Here’s the statement in full:

The recent iOS software update addressed many of the battery issues that some customers experienced on their iOS 5 devices. We continue to investigate a few remaining issues.

So Apple appears to be saying that the leftover problems are being seen by a smaller percentage of the originally affected group, according to its information. That’s likely the case, but users who are still experiencing poor battery life, or who are seeing it for the first time since the update, likely won’t take much comfort from the statement. At least Apple was quick to respond, which should mean we’ll once again see it move swiftly to quash remaining bugs missed by the 5.0.1 update.

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This is welcome news for afflicted device owners, many of which were very vocal iPhone 4S users who contributed to a huge thread on Apple’s discussion board, and left us comments here, too, when we posted about the issue. Apple hasn’t recommended any steps that can be taken immediately to fix or lessen the problem, but general battery saving tips will no doubt help the situation.

In a related move, Apple also released iOS 5.0.1 beta software for reigistered iOS developers on Wednesday, which is said to fix “bugs affecting battery life” according to MacRumors. That the software is already being tested is good news, and should mean Apple can stick to its timeline of “a few weeks” as per its official statement.

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Problems with the 4S battery go beyond just the advertised changes, which acknowledge that the iPhone 4S won’t get as much standby time from a full charge than either the iPhone 4 or the iPhone 3GS. 3G talk time and other use cases are supposed to last longer with the 4S’s new battery, however, which a teardown revealed is higher capacity than the one in the iPhone 4.

Users who are having problems aren’t seeing just a small drop in standby time, however. Some users are reporting between 10 and 20 percent battery burn per hour while the phone is in standby mode. That’s well off the usual, which is closer to around 1 percent an hour, or even less. In fact, we’re treading well into Android territory here, where battery life is a known failing of most devices.

Solutions people are suggesting vary from performing a full backup and restore, to switching off Siri, to not using wireless sync. But in many cases, these solutions don’t seem to be helping. Some argue that it’s an issue with 3G data, as users who depend more on Wi-Fi don’t seem to be as affected in some cases.

The Guardian reports that some iPhone 4S users who’ve posted about the problem on Apple’s discussion boards are receiving calls from Apple engineers looking into the problem. It’s a good sign that Apple is investigating, but according to one person who was contacted, an engineer admitted “they aren’t close to finding a fix.”

My own iPhone 4S seems to have comparable, if not better battery life when compared to my iPhone 4. I’ve managed to get as much as two full days of standby time along with five or six hours of usage. I tend not to be away from Wi-Fi for very long, however, and I have noticed that the phone runs hot and battery seems to drain more quickly when I’m actually browsing in Safari using a 3G connection.

What about you? If you’ve upgraded to the iPhone 4S, are you having problems with battery life? Maybe iOS 5 is the culprit, and you’re seeing problems even on an iPhone 4 or 3GS? Let us know in the comments.

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Same screen, same complaints

The iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS both heard complaints of a “washed out” screen with a “yellowish tinge” in their early days on the market. I personally returned a brand new iPhone 3GS following the Canadian launch of the device three times before giving up and accepting the warmer hues as a necessary evil. My iPhone 4 had yellow tint at the bottom of its screen, but I decided that time around to leave well enough alone.

In both cases, the strange hues were temporary, and eventually gave way to much cooler tones. We later heard that this could’ve been caused by glue that wasn’t allowed to properly dry, and which eventually did dry, eliminating the problem entirely. Bottom line, if this is the only issue you’re having with a new iPhone 4S, consider yourself lucky and give it some time to fix itself. You’ve got a year-long warranty, after all.

Some users will also notice apparent differences in their auto-brightness performance. That’s also normal, and is likely just the byproduct of getting used to a new device. You may have to set your brightness level slightly higher or lower than on a previous iPhone to get it just right, but give yourself time to get used to the difference before trading it in.

Bad batteries

If you’re coming from an iPhone 4 or even an iPhone 3GS, you might experience some disappointment with the iPhone 4S’s battery life. It’s close to the iPhone 4 by most accounts and tests, but a small percentage of people are seeing rapid discharge in standby mode.

