iPhone SE (2016) New iphone SE owners: help on standby battery drain fresh out of the box

[HitBit]

Hello.

First of all, please excuse my broken english as it's not my mother tongue.

I have acquired a new SE from an Apple retailer some weeks ago. The thing is I have a problem with the performance of the device and I wanted to kindly ask for help or advice from the community.

Since day one and the first full charge out of the box, the phone loses, invariably, 1% of battery charge per hour on standby. That is even without a sim inserted (with one inside it's even more), no push notifications, no background app refresh, no icloud drive or any kind of icloud service active, no active location services, no Apple Music... Summarizing: no nothing. Zero active use of the iphone or any third apps instaled.

I have gone to the Genius Bar twice: the first time they blamed the native ios 11.4 that the phone came with. They updated it to ios 12.1 via DFU and, after the proper testing, all remained the same. The second time they agreed something was not working as expected (they suspected from a strange behavior in which, if you turn off the phone and then switch it on, the battery icon appears at 1% and 2 seconds later or so it goes to show the correct percentage remaining) and they exchanged the battery for a brand new one. I tested again the device the last two days and nothing changed.

So, here is where I wanted to ask you for help. As many people have recently acquired an SE due to special offers and the model appearing on Apple’s webpage clearance site, would it be possible for any of you to test it for just one night (when you go to sleep), letting the phone on standby with all the usual suspects that I previously listed turned off (no need to put the phone on airplane mode) and without sim to see if something similar happens to your devices regarding the 1% per hour battery drain (or if it exhibits a normal behavior of loosing only between 0-3% on a time frame of 7 or 8 hours, instead of 8%)?

Ideally, the test should be done with a battery percentage lower than 100%, because at full charge the phone's battery loosing rate is much lower than when it's at 90, 80%...

My goal with all of this is to find if a have a lemon or this behavior regarding the battery draining while on standby can be considered normal for the SE. I want to avoid the route of Apple giving me a refurbished unit if it's not necessary.

Thank you very much for taking the time of reading all of this and for the possible help or advices.

 

[technano]

it could be that, the phone is an old stock. and being old stock, the battery may not be in the best health. considering that all the electronics, battery is a component that do not go well with age.

as much as I wish to get the SE on clearance, its not available on where I live

 

[trfc54]

This seems to be a common thing with iOS 12 unfortunately. My iphone se is used, with 96% battery health, but its battery life is pretty poor with minimal usage. I see about 3-4% drain overnight, but during the day I can see it literally moving down 1% as I stare at the screen doing minimal activities, such as responding to a text message (I keep it on low power mode all the time as well).

On the plus side, the phone is very zippy, nothing lags at all. So it seems to be a performance vs. battery tradeoff that they forcefully implemented.

 

[HitBit]

This seems to be a common thing with iOS 12 unfortunately. My iphone se is used, with 96% battery health, but its battery life is pretty poor with minimal usage. I see about 3-4% drain overnight, but during the day I can see it literally moving down 1% as I stare at the screen doing minimal activities, such as responding to a text message (I keep it on low power mode all the time as well).

On the plus side, the phone is very zippy, nothing lags at all. So it seems to be a performance vs. battery tradeoff that they forcefully implemented.

Thank you for providing your experience with your SE. My overnight drain easily doubles the one you have with an 8% drain on a 8 hours period. This phone is a joy to use, mainly because of the form factor and the snapiness, but this battery thing is really grinding my gears.
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it could be that, the phone is an old stock. and being old stock, the battery may not be in the best health. considering that all the electronics, battery is a component that do not go well with age.

as much as I wish to get the SE on clearance, its not available on where I live

Thank you for your response. Per the serial number, the device has been built around past august, so it's fairly new. And I have activate for the first time three weeks ago. Besides, the Genius girl at Apple has changed the battery for a new one last week. With no positive result whatsoever.

 

[lenard]

Back in the day with that phone, you might/will need an external battery case....

