Apple's Latest iPhone Update May Improve Battery Life For iPhone 5 Owners

Apple's newest software update for iPhones and iPads, iOS 7.1.1, is bringing improved battery life to the iPhone 5, according to a new report.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes of ZDNet said that he saw a dramatic change in his iPhone 5's battery life after installing the update. Before installing iOS 7, which launched in September, Kingsley-Hughes said six hours of regular use could bring his iPhone's battery down to 74%.

After installing iOS 7.1, however, the battery began to drain a bit faster. Six hours of standard use would drop his iPhone 5's battery to 48 %, more than a 20% difference in battery life. According to Kingsley-Hughes, iOS 7.1.1 has fixed this issue.

Here's how he described the change:

Then came iOS 7.1.1. Following this update I've noticed that things have improved dramatically, and now battery life is only falling to around 76 percent per six hours of average use, which is better than what I was getting pre-iOS 7.0.

Other improvements in iOS 7.1.1 include improvements to TouchID fingerprint recognition and bug fixes related to keyboard responsiveness.

It's important to keep in mind that battery life varies depending on how you use your phone. This is just one scenario, but it's still worth noting the change in battery life before and after Kingsley-Hughes' installed the update.

Other users have reported some odd issues immediately after updating to iOS 7.1.1. Two iPhone 4s owners wrote in Apple's community forums that their phones were stuck in recovery mode after updating. A handful of iPhone 5s users have reported that the update instantly drained their phone's battery.