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So my iPhone is charged at 100% overnight, and when the battery gets to like 90%, the phone suddenly shuts off when I open an app like Facebook, Foursquare, Maps, etc...

I try turning it back on and the Apple logo appears. When it gets to the lock screen, the battery is still showing 90% but then the phone decides to turn off again. I can turn it back on, and the same thing happens. Occasionally, it'll get past the lock screen, but after I launch an app, the phone decides to shut off again. After a couple of on/off cycles (the battery still showing >80%), the phone decides to give up and displays the low battery/plug into charger icon, even when it said it had 80% battery a minute ago.

Anyone have the same problem and know a solution?

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  • Jailbroken? How old is the phone?
    – Nicholas Smith
    Oct 5, 2011 at 16:00
  • Nope, and it's a pretty old fella - 2+ yrs. I got it the day it came out in June '09.
    – jpan
    Oct 5, 2011 at 19:35
  • I'm having the same issue. Called apple tech and was told my phone was out of warrenty, so prob a battery issue. Since I live over an hour away from a genius bar, I took my phone to a local place to have the battery tested--passed w/ flying colors. Next thing I did is switch the SIM cards w/ my husband's 3GS phone, which was not having any battery issues. After restoring our phones from itunes backup, my old phone is working just fine for my husband. However, his phone is starting to show same problem mine had (this time shutting down at 60-75% instead of 90% +)
    – user14243
    Nov 28, 2011 at 11:42
  • Also - check that it's not heat / CPU related - apple.stackexchange.com/questions/72466/… or perhaps just inconsistent behavior like this
    – bmike ♦
    Jan 3, 2014 at 17:40

1 Answer 1

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The solution is likely to get the battery replaced. By Apple or a qualified repair service.

Li-Ion batteries behave like this when the chemistry fails due to normal use or a premature fault. The voltage can suddenly drops off a cliff, too fast for the battery charge indicator to show the decrease in percentage.

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  • Hm I probably should just wait until the iPhone 4S :P But I'm curious... the phone only "dies" when I use apps specifically like Facebook, Foursquare, Maps, and Safari. The phone doesn't "die" when I use the Music or Mail app.
    – jpan
    Oct 5, 2011 at 19:27
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    Using the radios (for cellular or wifi data) turns on chips that drain the battery much faster. That might be just enough to push a near dead battery over the edge.
    – hotpaw2
    Oct 5, 2011 at 20:06

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