Users howl as iOS update unleashes battery drain bug
WHEN Apple launched the latest version of its mobile OS, iOS 10, in September, most users were happy with it.
But a chorus of howls have greeted the latest update to version 10.1.1.
Annoyed users are mostly grumbling that their iPhones leap from 30% charge to 1% before shutting down and resetting.
Once plugged back in, the battery percentage indicator shows 30%, and the phones will function for a few hours.
One irate user, using the username Mjolcresure, vented online: “Shutting the phone down at night with a good 80% charge, it won’t reboot in the morning due to no battery charge. I plug it in and its back to 30% in a few seconds.”
Another user, going by the username stefan_boe, grumbled: “I am having the same issue on my iPhone 6. Battery dies while showing 30 to 50% charge left. The last couple of days it died at 30% yesterday at 50%. The problem started with the latest iOS 10.1.1.”
A discussion on Hacker News seems to reveal that a factory reset won’t fix the battery problems, with several users reporting their phones losing battery around the 30-40% mark.
Apple has yet to respond to the feedback.
The online discussion has racked up 19 pages of users’ complaints on the same issue, and it appears to be affecting most iPhones, from the iPhone 4 through to the newest iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models.
Some forum users have reported that Apple Support says it is aware of the problem and is working on an update to resolve the issue.
In the meantime, some users have said that turning off the ‘raise to wake’ feature solves the problem, while others have recommended upgrading to iOS 10.2 via Apple’s beta programme.
News of this battery drain issue comes just a week after Apple announced a battery replacement programme for iPhone 6S Plus handsets after it admitted that some handsets were randomly shutting down.
Some users have said that turning off the ‘raise to wake’ feature solves the problem, while others have recommended upgrading to iOS 10.2 via Apple’s beta programme.