iPhone XS switching off at 40%

Kainz · 22 Mar 2021 at 08:28

Quite sure I need a battery change but I thought I’d check with you all too as this is my first iPhone since the 4.

Purchased this XS 2nd hand off the ocuk MM about a year and a half ago I believe. It was from a good member who I trust and the device has served me well. Battery health at the time of purchase was 96 or 97%.

Lately I’ve noticed it switching off at around 40%. I tend to wake up in the mornings having gone to sleep at 60% and find it dead when I wake up. It certainly requires charging up at least once a day whilst at work.

iOS (latest) reports 91% health and operating at ‘normal peak performance’. The entire page might as well be blank for all I care as it’s complete bs.

Anyhow, on Android I’d frequently look at the bay for replacement battery to increase device longevity and reduce waste. However I know this isn’t a good idea with Apple stuff. From what I’ve stated does it seem like my battery is depleting? I’m quite sure it is.

Edit: I’m not sure if Apple stores are open just yet so I’ll look into that. Just weighing up the Apple £69 replacement charge over a cheaper non-official battery on eBay.

Feek · 22 Mar 2021 at 08:48

Kainz said:
Just weighing up the Apple £69 replacement charge over a cheaper non-official battery on eBay.

It would be a no brainer for me. If you buy one from eBay, you're not getting Apple parts. That's not the end of the world but if you break it or damage the phone while you swap it, the phone is toast.
If you pay Apple to do it, not only do you get genuine parts, if they break it while they're swapping it, they replace the phone. For me, it's about the peace of mind.

And with a real Apple battery, there's less chance of it going titsup after a couple of months with no comeback.

ChrisD. · 22 Mar 2021 at 09:32

Feek said:
It would be a no brainer for me. If you buy one from eBay, you're not getting Apple parts. That's not the end of the world but if you break it or damage the phone while you swap it, the phone is toast.
If you pay Apple to do it, not only do you get genuine parts, if they break it while they're swapping it, they replace the phone. For me, it's about the peace of mind.

And with a real Apple battery, there's less chance of it going titsup after a couple of months with no comeback.

Agreed.

Minstadave · 22 Mar 2021 at 09:39

Older phones like the 6/7 are easy to swap out the battery. Once you have to start using heat guns though I'd go down the Apple route.

Kainz · 22 Mar 2021 at 11:08

Cheers guys. Guess I’ll look at my Apple options.

Yeah the last phone I changed the battery on was a 4 and 4S. Since then manufacturing methods have obviously changed to make repairs more involved. I could do it myself but just haven’t the time on weekends to be realistic.

It is down to 80% (from 100%) already from the time of posting my initial post whilst on the way to work.

Alpherah · 22 Mar 2021 at 11:29

Check the analytic logs for “PANIC” logs
Settings - privacy - Analytics and improvements - analytic data

If the shutdowns are not battery related you usually get multiple panic logs, worth checking before shelling for a battery.

Some advisors at Apple are a bit .. yeah .. if capacity is above 80% they try to steer you away from a battery.
Just tell them your requesting one anyway and they will service.
Stores are doing drop off service at the moment but turnaround is closer to 2-4 hours rather then 1 we target in normal times

Kainz · 22 Mar 2021 at 12:15

Alpherah said:
Check the analytic logs for “PANIC” logs
Settings - privacy - Analytics and improvements - analytic data

If the shutdowns are not battery related you usually get multiple panic logs, worth checking before shelling for a battery.

Some advisors at Apple are a bit .. yeah .. if capacity is above 80% they try to steer you away from a battery.
Just tell them your requesting one anyway and they will service.
Stores are doing drop off service at the moment but turnaround is closer to 2-4 hours rather then 1 we target in normal times

Thank you for that, that’s immensely helpful and I had no idea that existed in Settings. No Panic logs as such just these ‘Analytics 90 Day’ and a ‘diskwrites’ logs.

Cheers for the info on the stores. I’ll read further into it after work ends.

Mobius 1 · 22 Mar 2021 at 13:12

If apple do it you retain the waterproofing too. Whereas if you do it yourself, I think it loses it’s IP rating. (I think) someone correct me if I’m wrong though

Kainz · 22 Mar 2021 at 14:53

Mobius 1 said:
If apple do it you retain the waterproofing too. Whereas if you do it yourself, I think it loses it’s IP rating. (I think) someone correct me if I’m wrong though

Think you’re right on that. Since I look after my stuff a great deal I was willing to sacrifice the possibility of losing IP65. It’ll be a bog standard gasket but only Apple would have the gear to make sure it is setup correctly after removal.

