The iPhone 6 has been widely critically commended, and has sold superbly well for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its early life. With Samsung having reported a slump in profits of 60 percent over the last quarter, and Apple’s share price breaking through the significant $100 barrier, Apple is certainly on top of the world at the moment.
However, despite the fact that the iPhone 6 is without doubt a magnificent mobile device, it is not without its foibles. One of these, and a persistent problem with the iPhone series, is that the battery life of the handset is pretty poor. Apple has attempted to improve the situation with the iPhone 6 over previous iterations of the device, but the iPhone 6 still underperforms in this department compared to some of its competitors.
The new iOS 8 update has been noted to be particularly greedy when it comes to battery life, thus exacerbating the issue. Nonetheless, there are things that users can do to squeeze a bit more life out of the iPhone 6, so this article will look at some of the approaches that you can take to ensure that recharging your iPhone 6 is kept down to a bare minimum.
iPhone 6 battery life: Identify Greedy Apps
The new iOS 8 application might cause battery life problems, but it at least enables iPhone 6 users to diagnose the catalysts of the issue. One of the new features which Apple has included in its operating system enables you to decipher which apps are using the most battery life. It is quite often the case that when battery life is being sapped quickly that a broken or misbehaving application can be identified as the cause. Eliminating apps that are performing poorly can significantly improve iPhone 6 battery life. This can be accessed via Settings > General > Usage > Battery Usage.
Stop Push Email
Push e-mail also tends to eat up a great deal of battery life, so one of the first things to attempt when dealing with battery life issues is to turn this feature off. This can be accessed via Settings > Mail , Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data.
Screen Brightness
Adjusting screen brightness can be an excellent way to preserve battery life across a range of Apple products. The default screen brightness for the MacBook Pro is extremely bright, and also although the backlit keyboard looks extremely attractive, this also sucks the battery of the laptop rapidly. The same principle applies for the iPhone 6, so turning off auto brightness and setting the screen to a low brightness level can be extremely beneficial. Head to Settings > Display & Brightness in order to adjust this.
Turn Off 4G LTE
It is natural for iPhone 6 users to want to take advantage of the faster 4G LTE network. However, the increasing data streams associated with this can cause battery life to be drained much more quickly than using basic Wi-Fi. Additionally, the strain on the battery can be increased further when users find themselves at the outer limits of a particular coverage zone. Thus, turning this function off can be extremely beneficial for the battery life of your iPhone 6. In order to do so go to Settings > Cellular > Enable LTE > Off.
Utilize Airplane Mode
The iPhone 6 also includes a nifty mode which Apple calls ‘Airplane Mode’. This setup effectively cuts off all data, texts and calls, enabling you to preserve your precious battery life when it is on its last legs. This mode can be very easily accessed from the basic Control Center, accessed by a swipe from the bottom of the iPhone 6 home screen.
Eliminate Background App Refresh
If after attempting all of the above you still find that the battery life of your iPhone 6 is insufficient for your needs, then turning off Background App Refresh can be beneficial. This particular feature enables Apps to connect and update automatically in the background, meaning that updates become available as soon as you open a particular program. It’s a useful feature, but also a particular greedy one. Turning it off via Settings > General > Background App Refresh > can help prolong the life of your iPhone 6 battery.
Reboot
We become so attached to our iPhone is 6 devices, and use our handsets on such a regular basis, that many iPhone 6 users have never actually switched their phone off since they bought it! Rebooting is one of the oldest tricks in the technology book, but simply restarting your iPhone 6 by holding the power button down until the screen changes, and then sliding to the right can be a useful way to right any wrongs with your smartphone. Leave your iPhone 6 off for a minute or so before switching it back on.
Settings Reset
If you’re still having massive difficulties then you could opt for the next two particularly drastic remedies. Resetting settings will not delete any data or wipe any content, it merely changes the settings on your iPhone 6 back to their factory originals. Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings. This process may require you to re-enter your PIN number.
System Reset
Finally comes the most dramatic solution of all. Pretty much everyone who has owned a PC has had to reboot completely at some point, and the equivalent on the iPhone 6 is to reset all settings. Restoring your entire iPhone 6 from scratch is not something that should be done lightly, but it can also completely eliminate any battery difficulties. One should note that this will wipe your iPhone 6 completely clean.
The process to perform this is as follows:
– Connect to iCloud
– Settings > iCloud > Find my iPhone > Off
– Click Restore in the iTunes software
There will then be some on-screen prompts, and the process should take around 20 minutes.
If none of the above does any good then you either have a faulty iPhone 6, or you’ll just have to accept that the battery doesn’t last as long as you’d like!
