Battery Problem With iPhone 6s

By Scott Duck, 10 December, 2019

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

I am probably about to replace the battery on my iPhone 6S. The battery charge drops like a rock, often being down to 10 or 20 percent by lunch time every day, with relatively light use in the morning. As best I can recall, this started around 7 or 8 months ago.

I have tried calibrating the battery, with no effect. However, I wonder if I am doing it correctly. I have found conflicting of information concerning this. All of the available information says to use the phone until it dies. After that, some guides say to let it charge up to 100% and you're done, some say to let it stay at 100% for at least two hours before unplugging it, some say that you have to do this cycle at least twice, and some say that you have to do a hard reset. I have tried calibration multiple times, using each of these methods, with no effect on how fast the indicated battery level drops. However, it is obviously not calibrated correctly. As I write this, my phone has been indicating zero percent battery, for 2 hours and 28 minutes, while playing a book in Voice Dream.

I will probably go ahead and replace the battery, as it is 4 years old, with 850 charge cycles on it, and occasionally has the battery related shutdowns. Therefore, replacement is probably advisable, but I am wondering if that is really what is causing the problem of the quickly dropping battery percentage. Other than this problem, I like the phone. I can't really afford a new phone right now and, even if I could, it would not be logical to spend at least $500 on a iPhone 8, which is the least expensive new iPhone, when I can spend $50 on a new battery.

Any advice on the right way to calibrate the battery or any other thoughts concerning the situation are welcome.

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Comments

By Holger Fiallo on Thursday, December 26, 2019 - 14:19

I am checking my iPhone XS to see on the battery. Before it went down fast even when using the so call smart apple case. Will see how the battery is now. My is 2 years old and is on 88%. I think the case is affecting the battery.

By Justin Philips on Thursday, December 26, 2019 - 14:19

Eventually, everything loses charge. Your best bet is to replace the battery. The current technology is from the 90's.

By Voracious P. Brain on Thursday, December 26, 2019 - 14:19

850 charges? Good Lord, man, I think that Hass to be a record. I take those different recalibration procedures as cautious, more cautious, and extra cautious. 0% always seems to last a long time. About to replace the battery on my SE as well. I’m just a bit suspicious that there are so many threads all of a sudden, including mine, about SE and 6S phones suddenly having batteries that drop like a rock after iOS 13. The battery on my phone is only a little over a year old. Here’s to us home button old timers

By KE7ZUM on Thursday, December 26, 2019 - 14:19

Yeah and I thought I was holding the record at 650 charges and that was after a year. That was on a 6 at the time. My battery dropped like a rock. And that was on ios what ever in 2016

Are y'all guestimating the number of charge cycles, or is there someplace I can check that? Can't find anything under battery health.
I guess I started having the shut-downs toward the end of the IOS 12 cycle. Although recent versions tout more battery efficiency, I just wonder if some apps, like maybe mail, now draw more dynamic power than they used to in older versions. Maybe it's just battery age, though.

By Sara W on Thursday, December 26, 2019 - 14:19

I replaced a battery on an iPhone 6+ that had probably more charges than yours does. 3 months later the screen went on the iPhone and I ended up replacing the phone. Realistically if your phone is 4 years old it’s running out of life time. I would strongly advise checking into what options are available to upgrade your phone before years end. They usually have good deals during December.

By KE7ZUM on Thursday, December 26, 2019 - 14:19

I used iMazing and at the time xCode to look at my battery health. Here is what it says now for my 10 r and I got this thign in august.

Battery Current Charge: 2451 mAh (81.3%)
Battery Design Max. Charge: 2942 mAh
Battery Effective Max. Charge: 3013 mAh (102.4%)
Battery Charge Cycles: 183
Battery Temperature: 26.5 °C / 79.7 °F
Battery State: Discharging (-0.4 Watt)
Battery Instant Amperage: -110 mA
Battery Instant Voltage: 4067 mV
Battery At Warn Level: No
Battery At Critical Level: No
Battery Manufacture Date: 9241
Battery Avg. Temperature: 28.0 °C / 82.4 °F
Battery Min. Temperature: 19.6 °C / 67.3 °F
Battery Max. Temperature: 47.0 °C / 116.6 °F
Battery Max. Charge: 2112 mA
Battery Max. Discharge: -4127 mA
Charger Watts: 0
Charger Voltage: 5000 mV
Charger Amperage: -110 mA
So far so good.

By Roxann Pollard on Thursday, December 26, 2019 - 14:19

Hello Scott. I also have an old iPhone 6S as a backup. I had to get another phone because the battery in my 6S also is really bad. Unfortunately, batteries just ware out and either need to be replaced or the device upgraded. I have had battery life problems with the phone for probably two years now. I just use it at home and so simply keep it on the charger fulltime, for the most part. I can't speak to the recycling the battery question, but I wouldn't think that it would do very much on an aging battery. Maybe I'm wrong? Hopefully someone could speak on this matter and maybe we both can preserve the battery a bit longer. I agree that, since finances are an issue, purchasing a battery would fix the problem for a while for you. I think I read a while back that iPhone 6S will not be able to update to iOS14 so this is something else for you to take into consideration, before putting cash on the table for a purchase.

HTH

By Roxann Pollard on Thursday, December 26, 2019 - 14:19

Apple did have a falty batch of batteries in the iPhone 6S and possibly other models. They had a battery replacement program but that expired in December, 2018, I think. I opted to upgrade my phone, instead of the battery at the time. I still use the 6S and the beloved home button and earphone jack, but the battery is still getting worse all the time. I guess I'll use it until I can't. my XS phone is performing quite nicely, despite being lighter from the lost home button and earphone jack.

By Scott Duck on Thursday, December 26, 2019 - 14:19

I discovered part of the issue with my battery drain. I had an Outlook Exchange account that was constantly sinking and making the battery drain quickly. It is an account that I don't have to check all that often so I turned it off in the Mail app. My battery drain has decreased significantly.

I will still probably replace the battery shortly. As it has been pointed out, I could put in a new battery and then the phone could go south on me shortly after that. That could happen but, given the difference between $50 for a new battery and at least $500 for a new phone, I think it's worth taking the chance that the phone still has some good life left in it. My carrier will let you pay for a phone over 24 months. If I get just a $600 phone, that's $25 per month. So, if I replace the battery on my 6s and it lasts more than two months, then I'm ahead, financially.

You could sell the 6S BEARING IN MIND YOU MIGHT NOT be able to update to the latest iOS next year. I cashed in early as it was still in superb condition after four years and then put that money towards an iPhone 11.