hang in there old girl

February 4, 2023 3:52 PM

Tips on keeping an iPhone 6S with a dying battery alive till tomorrow?

The thing restarts and restarts after one to five minutes of usage. The battery info window says "Service" and that it can't determine anything more about the battery. I'm going to the store tomorrow for an overdue upgrade, but it would be a huge help to at least check in with the thing till then.
This had first happened a few days ago. After leaving it powered off for four hours or so, I was able to use it again normally, until this afternoon when I had to go out in the negative windchill, which probably was the death of it and definitely the start of the "Service" notification. The battery was installed by a shade-tree mechanic in 2021, so it's a good run.
Let me know, especially if I should consider it a fire risk, as some battery problems can be --

posted by Countess Elena to Technology (6 answers total)

Response by poster: I have a new battery pack that works well and seems to have powered it this afternoon. The charger is at least a couple years old
posted by Countess Elena at 4:14 PM on February 4, 2023

Response by poster: But an external power source doesn't seem to make any difference; the battery dies when it wants to
posted by Countess Elena at 4:14 PM on February 4, 2023

I had this problem with my 6S and found that heating up the back (probably warming the battery) would bring it back to life. The internet suggested a hair dryer but that made me too nervous so I, uh, just stuck it under my boobs or between my thighs for a few minutes whenever it shut down.

It worked. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I noticed the same pattern of cold killing it as well, so I'd say definitely worth a shot. I also sometimes stuck it under a heating pad for a few minutes (careful not to forget it under there!), which didn't seem to work as quickly as the body heat but that may have been because it was already colder in my apartment when I had the heating pad out.
posted by brook horse at 5:31 PM on February 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

One thing that Can't Hurt would be to make sure there isn't anything in the charging port. I've seen all kinds of battery and charging weirdness caused by impacted lint. You can give it a gentle clean out with a wooden toothpick or the end of one of those plastic flossers. Don't use anything metal and be super cautious.

On the topic of transferring to a new device: make a game plan about the state of your backups—are your photos, notes, contacts, and calendars in iCloud (or some other cloud provider) or do they live only on the device? Do you know your Apple ID and the password that goes with it (you can test this at icloud.com)? Do you know other credentials you'll want immediately after switching phones (messaging apps, authentication apps needed for work, your email, etc)? Do you have your account info for your cellular provider, in case getting your phone number moved doesn't go perfectly on the first try?

Having this stuff ready before your appointment could make the difference between a smooth transfer and one that takes all day.
posted by bcwinters at 6:11 PM on February 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

Yeah, you might want to backup your phone to iCloud before tomorrow, even if you have to buy a subscription temporarily. It'll be much easier to restore from iCloud backup than do a phone to phone transfer if your old phone is rebooting.
posted by credulous at 7:19 PM on February 4, 2023

Response by poster: Thankfully everything important is on iCloud or another cloud service. I will want to keep it and try to winkle out some other data, though, if I can. I will try warming it and cleaning its contacts in the morning—
posted by Countess Elena at 10:52 PM on February 4, 2023 [1 favorite]