worrying battery issue, please help

By treky fan, 31 December, 2018

Forum
Apple Hardware and Compatible Accessories

Hi all, I'm running the latest iOS on an iPhone SE. About five or ten minutes ago, I noticed that my phone had dropped to 98% while it was still on the charger. I have not taken my phone off the charger for about a week or so. I always keep my phone connected to the charger when I'm at home so it will be fully charged up the next time I need to go out. Thinking my phone was just having a minor glitch, I turned it off, waited about ten to fifteen seconds, then turned it back on. In that span of about twenty or thirty seconds, my phone had dropped to 95%. My lightning cable isn't bent or damaged in any way. The wall charger seems to be fine as well. Is this sudden battery drop normal for an iPhone, and if not, what steps can I take to fix the issue?

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Comments

By Joel on Monday, January 7, 2019 - 15:15

As the subject states, that’s normal. Anything that is older than the iPhone 6 is being discontinued by Apple. So iPhones like the SE, five, and four, are being discontinued and no longer sold. I guess since those phones are older the more updates that Apple releases the less capable the device will be because of it’s age. So that’s probably normal for your phone.
For example, my iPod touch does the same thing it is the sixth generation luckily, I got a new phone but that just goes to show you that the older devices are getting slower

By Raul on Monday, January 7, 2019 - 15:15

Go to settings, battery and then health. Check your battery health there. If it is less than 83% it needs a replacement.
I was doing the very same thing and I had to replace my vattery in less than two years. Do not leave it plugged more than the necessary time. Actually it is better to keep it between forty and eighty percent and discharging and fully charging it sometimes.

By Kai on Monday, January 7, 2019 - 15:15

It’s not good to keep your phone plugged in to the charger all of the time. It will end up draining the battery or damaging it in some way. There are a few things that come to mind, that could be the reason for the sudden battery percent drop. One-how many apps do you have for background app refresh and they’re turned on? Two-is the software for your phone up to date? There is also a way to check to see if somethings wrong with the battery. What you’ll need to do is: Open the Settings app, scroll down to battery, go in to battery health and see what your battery says. If none of this helps, then I suggest maybe calling for help at Apple accessibility line number. It might also help to turn your phone off and then back on call. In order to do this: open settings app, click on general, scroll down to turn off. After you turn your phone off, wait a while and then turn it back on. If none of this helps, then you’ll need to call Apple for help. Good luck.

By treky fan on Monday, January 7, 2019 - 15:15

Here is what I'm told when I checked my battery health. Its at 87% as far as the measurement goes. It also said that my phone had experienced an unexpected shut down because it was unable to deliver peek performance. As for apps I have set to allow background app refresh, the only one I have is a family locator app called life 360. Not only does the app need background app refresh to be turnd on, it also needs to have the location permissions set to always allow so your family members in your circle can track your location if they need to. Background app refresh is turned off for the rest of my apps, and location permissions are set to while using for the ones that need a location.

By AnonyMouse on Monday, January 7, 2019 - 15:15

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Hey treky fan,

As mentioned in Comment #2 by Raul. It is more likely your battery. I have seen this issue with several clients of mine with the exact same problem. The battery will continue to drain even with it plugged in. Unfortunately, I also agree that you may want to take this in to your local Apple Store for some advice as I think it needs to be replaced. I notice when you start to see that your phone is starting to restart on its own due to problems even though your battery status in the Battery Settings may show something higher than the 80% can only be corrected by a new battery. I don't think it is anything that you are doing or what is being run in the background as we know that yes something like a heavy GPS app will drain the battery rather quickly among a few other apps, but I think we are looking at more of a battery problem than something running or an issue with iOS.

Also, as mentioned that leaving your iPhone charged on the cord all day is not recommended. As the matter of fact at some point when the battery gets weak it is p and I have seen this several times on SE is that it could start to expand. When that start to expand it can damage your phone to the point it can't be repaired. This is typically seen when the battery is old and left on the charger to long.

I know this isn't much or what you wanted to hear but I really think you should take that in to get a second opinion by an Apple Genius.

HTH

By Holger Fiallo on Monday, January 7, 2019 - 15:15

Yes. I agree. Need to change the battery. iOS 12.1.2 works well with saving energy. Now when I shut down my iPhone xx the battery is OK. If I shut phone of 45, 60 or 70% and turn it on the next day, the battery is the same percentage that I shut down phone. Regarding charging, When I plug the iPhone and leave it on, no issues. I do not leave charging all the time. I tend to turn it off. iOS 12.1.3 suppose to fix issues with battery for those who are having issues.