Sour Apple: iOS 5.0.1 Patch Doesn't Solve Battery Drainage

Since Apple published its new mobile device operating system, iOS 5, some users have noticed dramatic battery drain on their iPhones.

Some users noticed their phones would lose 1 percent of their battery every few minutes; their iPhones wouldn't even last a day without charging. Apple admitted the issue and went straight to work on a patch to fix the battery draining bug.

Though last week the company said it would take a few weeks to release the patch, Apple rushed out iOS 5.0.1 Nov. 10. However, the patch might have been a little premature according to some Apple support forum posters:

This is ridiculous. Before iOS 5.0.1 i managed two days without recharging. And now not even one day!

And another user posted:

Sprint iPhone 4s still dreadful battery life after iOS 5.0.1 update plus a hard reset just to test. at least 20% an hour.

But others Apple users have noticed an astonishing difference in battery life. According to this Wired blog, a user noticed an immediate improvement:

Frankly the difference is nothing short of amazing, said Wired reader Donald Kuntzman, who downloaded the update on his Verizon iPhone 4. To go almost an entire day without a change in the meter reading seems unbelievable. Where before I could almost watch the battery drain, now it doesn't move at all.

The iOS 5 update brought many new features to iPhones and iPads when it was released on Oc. 14. It added more Twitter connectivity, better messaging and an improved camera interface among other changes.

Glitches are always expected when new software or products are released. When the iPhone 4 first came on the market, users noticed phone reception would be dramatically affected if they held their iPhone the wrong way. The problem was fixed when Apple gave away free cases to solve the problem.

So it seems like Apple will have to tinker a little more with its new patch to completely fix the drainage problem on iOS 5. Or maybe they could give away some solar-powered cases.