Apple Confirms 'Limited' iPhone 5s Handsets Suffer Diminished Battery Life
by Joe White
October 30, 2013
Apple has confirmed that a "limited" number of iPhone 5s handsets are suffering from shortened battery life, and that owners are actively being contacted and offered replacement handsets.
Though the seventh-generation iPhone features impressive battery life - around 10 hours of talk time over 3G, according to Apple's website - a number of owners have found that their Touch ID-equipped handset hasn't been performing too well.
Instead, the affected iPhone 5s handsets are losing their entire charge over a short period of time, according to a recent article published by The New York Times. Of course, this would prove highly problematic for owners.
Fortunately, however, Apple is well aware of the problem, and according to comments made by a spokesperson, the Cupertino, Calif. company is actively investigating the situation and providing affected customers with replacement iPhone 5s handsets.
Apple's Teresa Brewer said:
We recently discovered a manufacturing issue affecting a very limited number of iPhone 5S devices that could cause the battery to take longer to charge or result in reduced battery life. We are reaching out to customers with affected phones and will provide them with a replacement phone.As of this writing, we're not sure exactly how many iPhone 5s handsets are suffering the problem, however The New York Times notes that the figure could be as many as several thousand. It's worth noting, as the publication adds, that a "manufacturing issue" is not the same as a defective battery, and as such the actual source of the problem outlined above is at this moment unknown. If you've been suffering from extremely poor battery life on an iPhone 5s handset, it could be that you are one of the affected few. If so, a new smartphone will be made available by Apple. We'll keep you updated with further information as we receive it. In the meantime, see: The First iPad Air Reviews Are In: Form Factor, Power And Battery Life All Praised, Today's Best Apps: Bad Candy, Nike SB, Slomo+ And Number Rush: Power Surge, and Quirky App Of The Day: Keep Calm And Chive On In ChiveSpy.
