We're looking for new writers to join us!

Apple i0S 4 gobbling up batteries quicker on older devices using Wi-Fi

by: Dan -
More On: iOS
There has been an undercurrent since the launch of the iOS 4 that batteries in older devices are not lasting as long as they were with iPhone OS 3. Count me as one that believes knows that the new OS is definitely sapping batteries away quicker, most notably when Apps using the Wi-Fi are involved.  Since I upgraded to the new Apple OS a few weeks ago, both my 2nd Gen iPod Touch and my wife’s iPhone 3GS have had their battery meters drain at a much faster rate when playing any game/App that is connected to Wi-Fi. This includes games by The Godfather (iMob, Race or Die and Original Gangstaz), Bejeweled Blitz and others.

We use both of these devices on a daily basis, and from the point they were upgraded I would estimate that the iPod Touch is getting about 20% less battery life and the iPhone 3GS about 5% - 10% less battery life. I can understand with the iPhone 3GS where this might be a side-effect of the multi-app capability introduced with iOS 4, but the 2nd Gen Touch doesn’t support that particular feature, so that one has me scratching my head. There is also the possibility that the battery in my Touch may be starting to flounder, it is a refurb after all, but only two-years into its life cycle that would be almost as bad as Apple pushing us an OS that has flaws or Apple claiming that the battery meter hasn’t worked properly since launch instead of coming clean about a hardware issue (like we have never heard one like that before).

Has anyone else experienced these same issues after upgrading?