Travel Technology - iPhone battery life stinks after 2.2.1 upgrade

Title says it all! Has anyone else experienced a tremendous decrease in battery life following an update to 2.2.1? I can tell you that my battery life was never awesome, given that I use push email, wifi, and location services a lot, but since the update it has gotten about 50% worse. And I haven't made any other changes, no new apps, nothing...

Anyone else? Suggestions??

I have not noticed any differences in mine. In fact I would say it is better if not the same.

This is where that non user-removable battery may get you. I have seen some videos online documenting how to change it yourself, but it can be risky.

Or, just carry an external LiIon pack for those times you need to top up the battery. My old Blackjack came with 2 batteries and an external charger, and that takes up the same amount of space in my gadget bag as an external LiIon pack, which has a generic USB socket so I can keep everything in my bag charged - iPhone, bluetooth, etc. And, as a bonus, the external pack is good for ~3+ full recharges of my iPhone, so I could easily make a trans-Pacific flight watching several full movies. I like 'em so much I actually carry two. :)

Maybe there's a program stuck open in the background. I would first try restarting the phone, if you haven't already done that.

Maybe there's a program stuck open in the background. I would first try restarting the phone, if you haven't already done that.

That was my thought as well...didn't help. Have an appt at the Apple Store later...let's see what they say at the Genius Bar...

Or, just carry an external LiIon pack for those times you need to top up the battery. My old Blackjack came with 2 batteries and an external charger, and that takes up the same amount of space in my gadget bag as an external LiIon pack, which has a generic USB socket so I can keep everything in my bag charged - iPhone, bluetooth, etc. And, as a bonus, the external pack is good for ~3+ full recharges of my iPhone, so I could easily make a trans-Pacific flight watching several full movies. I like 'em so much I actually carry two. :)

Thanks, this is interesting. Do you have a link to the one that you have? This will help most of the time - I guess my fear is having the battery conk out when I am not near my bag of tricks...

Thanks, this is interesting. Do you have a link to the one that you have? This will help most of the time - I guess my fear is having the battery conk out when I am not near my bag of tricks...

Here's the one I've got - just as long as your gadgets can charge via USB, you're golden:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017KH6OU

Also, one of the two Costco warehouses near me is carrying a Sanyo Eneloop-branded LiIon pack right now. It's most likely one of these:

http://www.eneloop.info/products/mobile-boosters/with-li-ion-battery.html

but I'm not sure which one. It's priced at $34, IIRC.

Also, one of the two Costco warehouses near me is carrying a Sanyo Eneloop-branded LiIon pack right now. It's most likely one of these:

http://www.eneloop.info/products/mobile-boosters/with-li-ion-battery.html

but I'm not sure which one. It's priced at $34, IIRC.

I got it for $29/pack plus tax at my local Costco (Norwalk CT) - bought it as backup for Obama inauguration last month. They are supposed to keep a charge even when not in use. So far, excellent...

Title says it all! Has anyone else experienced a tremendous decrease in battery life following an update to 2.2.1? I can tell you that my battery life was never awesome, given that I use push email, wifi, and location services a lot, but since the update it has gotten about 50% worse. And I haven't made any other changes, no new apps, nothing...

Anyone else? Suggestions??

You know what, my battery life recently has been a fair amount worse than what I remember it being, but I just figured that my phone is now 1.5 years old the battery just doesn't hold as much juice as it did before. If you do find out it had something to do with the software please let us know! Is your phone the 2G or 3G?

You know what, my battery life recently has been a fair amount worse than what I remember it being, but I just figured that my phone is now 1.5 years old the battery just doesn't hold as much juice as it did before. If you do find out it had something to do with the software please let us know! Is your phone the 2G or 3G?

3G...

This is discussed at great length over on Howard Forums. There seems to be no consensus but mine got noticeably better after 2.2.

I bought a RichardSolo extended battery, I wanted something compact. When I travel for work and use e-mail and internet a lot I can drain my phone below 20% by 3pm.

I remember reading something about this when I first got my iPhone. Becasue I thought it really sucked that I had to charge the darn thing every 12 hours or not actually use any of the features of the phone to get a good battery life.

