New iPhone?

"I agree that I really wish it were possible to change batteries so I could take a second one. There are plugin options, but I've never found anything light."

Have you ever checked out the iBattz Mojo Refuel? [http://www.ibattz.com/products_power_refuel.php]

It's a battery case with removable batteries. The case weighs 43 grams. Each battery weighs 39 grams.

Thanks Doug, that does look interesting.

I use a Lifeproof Nuud waterproof case at the moment, it has saved my phone a couple of times, including once dropping it into a river in Costa Rica, not realizing I'd dropped it, and (remarkably) managing to find it fully buried in sand on the riverbed about 10 minutes later.

However…. on some hikes it would definitely be worth sacrificing the waterproofness for the extra battery.

My s3 lets me turn on airplane mode then turn the GPS back on. Doesn't the IPHONE let you mess with the antennas separately without "locking the SIM?"

First thing I saw? The new iPhone adds half an ounce.

Unless something has changed in a recent OS update, then I'm pretty sure that you can't.

I seem to remember that I got the SIM-lock workaround from a thread on here a while back, from somebody more tech savvy than me who somehow had figured it out.

Half an ounce more, but thinner. So you're getting more than an extra half ounce of screen space. Worth it for me, although I think that's just about as big as I want to go for backpacking purposes.

Of course, there will be a big dilemma for us weight weenies coming in a few years time. When the hardware is implanted in your body, do you include it in your base weight? And the expression "skin-out weight" might also have to be modified to "hypodermis-out weight" if the implants are under the epidermis.

I'm ready to make the plunge for a smart phone; I like the idea of loadable topo maps, gps capability and photo taking- it eliminates several other devices w/ one

I read carefully the thread that Amy talked strategies for conserving batter life, what I took out of it is there were some shortfalls in the software of the 5 series that prevented maximum battery life vs the older 4 series

I wonder how long before we learn how the 6 compares?

Unfortunately airplane mode turns off the GPS as well. I have a 5S from work and while it's very nice, I really wish the battery life were much better. At work I blow through most of the battery by noon. On the trail I can squeeze at most four days out of it if I'm careful with how I use it and have airplane mode enabled whenever I'm not using gaia.

The 6+ and the 6 will still have poor battery life because of Apple's obsession with thinness. I like the OS and how well things work (iTunes, iMessage, maps, apps from the app store flat out work, etc), and since work is paying for it I'll always have an iPhone. Looking forward to the 6S+ in two years when I'm due for a new phone.

"I wonder how long before we learn how the 6 compares?"

I'd say a month, tops….

"At work I blow through most of the battery by noon."

That surprises me, unless you're constantly using it. Do you have background app refresh turned off?

Background app refresh is turned off for all but a few apps. Push notifications are turned off for outlook. I'm on it making calls, texting, looking stuff up, surfing the web, etc but it's not like I'm playing games or living on the thing. Wifi stays on the entire time I'm at work because cell signal sucks in most of the buildings I'm in.

Today I went to lunch and it was at 17%. Apple insists on having super slim phones and as a result just doesn't have much room for a decent sized battery. I saw similar battery life on my 4S before this and I would be willing to bet the regular 6 is the exact same despite Apple's bogus claims.

Realistically I couldn't care less about how fast the processor is, they are fast enough, we need more efficient phones. Too bad Intel won't let Apple use their fabs to crank out chips on 14nm, that would help a lot in the efficiency dept assuming they didn't try to make it super fast.

"Unfortunately airplane mode turns off the GPS as well."

Yes, but that's what you want, surely? If you've locked the SIM, then the cellular functions are always disabled, whatever the status of Airplane Mode. The only remaining function of Airplane Mode is then to toggle GPS functionality on and off as needed.

