Who needs battery life anyway? —

iOS 6.0.2 suspected of draining batteries

Theories vary but the battery drain may be due to changed Wi-Fi behavior.

The iOS 6.0.2 update released earlier this week may have cured some people's Wi-Fi woes, but others now claim it's reducing their battery life too. First reported by TidBITS' Adam Engst and supported by a number of posters in Apple's Support Communities, some (but seemingly not all) iPhone users have begun seeing dramatically reduced battery life on their iPhones after performing the update.

Apple says iOS 6.0.2 "fixes a bug that could impact Wi-Fi." iPhone 5 users previously complained their devices weren't staying connected to Wi-Fi, therefore forcing their phones to fall back to cellular data networks and use inappropriate amounts of data. Although Apple didn't specify whether iOS 6.0.2 fixes that particular bug, it's widely speculated this was indeed its purpose.

As noted by the team at TidBITS, this change in how devices connect to Wi-Fi may be related to the apparent battery drain. "Our speculation, based on some quick testing that Michael Cohen did, is that the problem is related to a change in Wi-Fi behavior, which maps with Apple's sole release note for iOS 6.0.2," Engst wrote. "[I]t's far from conclusive, but indicates that the problem may be related to wireless communication in some fashion."

Members of the Apple Support Communities are also seeing this phenomenon on their iPhones, but at least one user named .zaph. has a different theory on what's going on. "Quick update on this, I'm still letting my phone drain before I charge it again. It's been sitting at four percent for a few hours now (mostly idling)," .zaph. wrote. "I have a feeling the phone is confused about how much power is actually left. Once it drains and recharges to 100 percent in one sitting, it should know better and am anticipating it getting better then."

I've been watching my iPhone's battery life since performing the iOS 6.0.2 update and have not seen any noticeable change in behavior. But that doesn't mean you haven't: let us know if your battery is draining faster after the update in the poll below, then tell us your theories in the comments.

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