Reader John wrote in to tell us of a problem he (and others) are experiencing with the iPhone’s battery going dead very rapidly.
Dissatisfied, John decided to do a little detective work and found that the culprit on his phone is an errant IMAP connection. Apparently, in some circumstances the iPhone’s Mail client may not correctly terminate the conversation with an IMAP server.
Because the iPhone is continously sending commands, the mail server will not consider the connection idle and time it out, as far as the mail server is concerned they are all legitimate requests. Because the iPhone is continously sending commands, the iPhone WiFi (or EDGE) transmitter is constantly working and therefore constantly draining the battery. This also explains why the iPhone gets very hot (because it is working flat out).John’s experience has been in particular with a Kerio Mail Server and a QuickMail Pro server; though he says he had the same problem trying to access GMail over IMAP with the 1.1.3 firmware, that seems to be working for him on 1.1.4.
My initial hypothesis would be some sort of incompatibility between QuickMail Pro/Kerio Mail and the iPhone’s IMAP client, since I’ve got a variety of IMAP clients set up on my iPhone (Yahoo, Gmail, .Mac, and a couple of my own), and haven’t run into this problem at all.
How about it readers: experienced excessive battery-draining that can be traced back to IMAP? Sound off below.
I have 5 IMAP email accounts. I was experiencing some serious battery problems until I set my mail to "Check Manually." I don't know if this is related or not. But I figured I don't need the iPhone checking mail when I'm on my computer, and if I'm not, I can click the mail icon when I want to check my email out and about anyway. I would have to wake the phone up to check emails anyway...
I use IMAP and have had my phone get REALLY hot. But, I have not looked at it close enough to know if they are related. I haven't noticed it in awhile though, so maybe it was something cleaned up in 1.1.4
I only use IMAP and never had any battery issues, but my iPhone is pretty new(about a month) running 1.1.4 only.
@TJ - switching mail to manual check's been one of the "battery saver" suggestions since the first day the iPhone came out. I guess email/web (because of EDGE?) are the real battery killers on the device.
I've never been able to get more than one full day use out of my phone without nightly recharging (even on my second newly acquired 16gb model). But I have 9 email accounts checking every thirty minutes.
I think you're right, though, why bother with that while I am in front of the computer? Just gotta make sure you're not hitting a manual refresh more times per day than the auto-refresh you set would do.
Why doesn't Apple let you specify an autorefresh time of your own choosing rather than the very limited 15mins, 30mins, 60 mins they offer?
I have had this problem with the battery since I bought my phone. My second phone from apple (8GB iPhone) didn't solve the problem.
I'm trading in my iPhone for another model, not from Apple. What good is a phone that I can't use with all it's features.
Mary Cathleen
I have the same issue, but I disciovered more:
1. whil I am in my home-wifi, the iPhone stays cool and the batty last quit good.
Whwn I hit the road (usually afternoon) the iPhone gets hot and the Battery drains rapiddly. I have one Gmail/IMAP Account and one Yahoo POP account on the poll list. I change to manual and tell you if this changes.
I have a 8 GB recieved December 2007, now about 4 months using. While I am in countries without EDGE, the Battery lives for more than 2 days.
The Blackberry User would say: clear disadvantage, when you have to switch to manual Mail receiving on the road, the "Zen of email" guy would say: load your mails when you have time.
Tom
Hi this is John (the original reporter of this problem).
Unfortunately manual checking is not a solution to this problem as the fault is the iPhone repeatedly asking for the same message in a loop (hundreds or thousands of times). Once it gets stuck in this loop it will repeatedly send the same IMAP command asking for the same message until either you turn it off, the battery is completely flat or you switch to Air Plane mode.
Manually checking merely reduces the chances of this happening.
If you feel you are having this sort of problem, the easiest way to see is to stay in your IMAP inbox, and look at the top of the iPhone screen. Next to the WiFi or EDGE connection symbol is a spinning activity symbol that is only supposed to appear when the iPhone is transferring emails. If this symbol stays constantly displayed then your iPhone is stuck.
Other than for Google GMail, 1.1.4 has not cured this for me (and others I have spoken to). I did not have this problem with 1.1.2.
PS. The same email accounts work fine in Apple Mail on a Mac.
So far, I haven't had a problem with my iPhone's battery life. It stays for almost 3 days (max). And I am actually pushing it a bit.
As for mail, I use Yahoo and GMail, and I haven't experienced any battery drainage. So far.
OK So I had noticed this major battery issue with my battery draining in abut 36 hours or less with minimal calls and usage of my phone. This just started happening a few weeks ago. Prior to that it lasted at least 2.5 to 3 days with minimal calls. Not sure what the change is but after reading your suggestions listed which I already had it checking manually and things like that. I looked into the individual mail accounts and switched off the push mail in Yahoo. For me this fine, I can still get my email from yahoo buts its checking when I check my email and not constantly. Not sure if this is part of your main reason listed that it essentially leaves the line open. But seeing as some 30 hours after the last charge I still have 2/3rds to 3/4 battery life left. I would think this fixed my issue. And I have used my phone for a couple long calls that I would not classify as minimal usage as I said before. Hope this helps some of you.
I've had my iPhone since Dec. 2007 (xmas) and today is the first day i've noticed the phone get hot and the battery drain with minimal use. I've seen the spinning connection symbol get stuck before, but i always just put the phone to sleep, figuring it stopped it. i run Gmail IMAP and Yahoo POP and I have noticed that my Outlook application on my computer will often not download from the server stating too many inquiries or something like that. If setting it to check manually isn't a solution, what else can we do?
John - you stated that "other than for Google GMail, 1.1.4 did not cure this..." - does that mean i should be okay if i only used Gmail and got rid of my Yahoo? I don't mind, since I don't really use Yahoo much at all and can keep it just to the computer. ??? This didn't happen earlier in the beginning months I had it ... i'm so confused as to why it's happening NOW and not then!
Sarah
This has just happened to me. Last night when I went to bed my iphone was tucked away in my purse. This morning when I got up and retrieved my iphone, it was HOT!!!!!!! And the batter indicator was barely visible with its red battery indicating almost dead. Why would it get so hot while it drained? And I've had mine since Sept. 07 with this NEVER happening. I'm concerned that there is a short with the battery....because it was very very hot and it took about an hour just to get it to show any green battery. I'm calling the Apple store today to see what they know...I know I cannot be the only one.
What freaks me out is that I have no idea how long my phone was HOT while in my purse, and how much damage that probably did to the battery!!! It has cooled down after I started charging it, but will it hold a charge now? I don't know...
i just bought my phone 4 days ago and am already having this problem. For as much as Apple charges for their products they sure do suck. i was hesitant to get this phone but i caved in and got it. My fears were correct. Apple never surprises me when it comes to crap products. i really like the phone, but you think for a phone that cost 400 to 500 dollars it would at least have come with a decent battery. the Motorola i replaced with my new iphone is 4 years old and the battery still lasts 3 days with having to charge it. ive had to charge my iphone once a day and while just using the internet browser it got very hot and drained the battery from 60% capacity to completely dead in about an hour. Bad Apple! You have failed me once again!
Try switching off the "push mail" option if you are using a Yahoo account. I changed that setting yesterday and battery seems to last longer.
Have anyone talked to Apple on this matter?
Would be intresting to see if this is something they're looking into...