 

[technano]

would suggest that you do a factory reset.
tick the option DO NOT send dianogsitcs and turn of all the unnecessary options

hope it helps

 

[dcpmark]

I have had the same problem with my SE, and after having my battery replaced, factory resets, and after lots of trial and error, I THINK my trouble is related to the System accessing location and then refusing to turn it off.

Try turning off every System service accessing location that you don’t need, especially the 3 “Location-based” System Services (Alerts, Ads, and Suggestions), Compass Calibration, Product Improvement Services, etc. Then report back if that helps.

 

[HitBit]

I have had the same problem with my SE, and after having my battery replaced, factory resets, and after lots of trial and error, I THINK my trouble is related to the System accessing location and then refusing to turn it off.

Try turning off every System service accessing location that you don’t need, especially the 3 “Location-based” System Services (Alerts, Ads, and Suggestions), Compass Calibration, Product Improvement Services, etc. Then report back if that helps.

Thank you very much dcpmark for trying to help. I already had Location turned off, so what I did after reading your message was to turn it on again and then manually disable one by one all system services that were active. Then I turned off again Location. Unfortunately, the problem it's still there, driving me crazy. I guess the next step it's to follow for the tird time the route of the genius bar and see what option they offer me now. I suppose it's going to be giving me a refurbished one and:
1. I don't like the idea of leaving the store with a refurb (that may exhibit the same problem, because at this time I don't know -nor they-if it's a software or hadware issue).
2. Due to the SE been discontinued and virtually sold out, I even doubt that they are going to have refurbished units to offer exchanges.

 

[laptech]

I've got a new space gray SE (upgraded to latest iOS), have had it for a month now. Just this min checked the battery settings and it said it's last charge was on Monday (100%), it is now Friday morning and battery is showing it has 37% left. This is all the while being on standby (have used it on occasions to use a news app but that is it, no games or web browsing).

So as far as battery performance goes, i am very happy.

 

[HitBit]

I've got a new space gray SE (upgraded to latest iOS), have had it for a month now. Just this min checked the battery settings and it said it's last charge was on Monday (100%), it is now Friday morning and battery is showing it has 37% left. This is all the while being on standby (have used it on occasions to use a news app but that is it, no games or web browsing).

So as far as battery performance goes, i am very happy.

Those are great numbers and they are more or less on point with the 10 days of standby time that Apple declares for this model. Clearly something is wrong with mine. Thank you very much for the input.

 

[Wandering Wastrel]

would it be possible for any of you to test it for just one night (when you go to sleep), letting the phone on standby with all the usual suspects that I previously listed turned off (no need to put the phone on airplane mode) and without sim to see if something similar happens to your devices regarding the 1% per hour battery drain (or if it exhibits a normal behavior of loosing only between 0-3% on a time frame of 7 or 8 hours, instead of 8%)?

Just to chime in with additional data: I left my new SE on standby all night, but with the sim in and three possible apps running in background (2 weather apps and package tracking app) along with the usual standard stuff that runs in background (phone, messages, etc.). I couldn't remove the sim, as I'm the first contact for an elderly relative, and might get a call. Anyway, the battery started the evening at 90%, and after 8 hours, it was down to 86%.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[HitBit]

Just to chime in with additional data: I left my new SE on standby all night, but with the sim in and three possible apps running in background (2 weather apps and package tracking app) along with the usual standard stuff that runs in background (phone, messages, etc.). I couldn't remove the sim, as I'm the first contact for an elderly relative, and might get a call. Anyway, the battery started the evening at 90%, and after 8 hours, it was down to 86%.

I hope this is helpful.

I really appreciate that you have take time to test your phone. Thank you very much. Mine, with the sim inserted, would have lost between 10 and 12% in the same time frame (with no apps running). This information confirms me that the behavior of my SE can't be considered as normal. Right now i'm going to schedule a third appointment at the genius bar and we will see what happens. Or maybe I will contact their phone support. But if they have run out of new or refurb SE, then i'm screwed. Thanks again, sir.

 

[iRutherford]

I'm using an iPhone 8 Plus and am experiencing the same thing. It's iOS 12.