I guess I'm kind of suprised that people are so negative on Apple battery life in general. I was totally amazed by the improved battery life in the new products that came out a couple of years ago.

iPhone 5: contrary to Eric's experience, I get 7-10 days on the trail with all cellular functions disabled, using GPS and other stuff only. Around town using cellular actively – certainly never less than a day and a half, and that's more than enough imo, if I'm using cellular, that means I can recharge at least daily.

iPod nano 7th Gen: I get over 30 hours from something that weighs just over 1oz. Best weight/utility ratio of anything in my pack, even though in a sense it's a "luxury" item. I listen to audiobooks every night at bedtime when I'm hiking alone.

I'm on AT&T btw, I have heard that Verizon based phones actually do better when it comes to battery life in the backcountry, and I'm sure that with Verizon I'd have 10X the signal while at work and that would probably help things as well.

I don't believe that locking the sim works on the 5S. Every iPhone is different in how it treats power management issues. On a droid you can keep the gps on while airplane mode is enabled or turn off the gps. IOS is more stable since it's a closed environment, droid=more options because they appreciate diversity and giving the consumer options.

Ralph, from the sound of it you're probably a bit of a miser when it comes to usage that hits the battery. Nothing wrong with that at all, I try to be the same while on the trail but there is no way I'll eek out 7 days even with toggling airplane mode on and off and shutting down the device at night unless I don't use it at all for music, pictures, video etc. Strictly as a gps used sparingly I could see getting 7 days since that's what you're experiencing but with my usage I usually plan on 4 days tops before needing to be recharged. If I'm out on the trail longer than that I'll bring a battery with me.

By the time I'm home after an average day of work my phone is either dead or close to dead. I've gotten in the habit of charging while on lunch. I think the wifi is a big part of the problem but I need it on. I'm also moving through buildings with 10 to 30 AP's so it's constantly searching for signal and trying to reconnect. I realize this isn't typical use for everyone but many of my friends complain about the iPhone batteries and want more. From the looks of it the 6S should be a tad better.

I will say that my iPod nano has awesome battery life but it's a pretty simple device so it's to be expected.

Edit: According to the link below there were a few really buried options that can effect battery life that I've turned off. We'll see how that works.

http://adventurealan.com/iphone4gps.htm

The smaller iPhone 6 has a listed weight of 4.55oz. The iPhone 5 is 3.95oz. The iPhone 6 has significantly better battery life then the 5 and a slightly larger display to off-set the weight gain. The iPhone 6 Plus is a hefty 6.07oz with a much greater battery life and much larger screen then the standard iPhone 6. I expect to upgrade to the standard size iPhone 6 and consider the slightly larger screen and better battery life to be worth the 1/2oz. I will wait until see them side by side before pulling the trigger.

I will stick with the iPhone and Apple in general because technology is essential to my law practice and I need hardware and software that is easy to use, works, and does grown up jobs. If that is passé or square, that is OK with me. I will take my Apple Walled Garden where stuff just works and the kids can have the Android Jungle.

I currently use my iPhone 5 on all of my backpacking trips. With basic power management practices I can easily get 7 or 8 days of use out of the phone. The apps I use are Topo Maps (cheap, dead simple, reliable, used sparingly), Voice Memos (I do a nightly audio trail journal), the camera, and Texas Hold'em (if I have any trouble falling asleep).

I like my GS3, but the power switch just flaked out on me. I have instituted a work around, but the cost of going to a repair place to get the switch replaced is around the cost it would cost me to go get a new phone since my contract has been over for some time.

So, would I get the GS5? Probably not. Samsung has decided they need to push a whole suite of bloatware apps onto your phone. Most of them are bad re-skins of stock android applications, or attempts to get you into a Samsung ecosystem. And to top that off, Verizon thinks they need to do the same thing. Blah. When the phone maker gets their shoddy android "skin" finished, they send it over to the carrier and they add on their layer of filth on top of it. Give me stock android please. But that gets me into a tangent of complaining that my monthly contract price is artificially inflated to help subsidize the cost of a new phone every 2 years…. grrr.

That is the fascination and the beauty of Apple's model. They have tweaked and optimized the apps on the phone to work well with the operating system. And they have the clout to force carriers to accept the phone as it is, instead of loading it with bloatware. So that seamless implementation can be quite good. But that does not make me too interested in switching. I love the flexibility of the android OS, and I am invested in the whole android/google ecosystem.

