October 26, 2007 12:00 PM PDT
Special report: Fixing short iPhone battery life
iPhones may exhibit abnormally short battery life for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to:
- problematic software settings
- software bugs that drain the battery faster than normal (possibly introduced by software/firmware updates)
- hardware defects
- improper charging
- improperly calibrated batteries
What's an abnormally short battery life-span? There?s no easy answer. Apple?s claims (8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback or 24 hours of audio playback, 250 hours more than 10 days of standby time) seem somewhat inflated based on in-house experience with iPhones that have (what we believe to be) healthy batteries. If your iPhone is getting significantly less ? say 3-4 hours of talk time when not performing other functions ? you may be experiencing battery issues.
Our coverage of these issues in broken into the following areas:
- Indicator may not be correct
- Software fixes for abnormally short battery life
- General tips for extending time between charges
- Repair/Replacement
- Reader reports
