iPhone 5 battery life hit from iOS 7
Apple’s iOS 7 was finally released to the public yesterday, and millions of people have already updated to the new operating system. However, if you’re about to update your iPhone 5 to iOS 7 you might want to think again. It’s being reported that the iPhone 5 battery life is taking a real hit from iOS 7.
When iOS 7 finally went live to end users yesterday we soon became aware of download and installation problems, with many of us seeing the same error messages and being unable to get the update. Because of Apple server problems there have also been issues with iPhone activations.
Plenty of us gave up trying to download iOS 7 to our existing devices when the servers were taking a severe bashing, so if you haven’t yet updated your iPhone 5 to iOS 7 that may not be a bad thing considering this latest news.
Although iOS 7 brings major improvements and a completely new look to the operating platform, it appears that the iPhone 5 in particular is really having its battery life detrimentally affected by iOS 7.
When you take a look at the chart below you can see that all of the iOS devices listed appear to have reduced battery life when comparing iOS 6 to iOS 7 under Wi-Fi. However, the iPhone 5 takes the biggest blow of all.
The chart comes from a major review of iOS 7 by Ars Technica. On Wi-Fi the iPhone 5 has around 7.4 hours of battery life on iOS 7, whereas on iOS 6 it managed around 11.01 hours. In the majority of other iOS devices used in the testing the difference in battery life was around half an hour or less, so the iPhone 5 is significantly more detrimentally affected.
While we’d expect that a new operating system might slightly affect battery life, we wouldn’t have anticipated such a major difference as this. In fact Ars Technica was so alarmed by the results for the iPhone 5 that it re-flashed its Verizon iPhone 5 and ran the test again on both operating systems, only to see the same results.
When iOS 7 was still in beta there were issues noted with battery life when compared to iOS 6. However, in tests we conducted at that time it was the iPhone 4S that was affected more, and we gave details of how the problem could be fixed. We would have expected that these sorts of battery issues would have been ironed out with the final build of iOS 7 though.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of battery life on devices being affected with iOS updates, and it’s too early to tell just how widespread the issue might be. It’s also the reason that some people choose to hold off with an iOS update, as issues like this often come to light over the first few days of availability.
It will be interesting to see if owners of the iPhone 5 report problems with the battery life of their device when there have been several days to notice any difference from iOS 7. In the meantime we’d like to hear from readers about this.
Have you noticed any severe battery drain on your iPhone 5, or other iOS device following the iOS 7 update? Maybe you’ve noticed an issue other than the battery life? Let us know with your comments.
UPDATED: We have since heard of a simple battery fix that could help many readers that you can read more about here.
Comments
63 thoughts on “iPhone 5 battery life hit from iOS 7”
seems fine to me. another fake news
No, you’re wrong.
Maybe you’re not having issues, but the vast majority of people ARE. 7 minutes just browsing on wifi and I’m down 5%
The new iOS has completely drained my battery! Not liking it at all
Eating my iPhone 5 battery. Down to 50% already and it’s only 11 o clock. Also my iTunes Store crashing since update.
First problem battery life, second device overheating and third minor bugs in multitasking I.e. Sometimes while double clock home buttons some of apps are blank with just small icon
charged iphone5 over night, did update first thing and now am recharging batt after less then 5 hours….. what a joke!!!!
Why did they discontinue the iphone 5 ?
Get the Mophie Juice Pack Plus or . . .
BB Bye 😉
Noticed significant battery drain here using iPhone 5 on EE network. Wondering if the amended location services is causing the rot? Switched off location to see what happens. Really not happy as I already run my phone on minimal.
Battery life went done drastically
normally I charge my Iphone 5 every 2 days after update last night and full charge, this morning battery level at 50%
I have lost 10% in 15 minutes of normal use. Usually on wi-Fi I last all day on a charge. Not sure if it will today. Ios7 on iPhone 5 from Verizon.
Yes battery life on iphone 5 has dramatically been affected with IOS 7. Even in standby mode battery life drains at about 1% every 10 min. Using phone sees even worse drain compared to previous IOS. Even disabled location settings on most functions and so joy. Hope Apple sort this out sooner rather than later on a subsequent 7.1 update. I am hearing this has not affected all iphone 5 users so anyone with any info on any configuration settings to mitigate this until next update fix
will be warmly welcomed on this forum
Overnight (about 7 hours) my Verizon iphone 5 dropped from 95% to 23% while in standby, and with only the alarm clock app open.
Yes, iPhone 5 on Verizon. Seeing battery issues. Ran the Betas and now the GM. Yesterday seemed to actually have good battery life, today, horrid again. Not unusable, but definitely seems to last hours less than usual, with no extra usage. Been running the GM since last week. Very odd!
there is an issue with battery life. iphone 5 user with ATT. my phone just literally shut down when it showed 12%. battery drains way faster on ios7. needs a quick fix by apple.