For my next phone, I am probably going to look at the new Moto X. I heard nothing but good things about the previous version. But honestly, if my power switch weren't flaky, I would be just fine riding my GS3 until the day it died. Especially since I still have Verizon's unlimited data on it.

Ed and Ralph- curious, are you on Verizon or ATT? I know Ann's article mentioned the 5 series battery life was much better on Verizon- funny that different carriers would effect battery life that much

I'm on Verizon, which is consistent with that hypothesis. When using cellular functions, the carrier could make a big difference of course, if your local cell tower coverage is different. But it would surprise me if there's any difference in "backpacking mode", with cellular functions disabled.

As long as you turn airplane mode on it should be similar between carriers is what I'm reading. If you try to turn off the sim, etc it is drastically different between carriers.

http://adventurealan.com/iphone4gps.htm

Read up:"When all battery conservation measures are in place (as per the Battery Conservation Settings section), the baseline battery drain of the best models of iPhones is 1-2% per day. By baseline drain, we mean that the phone is powered on, but asleep; it is ready for use, but the user is not actually doing anything with it. This is the background drain you will incur even if you don't take any pictures, look at any maps, or use any apps at all.

The Airplane Mode switch in Settings turns the Cellular Service AND the GPS chip ON or OFF. You can not independently turn Cellular OFF but leave GPS ON. To show your location in a mapping app like Gaia GPS, you must set Airplane Mode to OFF.

Sadly, when Airplane Mode is OFF, the iPhone, in some configurations, drains the battery trying to establish a Cellular connection. The amount of battery drain depends on whether you are in-range or out-of-range of the cellular provider. Therefore if you test your baseline battery drain at home you are likely to get one result (in-signal-range), while when you use the iPhone in the backcountry you will get a different result (out-of-signal-range). (In order to do my battery drain testing, I constructed a Faraday Cage by putting the iPhone inside a closed cookie tin and putting the tin into a microwave oven; neither the cookie tin nor the microwave alone blocked signal).

Summary: ATT iPhone 4/4S is great. ATT iPhone 5 is bad. Verizon iPhone 5 is great. Other models are untested.

ATT iPhones 4 and 4S Baseline battery drain:
1-2% per day: SIM Inactive (either locked or removed) (signal either present or absent).
9-10% per day: SIM Active (signal present).
30% per day: SIM Active (no signal).

To maximize battery life of an ATT iPhone 4, deactivate the phone’s SIM by using one of two methods:
Use the SIM PIN feature (read Apple's Help Topic. and call 611 from your phone to get your initial PIN from ATT). When using this feature, you are asked for the PIN code only after the phone is fully powered down, not after each time the phone has been asleep. This is an elegant easy-to-use solution that gives a great result.
Remove the SIM card from your phone. Be careful, the SIM card is small and quite easy to lose. This method may work for any iPhone 4 with a SIM card, not just ATT phones in the U.S.

ATT iPhone 5 – The baseline battery drain is completely different than the ATT iPhone 4, and the optimal configuration is exactly opposite the iPhone 4:
8-10% per hour !!!!: SIM Inactive (either locked or removed) and signal absent. — This is an egregious battery drain bug.
~8% per day: SIM Active (signal present).
~22% per day: SIM Active (no signal).

To maximize battery life of an ATT iPhone 5 when no signal is present, you must leave the SIM active. If you lock or remove the SIM you will have a disaster when you leave signal range. In the best configuration, SIM active, the drain is still an unacceptable ~1% per hour. Therefore, if you are using an ATT iPhone 5 for backpacking, you need to change your practices to turn Airplane Mode ON between each usage of the GPS. If you forget to toggle into Airplane Mode, you will drain 1% per hour searching for the non-existent signal (which is better than draining 10% per hour which happens when the SIM is inactivated.)

Verizon iPhone 4 or 4S? Sorry, I have not tested these.