 

[HitBit]

I'm using an iPhone 8 Plus and am experiencing the same thing. It's iOS 12.

If that it's the case, then it's a bug carried over from ios 11, because my phone came with ios 11.4 and the draining was already there. And it seems not everyone is suffering it, so it's very disconcerting. I lean towards thinking it's somehow hardware related, but who knows... Third appointment at the genius bar on tuesday.

 

[ghanwani]

Go to Settings -> Battery
Scroll below and you'll see which apps are using/draining your battery.

Go to Settings -> Battery -> Health
What do you see there? If it's not 100% you got a lemon.

 

[MrAperture]

Not all phones are the same. Your phone could just be using a bunch of juice trying to find a cell signal as well.

 

[mkelly]

Hello.
Since day one and the first full charge out of the box, the phone loses, invariably, 1% of battery charge per hour on standby.

If you have a Mac, download a copy of Coconut Battery from https://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/ - you can then plug in your iPhone SE via USB and use Coconut Battery to check the status of the phone's battery. I'm curious to know whether the battery you got is in fact new. You'll be able to see the charge count, as well as both the original and current capacity of the battery.

 

[C DM]

Go to Settings -> Battery
Scroll below and you'll see which apps are using/draining your battery.

Go to Settings -> Battery -> Health
What do you see there? If it's not 100% you got a lemon.

Not sure that an estimated reading there not being at 100% exactly necessarily means a lemon.

 

[ghanwani]

Not sure that an estimated reading there not being at 100% exactly necessarily means a lemon.

Yes, that was an exaggeration, but it needs to be 100 or pretty close for a new phone/battery. Mine is now 5 months old and it’s at 95%.

I would second the recommendation for coconut battery on the Mac to view cycle count. I wonder why Apple chose to leave that out of the battery health status.

 

[HitBit]

Not all phones are the same. Your phone could just be using a bunch of juice trying to find a cell signal as well.

The 1% draining per hour has occured without sim installed on the phone. Whit it inserted, it's even more. Like 1,6% or so per hour. At the Genius Bar they confirmed me that that behavior wasn't normal, so they changed the battery for a new one, but the problem persist.
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Go to Settings -> Battery
Scroll below and you'll see which apps are using/draining your battery.

Go to Settings -> Battery -> Health
What do you see there? If it's not 100% you got a lemon.

In most of the cases, zero app appears listed because I leave the phone on standby unused for hours.

The battery has 100% health.
[doublepost=1549357952][/doublepost]

If you have a Mac, download a copy of Coconut Battery from https://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/ - you can then plug in your iPhone SE via USB and use Coconut Battery to check the status of the phone's battery. I'm curious to know whether the battery you got is in fact new. You'll be able to see the charge count, as well as both the original and current capacity of the battery.

I have done it and the battery has a 100% health and only two cycles as of today. So the swapped battery is in fact brand new. In two hours I have my third appointment at the Genius Bar. I will keep you all informed of what I have been told. I fear they are going to offer me a refurb SE, and I don't like that idea very much.

 

[Johnny365]

What kind of battery drain on standby were you expecting to get?

 

[HitBit]

What kind of battery drain on standby were you expecting to get?

3 or 4% on an 8 hour span.

 

[Johnny365]

LOL, not going to happen, with any phone, sans putting it in airplane mode.

 

[HitBit]

So, on my appointment at the genius bar today, they have exchange my iphone SE for a brand new one. They aknowledge that something was out of specs (they have tried to run a test on the battery and they were unable to do it because of some kind of error). We will see how it goes with the new one.
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LOL, not going to happen, with any phone, sans putting it in airplane mode.

Well, you can read the post from Wandering Wastrel a few posts above and see that it's indeed possible. And, by the way, I tested mine in airplaine mode and the draining was exactly the same: 24% of draining doing nothing and with nothing active on a 24 hour span.

And as I said in my last post, Apple has agreed something was wrong and they have provided me a new phone.

 

[Johnny365]

Good luck then. I only ever see that with my iPad devices, and not on iPhones.