If you just feel like the 4S isn’t quite as long-lasting as the iPhone 4, then you probably shouldn’t worry about it. While the 4S has a battery with increased capacity, because of added features like Siri and a much more demanding processor, it actually is rated lower for some tasks, and for standby operation (300 hours on iPhone 4 vs. 200 on 4S). It takes a hit now, but as OS updates become more demanding of iPhone processors, you’ll be thankful you’ve got the A5, despite its power-hungry nature, and future iOS updates could improve battery efficiency.

On the other hand, if you’re running into situations where your battery drains in only a couple of hours, you might have grounds for a return. As always, try a full restore (not from backup) first to see if it fixes your issues, but if it doesn’t, go ahead and schedule a Genius appointment.

The cold shoulder from Siri

Some reports say Siri is sometimes failing to hear or listen. This is almost definitely a problem on Apple’s side of the equation, and not one that individual iPhone owners need to worry too much about. Ellis Hamburger at Business Insider recommends turning the Siri feature on and off as a temporary workaround if you run into this problem, but expect it to become much more dependable over time as Apple measures and scales to cope with user demand.

Siri is also reportedly having some problems launching automatically when the iPhone 4S is raised to a user’s ear. Likewise, people reported issues with the screen shutting off on the iPhone 4 due to problems that seemed to originate in the device’s proximity sensor. Software updates addressed that issue, and likely will address this one, too. Again, if problems persist after an update or two, you’ll still have plenty of time to seek out an exchange.

It’s not you, it’s your network

If you’re experiencing slow network speeds, don’t put the blame on your device just yet; it might be your network that’s having the problems. Some users are seeing much slower network speeds on Sprint than on other providers. Stacey Higginbotham previously wondered whether Sprint would be able to handle the additional load brought on by iPhone users, who are data-hungry, but Sprint itself is saying that’s not an issue.

It’s much more likely that users are just encountering the limitations of Sprint’s network, and not any specific problem. Stacey also noted that while Sprint may be able to handle the iPhone traffic, that didn’t mean its network would be fast. Network problems on any carrier also depend heavily on environmental and circumstantial factors, so watch and wait, or travel to different coverage areas before exchanging a phone for any network-related reason.

Don’t trade a good egg for a bad one

You might be eager to fix a perceived problem with your iPhone 4S, and you should be; after all, the things aren’t cheap. But the danger with acting on impulse and trading in an early model device is that one problem which could be addressed either by patience or a software update could be replaced by a more serious one that is actually related to hardware, and skeptical Apple support staff looking at a record of three or four exchanges as you try to explain the new problem.

Living with imperfection is hard, but trying to work out those imperfections amid the chaos and confusion of a new launch can make things worse. Better to wait a while, see where you stand a week or two from now, and save yourself the headache of wading through throngs of customers at Apple Stores.

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Placing your iPhone in Airplane mode will maximize the life of your battery for listening to your music, watching movies or playing games, as it disables all network and cellular services. But that’s an extreme solution, so check out the following general tips for making that last 10 percent of juice last as long as you need it to:

• Under Settings > Brightness, disable Auto-Brightness and adjust brightness down to a tolerable level. Especially if you’re not using your device for lengthy reading sessions, you should be able to get away with a fairly dim display.
• Under Settings > Location Services, turn off Location Services. Note that apps that use location like Maps won’t be able to find you if you do this.
• Under Settings > Wi-Fi, turn Wi-Fi off.
• Under Settings > General > Network, turn off Enable 3G and Cellular Data.
• Press the Home button twice (quickly), press and hold any app’s icon in the tray that appears, then tap the red “x” to shut down running apps.
• Under Settings > Notifications, turn off Notifications.
• Under Settings > Phone, turn off FaceTime.
• Under Settings > Sounds, turn off Vibrate, Lock Sounds and Keyboard Clicks.
• Power off and then power back on your iPhone.