BinnsY · 23 Mar 2021 at 21:17

Kainz said:
Just weighing up the Apple £69 replacement charge over a cheaper non-official battery on eBay.

As others are saying, just do this. Modern iPhones aren't easy to take apart and you're only paying about £40 more than a battery on its own for the guarentee it will all be done correctly with no issues.

Last time I did this I also ended up getting an entirely new phone! I took in an iPhone 6S I'd purchased as a second hand grade C from Music Magpie. Whilst I didn't think its quality was terrible, it very clearly wasnt new with several scratches on the body and a couple of minor ones on the screen. As part of the battery replacement they broke the glue tabs that hold the battery down meaning they class it as no longer removable. Rather than my old grade C phone I received what appeared to be a brand new (though I suspect refubished) replacement 6s in a plain box instead. If it wasn't brand new I couldn't tell the difference, it was essentially pristine with not a single mark and as expected 100% battery life.

As I understand it that isn't the most uncommon thing to happen either. The replacements are relatively complex and the genius bars wont do anything that doesn't comply with the by the book instructions. If even the slightest bit goes wrong you just end up with a new phone! You aren't going to get that with a battery off the bay.

Alpherah · 23 Mar 2021 at 21:32

Admittedly my store isn’t the biggest - so quantity of repair isn’t as high - but I can’t remember the last time we couldn’t replace the battery on a 6s/7

... iPhone 8 battery on the other hand lol

Kainz · 23 Mar 2021 at 22:23

Thanks chaps. Something tells me I’ve got zero chance of looking/contacting Apple until the weekend so it’ll have to be then.

100% sure it’s the battery after today’s antics at work. Phone died today at around 50% or so and when put on charge, reached 100% a little too fast. About 20mins I’d say.

Feek · 23 Mar 2021 at 22:46

How many cycles does the battery have? I use Coconut battery to show but I'm sure there are other methods.

Kainz · 24 Mar 2021 at 05:44

I didn’t know CoconutBattery existed on iOS? I can’t seem to see it on the AppStore and I am weary of all the other bs ‘battery doctor’ apps that currently plague the place.

I used to use CoconutBattery way back in the day on OSX with my MBP. It was a fine app!

Edit: Ah I see I'll need CB on OSX at which point it can see a connected ios device from the looks of it.

Feek · 24 Mar 2021 at 08:30

Kainz said:
Edit: Ah I see I'll need CB on OSX at which point it can see a connected ios device from the looks of it.

Yup, sorry, I should have clarified - It runs on the Mac and can read the battery data from the phone.

DireEmblem · 5 Apr 2021 at 23:18

Could it be the phone just downloading updates and draining the battery? I used to find that, so set it to download updates when connected to power.

Similarly I used to find it really annoying when I downloaded an iOS update. Its like it totally screwed with the battery settings for a day(like it was maxing out the battery to test it), and then the next day would be fine again.

ade555 · 6 Apr 2021 at 21:33

Just my 2pence worth, I'm all about DIY but been honest from personal experience over the years is bit hit and miss with battery's from ebay and other sites, some worked great for years others had problem within couple months. £69 don't sound to bad.

Duke · 8 Apr 2021 at 20:51

I had this issue with my 8 and after speaking to Apple support I did a factory reset which surprisingly fixed it, so it was a software issue not battery which I was assuming. That is worth a try. Just make sure you have a backup of course.

Kainz · 13 Apr 2021 at 06:39

Duke said:
I had this issue with my 8 and after speaking to Apple support I did a factory reset which surprisingly fixed it, so it was a software issue not battery which I was assuming. That is worth a try. Just make sure you have a backup of course.

Argh. I had my battery replaced by Apple last Friday.

The entire process took about 3hrs so I went home and waited in between, not much one can do in a dead town where everything is closed. There were a LOT of iPhone 12 folks in the queues complaining about battery and signal issues, I was rather surprised. Battery seems fine now at '100%' health. The phone seems a lot more fluid but that could be because they updated to the latest iOS too.

Alpherah · 13 Apr 2021 at 06:45

Kainz said:
Argh. I had my battery replaced by Apple last Friday.

The entire process took about 3hrs so I went home and waited in between, not much one can do in a dead town where everything is closed. There were a LOT of iPhone 12 folks in the queues complaining about battery and signal issues, I was rather surprised. Battery seems fine now at '100%' health. The phone seems a lot more fluid but that could be because they updated to the latest iOS too.

Welcome to the modern day Apple customer.

We had one guy demand a free battery repair because after 6 months his 12 was on 98% battery health and his X stayed at 100% for a year.

I hate the battery health stat because it’s meaningless. Age of the battery and cycle count are much more important.