Has Apple worsened the reported battery problems of its iPhone 4S? An update of its iOS 5 software on Thursday is resulting in complaints about battery issues -- even by some users who previously had no problems.

The version 5.0.1 update, delivered wirelessly, was supposed to correct bugs that caused the battery drain issues for some users, as well as fixing a bug affecting iCloud documents, adding multitasking gestures to the first iPad, and improving voice recognition for users in Australia who use dictation.

Wirelessly Delivered

One user, echoing the sentiments of many on the Apple Support Forums, wrote that "I seem to be losing battery life significantly after upgrading to iOS 5.0.1!!! Both my iPod4 and iPhone4. Before, I never noticed a problem. I even restarted my phone right after installing."

Another user said that, "after upgrading to 5.0.1, my iPhone is draining the battery even faster." A user named Healy79 said that, "after installing 5.0.1 I charged it up fully before going to bed and after 7 hours just sitting there lost 79 percent, and have lost further 5 percent while logging in and typing this."

Implicit in the battery brouhaha is the memory of Apple's Antennagate, following the release of the iPhone 4.

The reports of signal strength issues with the iPhone 4 began piling up shortly after its release. Apple had been suggesting that the signal-strength issue, which occurred when a user placed a hand or finger near the antenna on the lower left side of the device, was largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software that mistakenly showed more bars "than it should for a given signal strength."

The turning point was when Consumer Reports magazine wrote that it could not recommend the device because of those issues. The non-profit organization also said that "it's the company's responsibility to provide the...

2011-11-11 23:54:24