I read on one of the Apple forums that some people related the problem to safari in the new software upgrade and seemed to have back to normal battery life if instead of just tapping the home button when exiting safari, they held down the home button for about 8 seconds until it "force quit" the application. I can't tell you for sure if this helps my battery because I got my phone and immediately updated to 2.2.1. Though I do this and I no longer "have" to charge my phone every 12 hours, but the "new phone" novelty has also worn off.

iPhone 3G battery life sucks regardless.

I got it for $29/pack plus tax at my local Costco (Norwalk CT) - bought it as backup for Obama inauguration last month. They are supposed to keep a charge even when not in use. So far, excellent...

Hmm...they were $34.99 at my Costco, but I was just in on the way home yesterday, and they now have a $7 instant rebate.

Update: My local Genius Bar was unhelpful. Genius bar in Century City, CA ran diagnostics and told me that the update and subsequent sync left me with corrupted software. I will restore and reload next week when I am back from holiday..

Just curious as to an idea of what your battery life is like. I just picked one up last week and find that I need to recharge every 24 hours with what I would consider minimal use. By that I mean less than a half hour talk time, maybe 20 text messages, and some App use.

Just curious as to an idea of what your battery life is like. I just picked one up last week and find that I need to recharge every 24 hours with what I would consider minimal use. By that I mean less than a half hour talk time, maybe 20 text messages, and some App use.

I am a moderate to heavy push email (exchange and Yahoo) and app user. Moderate number of phone calls. Some day I dont last 5 hrs since the upgrade

I am a moderate to heavy push email (exchange and Yahoo) and app user. Moderate number of phone calls. Some day I dont last 5 hrs since the upgrade

Biggest battery gains I got were by switching to 15-minute pull email. Now I can make it through the day with a bit to spare.

As we all know the iPhone battery life stinks! So I bought the Richard Solo 1800 for the iPhone and I can't tell you how many times it has saved me.

As we all know the iPhone battery life stinks! So I bought the Richard Solo 1800 for the iPhone and I can't tell you how many times it has saved me.\

I'm not sure I'd ever trust another product made by the guy behind Sharper Image - not after what he did to all his customers with gift cards or those with expensive products who suddenly found themselves without warranty.

There are plenty of other (cheaper) battery solutions for the iPhone, without wasting your money on the Richard Solo.

Like this Kensington (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018DKODQ?tag=10ktech-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B0018DKODQ&adid=17BQQHZ0HA64M90DQRN5&) battery pack, which is just $33 on Amazon (with free shipping).

Like this Kensington (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018DKODQ?tag=10ktech-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B0018DKODQ&adid=17BQQHZ0HA64M90DQRN5&) battery pack, which is just $33 on Amazon (with free shipping).

And which works incredibly well.

Like this Kensington (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018DKODQ?tag=10ktech-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B0018DKODQ&adid=17BQQHZ0HA64M90DQRN5&) battery pack, which is just $33 on Amazon (with free shipping).

I got this APC battery back (http://www.amazon.com/APC-UPB10-Universal-Battery-10WH/dp/B000GBN42E/ref=pd_cp_e_1?pf_rd_p=413863501&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0018DKODQ&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0R6Q1HPF3F4ZGN2W8Q06) recently at Fry's for about $10, as a backup solution for when I am not near a wall outlet to recharge my iPhone.

The battery life of the iPhone 3G is indeed really disappointing. I don't even use it as an MP3 player (or, heaven forbid, movie player) to not run down the battery even faster.

I'm not sure I'd ever trust another product made by the guy behind Sharper Image - not after what he did to all his customers with gift cards or those with expensive products who suddenly found themselves without warranty.

There are plenty of other (cheaper) battery solutions for the iPhone, without wasting your money on the Richard Solo.

Like this Kensington (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018DKODQ?tag=10ktech-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B0018DKODQ&adid=17BQQHZ0HA64M90DQRN5&) battery pack, which is just $33 on Amazon (with free shipping).

Looks quite good. How long does it take to charge the battery? Also if I only use it for emergencies how long will it hold its charge for? A few days or weeks?