My battery dropped from 90% to 60% within 45 minutes and continued to drop without me even using it. I did not have this problem with iOS 6, my battery would last all day no problem. I’m in college all day, and need my phone. I can’t always be running off to the library to charge it. I’m very disappointed.
Battery was 100% at 08:00 this morning, it is now at 43….this is worse than when it was Build 6 !!!!
Battery died from 95% in just 4 hours
there is severe issue with battery life
My iphone 5 when in use drops 1% every minute of use on ios 7. Used it for 30mins = 30% power loss. I even turned off Location services, background app updating and gyro wallpaper/app effects. Now I turned off LTE with same battery hit…
Full charge drained down to 5% on standby in 5 hours on my iPhone5 with IOS7 – just not acceptable for such an expensive device.
iPhone sucks. Own a Galaxy S4 and haven’t looked back. iPhone sucks
Yes, we read it the first time.
good for you….
This is easy to fix could be fixed.
It’s odd that I didn’t experience the same loss without the clean update.
Very disappointed with the battery life! Drop 70% in 5 hours!
I live in an area where my provider has poor coverage (EE) and I’ve been battering my iPhone 5 all day and it died around 430pm from a full charge at 7am. That’s using Facebook. Twitter, Vine, Instagram, half an hour of game time, 10 minutes of calls, and because iOS7 is new, i’ve been playing with it a lot. The screen has been on pretty much all that time.
It’s not been too bad, and I’ve not turned off any of the background apps refresh options.
Maybe some people here don’t know how to optimise iOS?
I was pretty impressed with my battery with ios 6. Since my update, my iphone 5 has drained much quick. I have tried all the tricks; parallax turned off, automatic updates off, screen dimmed…..ect. I wish I would have known this before I updated!!
iphone 5 on T-mobile. The battery drain speed is about triple what it was before upgrade. I’m losing about 1% with every minute of use, and it seems about half that even turned off.
my battery has been dying very quickly and I turned off background app refresh, and turned on reduce motion. my phone was locked away in a locker while i was working out for an hour and a half and died about 5%.
NOT HAPPY with the new battery life whatsoever
BIG TIME lose of battery today… not happy.. just bought this damn thing two weeks ago.. on top of that Sprint is updating towers and it’s searching for signal and that’s killing it too…
I don’t made the change to new iOS….change is good….battery life is terrible though! I’ve been losing about an extra 20 minutes per hour compared to iOS 6.
Battery life is terrible. I now have to charge my phone half way through the work day !! What’s the point ?? Hope it gets fixed soon or I’ll have to get rid of it and go elsewhere
I’m down 25% in an hour with only 15 mins usage while I updated a couple of apps – after an overnight charge… WTF!!! IT dropped 5% while just changing the standard battery saving type settings… At this rate it’ll last 4 hours before it needs recharging!
For me it’s the opposite. I get more from my battery. Same thing from one of my co-worker. Just weird
I have an Verizon iPhone 5 (MD655LL/A) and I upgraded to iOS 7.0 this morning at approx. 7am PDT. Power was at 100% when I left the house this morning. At this moment my power is at 23%. On iOS 6.x, I’d still be well above 80% at this point in the day. I’ve done very little on the phone except sending a few texts and disabling a lot of functionality (location services, background updates, etc.). A lot of this ridiculous power drain could be attributed to the amount of time I’ve spent playing with the new OS, but it still seems excessive.
YOU ARE ALL HOLDING IT WRONG
Way to know nothing about how lithium batteries work.
Lithium batteries work better and last longer with shorter charges
And don’t even think you can skip over the countless problems on other systems (android, windows phone) where a rogue process could come in and drain the battery without the user knowing what happened.
Why anti-iPhone people flock to apple related ads makes me wonder why feel this constant need to come and chip away at apple? Your phones have just as many problems in just as many areas, if not more so depending on your viewpoint.
So my request is this: stop being a douche. If you love your phone, fine, then tell everyone you know about it. Next time you come across an apple post, realize your contribution is worthless and walk away, go to 4chan or Reddit.
Capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which users ( eg APPLE ) express empathy and have almost fanatical positive feelings towards their products, always to the point of defending them ad nauseam.
So how do you describe idiots like you who can’t seem to restrain their trollness and post where their comments are jot only unworthy of being called opinions, but are very often fully incorrect.
Like your meat headed lack of understanding regarding how battery technology actually works.
Nick speaks truth.
This is a forum for people having trouble with their batteries. So why are you here?
I lost 5% before I even left the house this morning AND the car charger didn’t even replace that on the way to work.
DONT UPDATE! You have been warned.
My battery life went from 86% to dead in three hours of NOT BEING USED. It is a major hassle.
It eat battery of ma i phone 5 in some hours js.
