iOS 6.0.2 and iPhone 5 battery drain A recent update to iOS 6 was meant to target wi-fi issues experienced with the iPhone 5. The new patch, however, may have afflicted the new iPhone with iPhone 4S-esque battery drain issues. It’s deja vu all over again with respect to battery drain and the iPhone 5. After the iPhone 4S release was tarnished in 2011 with widespread battery drain complaints — and initial grumblings from early iPhone 5 adopters that Apple had not done enough to improve battery life on the new iPhone — now, the new iOS 6 patch appears to have negatively impacted battery life. According to a CNET report, iOS 6.0.2, which was released largely to deal with some wi-fi issues experienced by many users, has had some kind of adverse effect on the software side of battery usage, with a number of iPhone 5 users taking to the Apple forums to complain. Tech Radar: “Curiously, the battery drain appears to only affect the iPhone 5 and not the iPad mini, which was also updated to iOS 6.0.2 this week; other devices didn’t receive the minor update. Initial speculation points to a change in Wi-Fi antenna behavior under iOS 6.0.2, although this theory doesn’t explain why most iPhone 5 devices – and all iPad mini tablets – remain unaffected.” There’s an obvious cause-effect going on here, with the wi-fi fix affecting battery usage on the iPhone 5. Most likely, the patch is also having some kind of effect on the iPad mini as well, but seeing as the device has not been fraught with battery drain issues in the past, the effect might be much more subtle than on the iPhone 5, which sports an already undersized battery. It still remains odd that Apple has not aggressively moved to improve battery design for the iPhone since the release of the iPhone 4. The 4S saw no increase or improvement in the device’s battery, and the iPhone 5, while utilizing a slimmer battery design to accommodate the device’s slimmer profile, did not substantially increase its capacity, all while outfitting the 5 with 4G LTE and other battery- sucking hardware components. A possible explanation for this design decision by Apple is that Cupertino sees the iPhone user base keeping their device docked more frequently throughout the day, thus providing several daily auxiliary charges that augment the nighttime charge, thus precluding the need for higher capacity batteries. Also, Apple’s software designers may feel like they can continue to optimize iOS for battery life, seeking a software solution to a hardware problem – a long-held Apple ethic. However, it can be argued that Apple has not done a great job at doing this since iOS 5 and the 4S was released. With the eventual release of the iPhone 5S in 2013, it is unlikely that the next iPhone device will see any substantial overhaul of its battery. At the same time, it’s also unlikely that the 5S will feature new hardware components that would put an undue stress on the current battery. Chances are, Cupertino will make marginal upgrades to battery capacity to meet the demands of the A6 chip. One would hope, however, that eventually Apple is going to take battery life seriously once again, since a mobile device is only as good as its battery.
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