Verizon iPhone 5 – Baseline battery drain:
1-3% per day: SIM Removed (no signal). Probably same result for locked SIM, but we didn't test this.
1-3% per day: SIM Active (no signal).
?? not tested: SIM Active (signal present).

The Verizon iPhone 5, based on our tests, will have excellent battery life in the backcountry with the SIM active or inactive! The Sprint iPhone 5 probably behaves like the Verizon iPhone 5 (the hardware is similar for those two products) but we did not test it.

iPhones 5S and 5C, released in September 2013? Sorry, I don't know anything yet."

My son bought a Moto-x unlocked and loves it. I have a google "pure" android tablet and a Samsung S3 with the Samsung/AT&T skin and I am pretty sure that my next phone will be an unlocked Android phone with a pure ANdroid experience like my tablet. Things run much more seamlessly without all the middlewear. On top of that, unlocked prices for the Moto-x are reasonable.

Why unlocked? The US smartphone market is a complete ripoff. Go to AT&T and pay your $99 for a 16g Iphone 5s, then commit yourself to 2 years paying $65 a month for voice plus 2G of data. In Europe people buy smartphones at full price (around $680 for a 5s) then pay $15 a month for voice and 2G of data. Basically what we do here is pay 99 dollars down for the equivalent phone plus $50 a month payments over what we should be paying for 24 months. So, you are basically paying $1300 for your Iphone 5s. Thats how Americans are…. give us a payment plan so we can feel good while we are being ripped off. What is even WORSE is that if you don't get a new phone most carriers make you CONTINUE to pay the higher prices per month.

The US is just now starting to see a few no-contract nationwide offerings, started by T-mobile, but there is not enough competition to drive prices to European levels. Hope it continues.

As I say above, I use Net10. It has been pretty good, $45/mo "unlimited" with 2.5G high-speed data.

As you say though, our US infrastructure is weird. I guess Net10 is really TracPhone who is really Carlos Slim who leases capacity from AT&T etc.

Most of the "independent" providers are really Slim, leasing capacity. Not sure how that will work in the long run.

"So, you are basically paying $1300 for your Iphone 5s. Thats how Americans are…. give us a payment plan so we can feel good while we are being ripped off."

I see your point. But if the market is functioning efficiently, it shouldn't matter whether the preferred payment structure is European-style "pay up front" or US-style "payment plan". Competition should push the cost of either approach to roughly equivalent overall cost to the consumer. So why do you think the market not functioning efficiently in the US? If we're paying double what we need to, there should be huge competition and downward price pressure, what's stopping that happening?

I'm from the UK and have a Sim-only contract with the "3" network, I pay £12.90 for 300 minutes unlimited texts and unlimited Data, and here's the clincher, I can use my allowance in the US as if I was in the UK, I connect to AT&T. My Galaxy S4 cost me £280 sim-free from Amazon. I wonder if US customers could use a UK contract this way?

Dave

>If we're paying double what we need to, there should be huge competition and downward price pressure, what's stopping that happening?

We are getting closer. My wife and I are on T-Mobile, and pay about $30/month each for service. She bought a Nexus 5 from Google (paid upfront), but I'm done experimenting with Android (had two Android devices, regretted them both) and am now happily locked in to the Apple ecosystem, so I got an iPhone 5S from T-Mobile on a payment plan (zero interest over two years, payments come in on our bill).

Had we both gotten iPhones with payment plans, our cost per month would have been about the same as Verizon. The difference is that with Verizon, it would stay the same forever. With T-Mobile, our monthly payments drop once the phones are paid off. We both expect to make our phones last 4 years or so (which is why I splurged for the 5S), so it will save us a significant amount of money over time. Hopefully costs continue to drop as competition increases.

"If we're paying double what we need to, there should be huge competition and downward price pressure, what's stopping that happening?"

They convinced us to pony up for 3G -> 4G speed, or as noted above, that we needed a new subsidized phone. Now that 4g is settled, and the phone live cycle stretches, I think we are starting to see more price competition.