Its good to look on ios7 but reality is its crap drainin battery looootttttt dont upgrade tooo
My iPhone 5 showed exactly the kind of difference mentioned in the article: about 3 to 4 hours less vs iOS6
Hi all, Having exactly the same battery draining problems as some other users since upgrade : (
In desperation I have reset my phone, done restarts, logged out of aps, done a backup up of phone and restored to factory settngs then restored from back-up – you name it I think I’ve done it.
But the battery is still leaking power like a running tap!
APPLE SORT IT OUT!!!
I’m a really unhappy customer, I need a phone I can carry around with me and use without having to be constantly worrying about it running out of charge and being away from home or a power source to charge it, for example.
Never had this problem before with an iPhone and really think Apple need to take ownership and address asap.
Otherwise I may as well go and get myself an Android phone that not only has all the fancy things the new IOS7 has, but can actually hold a charge so you can use all the aps, etc, otherwise what’s the point having them on your phone if you have to turn them all off to save power??!!
COME ON APPLE, GET THIS POWER DRAIN FIXED ASAP OR YOU’LL LOSE CUSTOMERS AS QUICKLY AS YOUR BATTERY DOES!! : (
Both my iphone 5 and iPad have had a massive loss in battery life. As well as taking longer to charge. My ipad was on 10% so I plugged it in and left it, 2 hours later it had only charged to 50%
Surely they must know this problem and get it solved! QUICKLY!
my battery is almost gone and it is only 4pm. I am not going to update my iPad. I wish had not updated to 7. I am a Realtor and this battery problem I delt with on the firs5 iPhone….I hope we will have a fix soon!
Battery life on my iPhone 5 is terrible after I upgraded to iOS7. Ouch! Hopefully the Apple folks come up with a fix!
One can still downgrade to OS 6.1.3 (6.1.4). I did one on a 4S yesterday without losing any data. Use shift + Update and manually select the iOS 6 firmware for the device in itunes.
YES! I have never had to recharge my iPhone 5 during the day before. Now on iOS 7 after 2 recharges it is reading 67% at 10 pm. Sure hope they fix it quickly or we will all be permanently connected to power outlets! Now very mobile . . .
oh my goodness my iphone 5 only ,last 3 to 4 hours … i cant do this..
Yep! Same problem here!!!
Battery has taken a big hit….HELP!!
upgraded [sic] to ios7 Verizon iphone 5. Battery life in half compared to before upgrade. have done the usual, disabled location services for various apps, and other mini tweaks, to no avail. Hope there is a fix quickly, but if not, plan to go back to IOS6. While the additional advantages to ios7 are real, the price of very short battery life is not worth paying
YES! NEVER again will I do another update to my IPhone 5 without giving it days or even weeks to see what the bug is THIS time. I have owned this since December of 2012. Got an update notice on my screen in January (one of the 6’s, not sure which one there were at least 3). For two months after this I had problems with my phone. I wouldn’t accept my username or password, said iTunes store and apple store were currently unavailable, couldn’t access the internet. So basically I was paying the minimum of $100 a month to AT&T for a $700 phone that would do nothing more than text to talk. Talk about furious! Not going to write a book about all I went thru with Apple and AT&T. But finally got that fixed with the new update apple presented to get rid of the bug that was causing these problems. I don’t understand why a company as big as Apple puts out these updates without intensive testing before they offer it to the consumer. Is this billion dollar company so money hungry that it just can’t wait to put out its virgin updates…without extensively testing it for problems? I have come to the conclusion they are! Now I download the newest 7.0 last week and what do I get? A battery that drains faster now when not being used (like overnight) than it did before the update when there have been a couple of times I was on the interenet ALL DAY LONG and still lasted MUCH MUCH longer. Apple: do us all a favor and TEST these UPDATES extensively before you prematurely release them! You guys/girls are like a 10 year old a week before Christmas; you unwrap YOUR gifts under the Christmas tree while the parents aren’t home because you just can’t wait 7 more days to see what you got! GREED is what it’s called!! Now…what the heck do I do about this problem? All my pages are closed and have done everything possible including turning off my location services (which I should not have to do, never did before the update) and still no improvement! Anyone with knowledge on this please, if you know something I have not posted hear to improve battery life with the 7.0 update please let me know! Thank you!!!
My battery life is the same as before on my iPhone5, plus I’ve been listening to iTunes Radio all day long on it.
Anecdotal evidence FTW!
battery has taken a big hit.. apple a big disappointment.
My I phone 5 64g since updated drained quickly and within two days will not power on at all will not show up in I tunes. Took to apple store paid for replacement battery as I was 99 days out of the 12 mth warranty came on by the time I got home it had drained and won’t charge. Returned it got refund and told nothing they can do and suggested I get a contract to get a new phone. I am furious and feel really let down
Hi Admin. I need a comparison report on wifi power between IPHONE and other android phones. Is it true iPHONE wifi signal are weak so that the battery will last longer. Is there any website links for me to read the reports ? My email: davidsegar77@yahoo.com