Even if you do all of the above, you’ll still be able to make and receive phone calls, as well as send and receive SMS messages. Data services are required to review your visual voice mail list, however, so you’ll need to call your voice mail box manually to retrieve messages. But if you find yourself in a situation where your battery is approaching or already into the red zone, and you need it to stay on for at least a couple more hours, this is the way to make sure that happens.

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Telecoms Korea reported on a story by South Korean local newspaper ETNews that details the hardware capabilities and some new software features of the upgraded device. The story also maintains that the iPhone will indeed by named the “iPhone 4G,” despite it not looking like it will support 4G network connectivity.

The newspaper article cites internal sources at both KT, the exclusive iPhone carrier in South Korea, and Apple Korea as having provided the information. I suppose it’s possible that Apple is more willing to authorize product leaks from internal sources in the Asian market, where competition from established veterans like Samsung can be especially fierce.

While the list of new features doesn’t get into specific detail about things like megapixels or processing power, it still provides a tantalizing glance at the future of Apple’s little smartphone that could. According to ETNews, the iPhone 4G will offer up to twice the battery life of the 3GS, something that will come as welcome news to those of us who seem to have their devices plugged into the wall more often than not. Two camera modules will also be used, one of which will be front-facing to make video calling a reality, and not just the one-way kind currently made possible by Fring.

Video calling will initially be introduced in the Korean market, according to the paper’s sources, probably because the network infrastructure already exists there to use it, so it makes sense as a test market. The phone will also possibly support mobile TV, which is popular in Asia but has yet to truly appear here in North American markets. Hopefully Apple is also working to bring this feature to handsets on our side of the world, as I would really love to have TV access while enduring especially long commutes.

Lastly, the article claims that KT will be offering test models of the new device to corporate customers in April or May, prior to the official launch. This is the one detail in this particular rumor report that strikes me as odd. As far as I know, Apple keeps a very tight leash on its pre-release devices, limiting their distribution mostly (if not exclusively) to internal testers and executives. I doubt very highly that it’d authorize one of its carrier partners to go handing out the hardware before it hits the street, whatever the intended reason.

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Reports have been flooding in that the new mouse is a power-hungry little guy, both internally among staff here at TheAppleBlog and over at the Apple Discussion boards. At least one discussion thread deals with the problem that the Magic Mouse has when working in conjunction with the Apple Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard. Apparently, using both together will result in significant battery drain in the latter.

On its own, the Magic Mouse is no energy superstar either. Many users report a much shorter battery life than they got with the Bluetooth Mighty Mouse. Truta was finding the same thing with his new pointing device, and so went about testing his theory to see what he found. Rather than timing the life of the batteries during regular continuous usage, as a lab might, Truta came up with an easy to perform exercise that you can try for yourself, too, so long as you’re in possession of both models of Apple mice.

The trick is to use a fresh set of batteries in the Magic Mouse until they run out of steam. Apple’s redesigned the mouse preferences pane to tell you when you need to change them, and even provides instructions on how to do so in case you can’t figure it out for yourself. Once the batteries are depleted, all you have to do is switch them back into your old Mighty Mouse.

Using this very simple method, Truta discovered that while the Magic Mouse saw the batteries as devoid of anymore usable energy, the Mighty Mouse would in fact report that the batteries weren’t even close to empty. In fact, his tests show that under the Bluetooth devices menu it would report as much as 41 percent battery remaining in the supposedly dead batteries. That’s not an insignificant margin by any count.

Battery issues aside, I sill love my Magic Mouse. I should qualify that by noting that I use it as the primary means of control for my home theater Mac mini, which means that I use it quite sparingly. I’m still using the same batteries I put in when I got it, which was almost immediately following its release. And my keyboard doesn’t seem to be running down with any unusual speed, either. But again, I almost never use them really, except to set up a movie or TV show or start a playlist in iTunes. I’m still planning on testing out Filip Truta method when the batteries do eventually run down, though. What are your experiences?

