Strange iPhone battery problem

ripplyuk

It’s an old iPhone SE and I’ve been planning to upgrade it but I was hoping it would last a little bit longer. The battery doesn’t last a full day anymore but in the last few days, it seems to have got suddenly worse. Using YouTube, TikTok etc drains it really fast. Today I was listening to Spotify for 90mins and expected the battery to be around 60% after but I got a low battery warning as it dropped to 20%. I turned off Spotify and disconnected my AirPods. When I looked at the screen, the battery was counting down every few seconds, even though nothing was being used. It dropped from 20% to 14%. 

Is this just what happens with old batteries or could there be some other problem? 

coffeehound

How old is it?  That happened with my old SE earlier this year; the battery life just suddenly went off a cliff.  Still it was 4.5 years old so not a bad run.

ripplyuk

@coffeehound Mine is about the same age. I guess it must be normal for phones that age, if the same thing happened to yours. I just assumed it would be more of a gradual decline, and not so dramatic. 

I think I’ll have to order a new one this week. Having an unreliable phone isn’t much use to me. 

daveyjp

You can check the battery health through the settings.  One of the readings is max battery capacity.

ripplyuk

daveyjp said:

You can check the battery health through the settings.  One of the readings is max battery capacity.

@daveyjp That’s the weird thing. The battery health was showing as 96% two days ago. Now it is 92%. I don’t know why it has suddenly dropped so much but at over 90%, it should still be working ok. It doesn’t make sense when it’s draining after 90mins use. 

another_casualty

Fwiw , my old iPhone se " died " a few weeks ago ..
I contacted Apple support on 2 occasions this year and they were very helpful
Eventually , the iPhone was beginning to do random things such as sending text messages to people . Plus it would eventually prevent me from using safari properly etc
The battery was ' critical ' . 

So, I have an iPhone approx 4 years old . It would cost to replace battery . Plus there is no apple store nearby meaning I'd be without for a couple/ few days . Plus updates would be ltd due to its age . I decided enough was enough , and although times are hard etc I decided to get the " latest " iPhone 2020. 

Two annoying things there ..no headphone socket , and a 2021 model has just been released . Still, it's done now ..

ripplyuk

@another_casualty I don’t think there’s much difference. I’m still not sure if I should go for the iPhone 12 or 13. The newer one has a slightly longer battery life but I’m not sure it would matter as long as it lasts all day. AppleCare is also more expensive for the latest phones. 

another_casualty

ripplyuk said:

@another_casualty I don’t think there’s much difference. I’m still not sure if I should go for the iPhone 12 or 13. The newer one has a slightly longer battery life but I’m not sure it would matter as long as it lasts all day. AppleCare is also more expensive for the latest phones. 

Horses for courses 🏇🏇 . I think mse wise , the se is the one to go for . I went for 128 gb so hopefully will be able to handle a few updates in theory . It is apple after all.
I didn't bother with AppleCare . I  Always buy a protective case though , so it has some protection  .  Not sure of the screen sizes , but although the new se is slightly bigger it still fits in my pocket ..

zagubov

My apple iphone SE has a dodgy battery life so I carry a powerbar with me. The phone runs the latest iOS and has 128Gb storage so it's not full yet and fits into any size pocket. 
I'd rather pay £50 for a new battery than buy a new phone, lose all my Whatsapp messages, spending a good fraction of a grand on a fractionally "improved" product.

[Deleted User]

zagubov said:

My apple iphone SE has a dodgy battery life so I carry a powerbar with me. The phone runs the latest iOS and has 128Gb storage so it's not full yet and fits into any size pocket. 
I'd rather pay £50 for a new battery than buy a new phone, lose all my Whatsapp messages, spending a good fraction of a grand on a fractionally "improved" product.

Or you just buy another SE for £439 at 128gb…. Apple don’t always want you to buy a £1000 phone 

[Deleted User]

ripplyuk said:

@another_casualty I don’t think there’s much difference. I’m still not sure if I should go for the iPhone 12 or 13. The newer one has a slightly longer battery life but I’m not sure it would matter as long as it lasts all day. AppleCare is also more expensive for the latest phones. 

You only need Apple care if you’re a person who drops their phone and damages it a lot so get the one at £139

I have theft and loss cover outside the home through my house insurance (think it only adds around £2 a month) and that’s up to £2500 so I’m covered not only for iPhone but other valuable items like iPads, cameras and laptops.