>The iPhone 4S is proving popular, but the battery drain issue is worrisome. Image: Flickr / mkuma443 / CC-BY-SA
The iPhone 4S sold millions of units on pre-orders and continues to sell quickly. As with all new products, however, the 4S is facing a few bugs and bumps in the road. Some are pointing to possible programming bugs in iPhone 4S apps that could be draining the battery quickly and completely.
The iPhone 4S, from the first few days of release, has had a serious problem. The iPhone 4S has a very poor battery life. Some 4S users are reporting that the battery can drain as much as half in three hours or less. The few workarounds offered on Apple forums include turning off or uninstalling all but the most base phone functionality, and then turning on add-ons one-by-one. Culprits of the battery drain have been identified as possibly Bluetooth, Siri, Calendar sync, automated transmissions to Apple and iCloud.
Unlike the problems with Apple’s “Antennagate,” Apple does appear to be taking action to improve the battery drain issue. Some Apple users have been contacted and asked if they will run diagnostics to try to identify the source of the battery drain issue. Some unnamed individuals at Apple have said the company hopes to release an iOS 5 update to fix the battery drain bug.
Though the battery problem is the biggest concern with the iPhone 4S, Apple is also developing several new applications. The latest report is that Apple plans on developing a self-checkout to pair with Apple stores. On-shelf items in Apple stores may be paid for with an iTunes account, skipping the checkout line entirely for the smaller items. The details of the system are still being developed, and have not been officially announced yet.