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One of the best reasons to get a new MacBook Pro, aside from the dazzling new screen on the 13-inch, and in spite of the SATA capping that’s apparently in place, is the extended battery life courtesy of the new built-in lithium polymer batteries. And by all accounts, even if you won’t necessarily reach Apple’s estimates, you will get more usage out of your notebook without having to connect to a power source. Or you’ll get more usage as long as you’re not running in Windows under Boot Camp, that is.

AnandTech’s Anand Shimpi has been running a MacBook Pro 15-inch through its paces over at his site, and while he was very impressed with the machine’s new battery overall, he noticed a considerable disparity between apparent power consumption under OS X, and under Vista. Nor was the difference marginal. Running OS X while only web browsing, Shimpi was able to coax a little over eight hours out of the notebook under OS X, and only six using Vista. That’s a two hour, or 25 percent difference.

Windows 7, which is supposed to make up for a lot of the mistakes Microsoft made with Vista, fared no better. The RC 1 version of the upcoming OS lasted only 5.48 hours using the same test conditions. Some of that can be ascribed to there not being final, optimized drivers for Windows 7 yet, but I doubt that accounts for the more than two-hour deficit it has compared with OS X running on the same hardware.

Windows supporters will no doubt chime in with claims that the Apple hardware is to blame, but Shimpi found some reason to believe that may not be the case. He spoke to a number of PC OEM manufacturers to see if they’d found a difference in battery life between OS X and Vista, and though none would officially go on record, some at least admitted to seeing a similar difference to the one Shimpi had found.

Since Apple doesn’t officially support any third-party hardware, it’ll be hard or even impossible to prove that OS X is, in fact, a more battery-efficient operating system, completely independent of any hardware considerations. Still, that’s one less reason to ever commit sacrilege by dual-booting your Apple notebook, which is bad news for Windows sales, no matter what the cause.

All you hackintosh experts out there, feel free to chime in with your own battery life tales, since your experience running OS X on non-standard hardware might be the closest thing we can get to a fair standard for comparison.

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While some users are experiencing unpleasant issues thanks to Apple’s recent 10.5.7 update for OS X, others have plenty of reason to rejoice after updating. Specifically, hackintosh netbook users are reporting that battery life is seeing major improvements thanks to the update.

Wired’s Gadget Lab picked up on the user reports from the MSI Wind forums. Like the Dell Mini 9, the Wind is a popular choice for people looking to shoehorn OS X onto a netbook, which many users are doing since Apple seems unwilling to provide an official solution.

Better battery performance is great news for the hackintosh community, since it was one of the few remaining drawbacks to installing OS X on machines like the Mini 9, which is almost completely compatible with the Mac operating system. Personally, I’ve been considering picking up a Dell machine myself for just such a purpose, after numerous unsuccessful attempts with my Eee PC 1000HE, and this latest development will probably be the deciding factor.

Improved power management on Atom-based machines could suggest that Apple is readying OS X for deployment on new, official hardware — not a netbook, which the company seems dead-set against, but a tablet-type device that would make use of the 9.7-inch screens ordered from Wintek that have yet to appear in any production machines.

Since we know Snow Leopard won’t be ready for WWDC, it would make sense for Apple to build Atom-specific power optimization into Leopard at this point if it were planning a device launch for the June event. Even if no tablet is forthcoming, this is still great news for people hoping to use OS X on a more portable platform, officially or not.

Photo courtesy fiatlux on Flickr.

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Straight from the mouth of Jobs:

With 8 hours of talk time, and 24 hours of audio playback, iPhone’s battery life is longer than any other ‘Smartphone’ and even longer than most MP3 players,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve also upgraded iPhone’s entire top surface from plastic to optical-quality glass for superior scratch resistance and clarity. There has never been a phone like iPhone, and we can’t wait to get this truly magical product into the hands of customers starting just 11 days from today.

Seems investors are listening, as Apple Stock opened $3 higher than it closed on Friday.

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