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iOS 6.1 Leads To Battery Life Drain, Overheating For iPhone Users

Posted by timothy on from the that's-a-drag dept.

An anonymous reader writes "We have started seeing an increase in iPhone issues related to battery life and overheating. All of them seem to be related to users upgrading their devices to iOS 6.1. Furthermore, Vodafone UK today began sending out text messages to iPhone 4S owners on its network, warning them not to upgrade to iOS 6.1 due to issues with 3G performance. The text reads, 'If you've not already downloaded iOS 6.1 for your iPhone 4s, please hold off for the next version while Apple fixes 3G performance issues. Thanks.'"

11 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. No problem here by DJ+Particle · · Score: 5, Informative

    iOS 6.1 - iPhone 4S - no issues. Don't know where TFA is getting this from.

    1. Re:No problem here by Serenissima · · Score: 5, Informative

      I used to work at an Apple Store. I was never a tech, so take this with a grain of salt. It's PROBABLY not related to the system update but more than likely something bad on the phone itself. If you see the usage and standby meters the same like you do, you're right, something is hung up in the background. The best thing to do is to make sure you have a backup and restore the phone. If there's something hanging in the background for a while, you'll start to notice your phone acting funny. Like the battery life problem. Left alone for long enough and you'll start getting corrupted data into the phone because of it which will make your phone act really strange. Apps constantly crashing to the point of unusability, it can become unresponsive on certain parts of the screen, etc. And that corrupted data can eventually get copied into the backup file - meaning that any restore from the backup will bring that problem right back.

      To Back Up - First copy all photos and videos from the phone to the computer. They will fill up your iCloud space really fast. Then look for Apps that hold documents. Most apps are really just portals to websites so they contain little to no data. However, for apps that contain files, make sure you have those files backed up somewhere. Then backup the phone to either iCloud or by plugging it into iTunes. Plug it into iTunes in either case and also right-click on the phone and hit Transfer Purchases. That will transfer any apps, music, movies, etc that are not currently on the computer from the phone.

      So easiest to hardest steps after backing up all data:
      1: Reset All Settings: Go to Settings>General>Reset All Content and Settings. Then restore from backup. This can kill a lot of problems and takes maybe 15 minutes. However, if the problem is deep in the system...
      2: Restore from Backup: Plug the phone into iTunes and do a System Restore. This will do a clean install and will clear a lot more problems. Then restore from backup. Now, if the problem persists, your backup is more than likely corrupted so...
      3: Restore the Phone: Do the same process as above but do not restore from the backup. You can re-sync to iCloud for contacts and re-sync apps from the computer (or re-download them). Essentially you're starting with a fresh system and just copying the apps back over. You'll lose your app data, so maybe some high scores in some games, nothing too bad. However, if the problem persists even after doing this...
      4: DFU Restore: Look up how to do this online. If none of the above have fixed it, there's some bad juju on your phone. A DFU will reinstall the system AND the firmware. Just to be on the safe side, I would advise not restoring from backup. If your phone was borked enough that it needed a DFU restore, don't take the chance of putting stuff back on there. Just copy the apps back.

      All in all, they're very easy steps to do and when all is said and done, you can have your phone back up and running in about 30 min with any of the above steps. Hope it helps, Cheers!

      --
      Give a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. But light a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
  2. It's not issue... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a feature to keep user's hands warm during the cold winter months, which will be turned off in a future release when the seasons change.

    - Apple PR

  3. Re:Upgrade to 6.1? by iMouse · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Trolling much?

    http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2012/12/17/galaxy-s3-jelly-bean-problems-since-verizon-update/

  4. Re:Upgrade to 6.1? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've been reading /. since 1998 or something and one thing that would always make me mad were the assholes that would reply to a problem in a particular OS with the suggestion that the solution to that problem would be using another particular OS. Normally it would be a MS Windows issue and always there was an asshole saying that with Linux that particular problem would not happen.

    So to get back to point. Next time you have a headache, please remember, that the problem is that you have a faulty head and should be using another, better one. So please have someone chop it off, and replace it with a new one.

  5. Re:Never Upgrade Immediately by node+3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Troll much?

    There are hundreds of millions of people without any problems whatsoever, and hundreds, maybe even a few thousand, who are having problems. After all, if what you said were true (and not just the standard Slashdot drivel), you'd see not just a sensational headline and story, but an outcry from the users.

    Don't worry yourself about it, though. Trolling Apple here will get you points.

  6. Re:No Exchange, no problem by Richard_at_work · · Score: 5, Informative

    Nice attempt at trolling, but since Apple is a licensee to the ActiveSync protocol, they are fully within control of how they implement that spec and thus responsible for any issues that crop up when none existed before...

    "proprietary" and "non-standards compliant" doesn't equate to "shit", it just equates to "I can't download the spec from a website and implement it". If you implement the protocol badly, it doesn't matter whether it's proprietary or not. If you don't control both ends of a connection, then you are entirely dependent on how the other end implement the protocol, proprietary or not.

  7. I had issue w. battery, recreated my email profile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I solved my 6.1 battery issues by deleting and recreating my two exchange email profile.

    Apparently this a common issue after iOS upgrades.

  8. ActiveSync and Calendars by Laser_47 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Apparently if you update a calendar item on your iOS device, it tries to update Exchange and fails.

    It then retries continuously, chewing through battery life and log files: http://wmpoweruser.com/exchange-server-acting-up-blame-those-ios-6-1-users-then-ban-them/.

  9. Re:Rats, already upgraded by inglorion_on_the_net · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Coming from the Microsoft world I have been very surprised at how little attention Apple pays to legacy compatibility. It's only recently become impossible to run 16 bit Windows apps in the latest Microsoft OS. Compare that to the constant forced churn in Apple desktop software.

    Huh? Are you talking about the sample Apple that let desktop software developed for 68K CPUs run on Power Macs, software developed for classic Mac OS run on OS X, and software compiled for PowerPC to run on x86?

    Are you talking about the same Microsoft that replaced Visual Basic with the incompatible VB.NET, changed the way to develop for smartphones in Visual Studio 2008 and then again in 2010, so that applications developed in VS 2008 will only compile in that version? The same Microsoft that pushed PlaysForSure DRM, and then released the Zune with an incompatible DRM scheme, so that the music its allies had been selling wouldn't play on the Zune? The same Microsoft that got half the world writing code that only worked in Internet Explorer 6, and then broke compatibility in IE7, that pushed Silverlight as the primary way to develop for Windows Phone, and then discontinued Silverlight?

    Maybe, coming from the Microsoft world, you really are used to better backward compatibility than what you've seen from Apple. But both companies have cases where they went to great length to preserve backward compatibility and cases where they didn't.

    --
    Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
  10. For shame... by mschaffer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Every civilized person shouldn't venture more than 4 feet away from an outlet. Swapping batteries is so bohemian. This isn't some hippy love-in we're talking about.