptop, desktop etc.
> Connect to itunes after 3-4 iterations.
Next morning :
> Not charging anymore battery drained
> After regressive effort connected to laptop but unable to restore saying ios currupted….strange !!!Battery drained again
> Now kept for charging through USB charger (not showing any display of charging :( ! ). Not charging any more..
> I can only see degrading of performance in all aspects…
My conclusion is the problem exists with the ios5.1 and its firmware not the battery.
I believe the Apple launched io5.1 without proper testing and will suggest every one wait for the new stable ios to come and dont update to 5.1.xx….
Also, people who are using ios5.1.1 don’t let your battery drain out fully may face the charging issue…. :( !
I am still finding the solution to some how charge battery once and restore the iphone.
Querry:
– iphone not charging anymore after ios 5 update or 5.1* update
– battery not charging, iphone
Solution in End : Checked for iphone 3GS (should work with others too)
I resolved the problem,
> After contacting for support every body say pblm with battery, USB port and USB cable all of this is non technical and non-experienced answers….!
> I re-evaluate and concludes ‘the software issue only’.
******
(phone state: show no battery icon, charge for 10 sec, start showing apple icon and again drain up or hang up without charging, Connected for hours for charging but no result). Wifi was ON by default so can see on my laptop iphone connecting and disconnecting which shows battery not charging above 2%.
******
> Before connecting to PC install redsnow0.9.11b4 which was the latest version available.
> Assuming your phone is already jail broken (good sign) as it was in my case (Dont feel it will jailbreak at this time since no battery it will not fetch .shsh/.ipsw , )
> Neither it will show up in itunes and even if so it show up for a moment and when u try to restore will say ios corrupt so no need to try this.
*****Steps*****
> I restarted the Lptop. Run the redsnow .Can see ‘jailbreak’ and ‘extras’ . Click ‘extras’ > Click ‘just boot’. Read message.
> Connect the mobile with USB cable.
> whatever is the state of the ‘Next’ button. Switch of your mobile either shown battery charging icon or apple display.. Try normal shut down if doesn’t work press power+menu together for few seconds.
> Be quick now! Click ‘next’ button and press power=> 3sec thn menu+pwr=>8-10 sec and release pwr only.
> Sit behind and smile ! Soon you will see ur mobile back to normal and charging.
Suggestion : Remove icloud and keep data on PC will enhance performance.
Good Luck !
You have no idea. I restarted my phone completely after 5.1, I have all “minimized” apps closed, I have been in the exact same area and usage as prior to 5.1 and I went from a week on standby to less than 48 hours. No idea what it’s doing or did, but it’s destroyed my battery completely.
I have nothing to compare it to. I bought my iPhone and it prompted me to update. :'(.
Having the same problem. Had plenty of battery life to last through the day prior to installing 5.1, but since installation of 5.1 phone gets very hot and battery drains quickly. I wish it were possible to go back!
I agree, battery life is atrocious with 5.1 unplugged from power at 8 am his morning and by 12 pm there is 40% left.
same issue here, with 5.0.1 had a performances around 24 – 36 hours, and now if im lucky enought maybe around 12 or 18 hours us dead, with less of 15 %
Update to my previous post. My 3GS is now using virtually no battery at all when in sleep mode. I unplugged from power this morning at 9.30am and as at 3 pm has used 1% yes that’s right 99% battery showing. I haven’t got it checking email or anything just sitting in sleep. Last week in sleep mode it was using a huge amount of battery doing nothing. I can’t work this one out. Is apple fiddling with something on their end to help the 3GS Users? I can’t imagine what could have changed to make such a great difference.
My battery isn’t that bad. If I unplugged my phone at 100% around 1 in the morning, by that time the next day (on Standby) it was about 85%
Yup mine is the same. Its not even last half the day now, its actually really messed with my battery!
Turn screen brightness to 50% and turn off push notifications, bam, battery for days.
so what is the use to purchase iphone 4S?
so because you shouldn’t have mail set to push that makes the iPhone 4S completely pointless… how sad.
Hey Hammy, are you by any chance from Tulsa?
Unusually, my battery consumption, fine under 5.0 seems to be noticeably worse with 5.1. :-(
My battery consumption with an iPhone 4 was fine under 5.0 but is significantly worse with 5.1.
I wish I had not updated it – what’s the rollback plan?
i too am having the same problem
I’m having a horrible time! Upgraded to ios5.1 and went from very reasonable battery time to a complete drain in 48 hours while in Standby mode! Apple wants $29.99 to even talk about the issue now? ridiculous! They broke my phone. Really disappointing.
Go to an Apple Store, it’s free.
I’ve noticed a significant change in my battery life. Significantly worse that is. I thought it was something wrong with the phone itself. I thought the battery would be the hardware and never thought about the software. The shortened battery life has been since I last updated. I’m certain there are other improvements but none that I have noticed that affect me personally. All I see is the camera button on the lockscreen which I cannot even figure out how to get that to work thereby rendering it useless to me. What I do notice is the battery drain because I do not have the opportunity nor remember to recharge the phone every few hours. I do a lot of activity online and have tried wifi enabled and disabled and neither seems to improve the battery life. I am usually oblivious to when the updates come out but will be looking for the next one and pray it fixes the battery problems! My husband thinks he’s going back to Android but I love my Apple.
I also had no problems before the update, i have turned off alomost everything, push,calender …all that. Still drains. Just sitting there not using, like dead in 5hours from 100%
I am having the same issue. Had fantastic battery life under iOS5.0 and now with 5.1 my phone is dead in 1/2 a day from 100%, with little or no usage.
I had great battery life with iPhone 4 iOS 5 and I don’t see a change in either direction with 5.1. Easily lasts all day and into the night with frequent use.
Mine was initially worse because it re-enabled all the stuff I turned off, seems to be better now on an iPhone 4.