Getting the most out of your iPhone’s battery

The iPhone’s battery life has been subject to a fair amount of controversy since the iconic handset’s release in 2007: Lithium ion batteries inevitably degrade with each use, but unlike most other mobile handsets the iPhone’s battery is not user-replaceable.

To help you get the best value out of your iPhone’s battery then, we’ve compiled a list of top power-saving tips:

The key thing to bear in mind when trying to stretch your iPhone’s battery life is that the less your iPhone is doing, the longer it will last…

1. Reduce the display's brightness

• Go to Settings
• Click on Brightness
• Drag the slider to the left to dim the display's brightness

2. Enable the display's Auto-Brightness Alternatively you could enable Auto-Brightness so the iPhone's display is automatically adjusted to match ambient lighting conditions:

• Go to Settings
• Click on Brightness
• Set Auto-Brightness to On

3. Turn off Wi-fi If you don't need to use Wi-Fi constantly then you will get far longer battery life by turning it off, only enabling it when you want to browse via a hot spot.

• Go to Settings
• Click on Wi-Fi
• Click on Off


4. Turn off Bluetooth

• Go to Settings
• Click on General
• Click on Bluetooth
• Select Off


5. Change Mail autochecking from every 15 minutes to every hour

• Go to Settings
• Click on Mail
• Click on Auto-check and increase the interval or turn it off altogether

6. Turn off the music equalizer (EQ) The iPhone's audio equalizer may add some oomph to your tunes but it also delivers a massive blow to the handset's battery life because of the constant processing it requires. To switch off the EQ:

• Go to Settings
• Click on iPod
• Select EQ and click on Flat

7. Lock the iPhone It may sound obvious but locking the iPhone as soon as you've finished using it will turn off the display immediately and ensure that it won't be making accidental calls while it's in your pocket. Simply click on the Sleep/Wake button on the upper right hand of the iPhone.

8. Enable Auto-Lock Even better, if you can get into the habit of locking your iPhone yourself simply turn on the Auto-Lock feature:

• Go to Settings
• Click on General
• Click on Auto-Lock
• Select a duration before the Auto-Lock kicks in, eg 1 minute or less

9. Turn off keyboard clicks If you’re constantly tapping away on iPhone's touch keyboard then the constant need to generate audio keyboard clicks will add to the iPhone's power consumption. To turn off keyboard clicks:

• Go to Settings
• Click on Sounds
• Turn Keyboard clicks to Off


10. Store and use the iPhone at room temperature

Direct sunshine or putting the iPhone in the glove compartment of a hot car will cause your iPhone's battery life to drop sharply.

The ideal battery life environment for both usage and storage is room temperature: 22° C (72° F).

The iPhone performs well between 0 degrees centigrade and 35 degrees centigrade (32-95° F).

You should only store your iPhone in conditions between -20° C and 45° C (-4° F to 113° F).