iPhone gets very hot when on wireless and battery drains
May 13, 2008
Mac OS X | iPhone

The other day I pulled my iphone out and nearly dropped it! It was burning hot and there was a big red low battery indicator in the middle of the screen! I had charged it only a couple of hours earlier so it was not likely that normal use had caused this condition.

I was in a wireless area, and had been checking my gmail earlier. The little activity indicator at top left was twirling.

A search through Apple support and discussions led me to this article. It seems that the iphone can get stuck in a checking-mail loop, particularly on certain IMAP accounts like gMail.

An Apple support article also says that a flaw in the Mail application in v. 1.1.3 causes it to persistently generate server activity even when it is not checking mail per user settings. Persistent mail checking can quickly drain the battery.


Ads by Google

Posted by ellen at May 13, 2008 08:57 AM

From the article:

"One fix that has proven especially effective for users experiencing this issue after the 1.1.3 update: Force-quit the Mail application every time you are done using it. This can be accomplished by holding down the Home button for several seconds while in the Mail application until the home screen reappears."

They go on to suggest you delete and reestablish email accounts if the problems persist. A more complete set of fixes is located in this article. Fixes and suggestions covered include:

  • the fact that the battery indicator may not be correct
  • suggestions to forget the wifi networks and rejoin them
  • delete then re-establish email accounts
  • delete and re-install iPhone software
  • restore the iPhone
  • restore the iPhone but don't restore with the backup
  • connect iPhone directly to computer to charge
  • use Airplane mode when appropriate
  • check settings, turn off functions you aren't using
  • reduce the brightness, use Auto-Brightness
  • don't persistently check for mail (no mail checking every 15 minutes)
  • turn off keyboard clicks
  • set a low Auto-Lock time
  • turn off the equalizer if you don't need it


  • Special report: Fixing short iPhone battery life

  • Ads by Google


    Ads by Google

     RSS   |   Contact Me


    Ads by Google