To expect my iPhone battery to last longer than 3 hours

[Schulte]

Sorry if this has been done many times before. I’ve had my phone for 1.5 years now. I used to charge it overnight, then the battery would be close to empty by the evening. In the past couple of weeks, it has suddenly gone to needing charging every three hours. The battery is full in the morning, by lunchtime it’s on 15%. I haven’t changed how I use my phone. WTF is going on???

I’ve got an XS Max that’s nearly 2 years old, and the battery lasts me a fair while…

It is less if I’m spending hours on the internet, though. And if it’s roaming.

How long are you spending on Safari?

@zurala

It's inbuilt obsolescence. Happens with Android too (or at least it does with mine). I've never had a phone that lasts beyond a couple of years, they all end up slow and losing charge by then.

I think that’s an overstated claim. As mentioned upthread I had an iphone6 for seven years and for 6 of those years it only needed a full charge once to last through the day. Certainly NOT impressed that I’ve bought a phone from the same company seven years later and it needs charging a minimum of three times a day.

@Schulte

DH suspects it's something Apple does deliberately to force people to buy new phones. Do we think that's true?

It's not just Apple - it's a technology thing. Companies don't want you to buy things that last forever or they won't make any money.

Thanks for all suggestions so far. 75% of my usage is Safari so presumably reading the news and being on Mumsnet too much blush

Safari uses a lot of battery life. Download the relevant Apps instead.

I think he got the stuff from here: www.ifixit.com/Search?query=replace%20iphone%20battery and now he has the tools he's repaired/planning to repair another couple of things. There was no issue with his battery blowing, although obviously I can't guarantee that would never happen...

@dontbitetheboobthatfeedsyou

Thanks @Janek!

My DH’s SE2020 was doing this. The fix was to disable ‘background app refresh’ (Settings, General, Background app refresh). Hugely improved battery life now.

@Weaverspin

My DH’s SE2020 was doing this. The fix was to disable ‘background app refresh’ (Settings, General, Background app refresh). Hugely improved battery life now.

Brilliant idea. I’ve just done that, thank you!

My 2020 SE was the same. I had a new battery put in by ismash which helped a little bit (ie it lasted a few hours longer as opposed to completely draining in 3 hours. My iPad is the same. I bought an extra long lead and it’s on charge for about 70% of the time now. IVe had it 4 years and will replace it when I can afford it.. it’s really crap. The iPad has lasted longer than previous tablets or laptops but it’s still nothing to write home about . Definitely built in obsolescence. I’d tried all the things recommended to save battery but nothing helped with the iPhone,

Check the Battery Health. Mine currently works at 89% even though charged at 100% so I think it’d be interesting to see what your Battery Health is at.

Yes, mine says 84% but that still doesn't explain the fast and sudden draining I think? I am reluctant to replace the battery in case it doesn't fix the issue.

It’s an iPhone XS. The same thing happened with previous iPhone models, I get a new phone every two years and for the last few months I only just scrape by on low battery performance. It’s so frustrating.

Definition of insanity

Built in redundancy so you buy another piece of crap.

@Schulte

Yes, mine says 84% but that still doesn't explain the fast and sudden draining I think? I am reluctant to replace the battery in case it doesn't fix the issue.

Apple recommends you replace the battery when it reaches under 80%

Batteries only last so many charges. It's cheaper to get the battery replaced than replacing the phone. The apple service is quick and reliable. Take it in, they put a new one in while you wait.

Dd and I both have Samsung and the battery lasts no time. But then we assumed it because we use them alot.
We have been led to believe this is normal. I keep the brightness low on mine which helps. Dh has an old nokia which lasts days, but it has no apps , internet or anything.! Dd says her work iphone is worse than our phones .
You can check what all is running and turn off any that are not essential.

Got my teen DD a SE2020 last month for her birthday brand new. The battery is awful.

@Duxiejhrhrvjz

Got my teen DD a SE2020 last month for her birthday brand new. The battery is awful.

Agreed. I sent my SE2020 diagnostics off to Apple and they came back and said everything was normal and the phone was running as it should be with no issue. I asked “so it’s normal that you’re selling brand new phones now that I have to charge three times a day minimum so the battery doesn’t run out?” No reply.

@Schulte well your options are either i) pay for a battery replacement, which is guaranteed to have an impact as the capacity of rechargeable batteries falls over time the more charging cycles they go through, so a new one will 100% last for longer (note: official battery only, getting an independent phone store to replace might mean a lower quality battery is installed, although should be better than your current)

or ii) change phone. Apple's latest phone has impressive battery life. Or go for an android. Look for phones with at least a 4000mah battery.

Proof of battery differences across phones in this video (note the phones used were probably the ones reviewed/tested by this youtuber at release, so should have had minimal charging cycles affecting their capacity i.e. it is not a super worn down battery in the iphone SE going against the new iphone 13):

@Duxiejhrhrvjz iphone SE 2020 has notoriously bad battery. See my video linked above.

I've had batteries start to run down very quickly on two different iphones.

Firstly, when DH cut down my original SIM (he is highly techie so tends to know what he is doing) from another smart phone to fit. All was fine for a while, and then extensive trouble shooting research revealed that this was probably the reason.

Secondly, with my current iphone, which, along with DH's ran down very quickly for a couple of weeks. It turned out that our next door neighbour had COVID, and our NHS COVID apps was constantly trying to measure the distance between us. It stopped when she moved house and both our batteries have been fine since.

I was going to say turning off background app refresh is a good idea. I also update apps manually while the phone is plugged in so it's not using the battery to update stuff.

The other thing I do is turn the screen brightness down - if needed I turn it up when actually using it.

I used to have my iPhone batteries replaced at an independent repair shop. The last time I had them do that I immediately started getting an error message telling me that the battery was unauthorized. To get rid of the error I had to take it to an Apple authorized retailer who did repairs (Best Buy, in the US), who put in a genuine Apple battery.

I think replacing your own with a kit would cause the same problem.

Wish i still had my trusty iPhone 4. It was very reliable and the battery lasted a couple of days.
Developed a fault and was told non repairable as they could no longer get spare parts for it .
Would still be using it today if not