Battery Life Experiment

9 Feb 2018 13:05:08

Rick Churchill

I will need my iPhone 6 to have a battery with a reasonable life left in it when I use it again as a GPS navigation system on my annual French bike holiday in May. Incidentally I recommend the app. MotionX-GPS, although it is heavy on juice but it allows map downloads so can be independent of the data network in areas where there is poor signal coverage or outside of the new agreement for data roaming - Jersey/Guernsey for instance. At present the battery is more than sufficient for a morning's ride but will not last the day and so I top it up over lunch for the afternoon's ride.

Until now I have not upgraded the IOS from 10.3.3 to 11 because of reports of the effect on battery life. I have noted a degradation on my iPad mini after I upgraded but whether this is the battery aging or the upgrade I do not know as my usage of this device varies so much and I didn't record any statistics.

I would like a method of recording the length of time the battery takes before discharge before and after the intended upgrade. Unfortunately, I use my phone every day so it may be difficult to exactly replicate a before and after usage pattern. If I record a simple before-upgrade-usage-pattern I can experiment trying to reproduce the same conditions for the after-upgrade several times.

I want to do this:
a) to prove to myself (and for information to the AUG) that there is/is not a degradation.
b) as proof to Apple that as a result of their upgrade they should charge me another £25 for a replacement battery to help restore some battery life. (I'm not sure I need this proof to gain one)

Any ideas how I can ensure the same conditions before and after? Any suggestions on how I might undergo this experiment?

It seems obvious to use the on-board statistical info - Settings > Battery - there is a panel called Battery Usage showing what the battery power has been used for and another showing Time Since Last Full Charge. (For proof to Apple neither show the IOS version on the same page or the date but perhaps I don't need proof of degradation)

Re: Battery Life Experiment

9 Feb 2018 14:54:13

Mick Burrell

You won't need to provide proof of battery drain. I think you could well be safe to upgrade to iOS 11 - have a dig around the web to check but I think the 10.3.2 update was when most found their battery could no longer take the strain and you already have that release.

Re: Battery Life Experiment

9 Feb 2018 17:13:03

Trevor Hewson

FWIW I’ve not noticed any deterioration in performance or battery life after installing iOS11 on my iPhone 6.

Re: Battery Life Experiment

9 Feb 2018 23:36:47

Rick Churchill

Thanks I'll bite the bullet. I have noticed that after 40% the battery drain is now rapid so I may have been "infected" already.

Re: Battery Life Experiment

10 Feb 2018 16:40:35

Tony Still

I'm with Trevor, I think it's likely just coincidence that the batteries on older devices have lost some capacity, people start playing with a new release of iOS so use their device more critically then think that the OS is the cause.

iOS 11 (on iPad in particular), IMHO, is one of the better things Apple has done of late.

Re: Battery Life Experiment

10 Feb 2018 16:41:59

Mick Burrell

Rick, I think rapid fall for the last 20%-30% (or in your case 40%) is expected behaviour for a lithium battery nearing its end of life.

Re: Battery Life Experiment

10 Feb 2018 22:44:24

Rick Churchill

If I can get a new battery for £25 anyway without proving that the upgrade has cause deterioration in the length of time I can use the phone or that it has already happened due to the 10.3.2 upgrade then I will be less concerned at running before and after tests.
(Or if I could be sure the battery I buy down the market or on the internet was the capacity it is supposed to be I would change it myself as I did with my iPhone4)

I note Apple use the word "eligible" in their statement without defining what this means:

*Through December 31, 2018, the out-of-warranty battery service fee is £25 for all eligible iPhone 6 or later models. Battery service at £25 may be limited to one repair per iPhone.

Re: Battery Life Experiment

20 Feb 2018 15:58:43

Rick Churchill

I can report that there is no degradation to the battery life caused by an upgrade from 10.3.3. to 11.2.5, in fact there is a slight improvement. I ran the battery down using a GPS app in as similar conditions as possible for each run. I tried to remember to take a reading as the battery indicator passed each 10% increment.

The graphs closely align. The quickest time to discharge to 10% was 4h36m and the slowest was 5h3m except for once when I switched the screen off accidentally. I'll let the Bournemouth group see the graphs at the next meeting

Re: Battery Life Experiment

20 Feb 2018 22:08:51

Tony Still

Rick, why spoil a good story with real, measured data? It's much less fun to admit that iOS 11 is actually quite good and might run a little more efficiently, even on older devices.

Thanks for the graphs, I agree that it would be worth a short discussion next time.

Re: Battery Life Experiment

28 Feb 2018 20:16:14

Lionel Ogden

I guess that if your need for a full battery is critical a small power bank can usually give you a couple of charges and would not add much weight to your backpack.