Apple iPhone Battery Life

The title of my article should include 'or lack thereof' due to my findings. I will explain.

I am a proud owner of the iPhone 4S model, i bought it used from someone is great condition and it became my primary phone at the time. I love the phone, with the exception of one thing; the battery.

The topic about battery life cycle and degrading is nothing new; this has been around ever since batteries existed. However, i am rather disappointed with the iPhone's default factory battery because i (and many other users) have found that its battery only lasts one year before if finally starts to show signs of wear. The issue i have with this is that the Apple warranty only lasts one year, it ends just before the battery shows signs of wear. I suppose the logic is that, 'your going to upgrade anyways, so why bother?', but if you are a user like myself and have items for a long period of time, you are quite bothered.

So i purchased a powerpack for my iPhone, it seems to do well but the issue of a shot battery still remains. I find that it is rather crucial to have a good battery on the inside, especially when your on vacations (particularly overseas where you would be out and about, away from source of power) for the reason that a shot battery turns the iPhone into nothing more than a power sucker.

So i proceeded then to researching on buying a new internal battery for my iPhone, and i was quite surprised. At only a price of $10, you could get a replacement battery with the necessary tools to open up the phone and self-replace the battery. It was, really easy, and i would highly recommend doing this yourself (watch youtubes on how to open the iPhone for a better understanding).

Check this out:

BATTERY
Apple Default: 1430mAh Li-ion Polymer 3.7V-5.3Whr
Replacement: 2680mAh  Li-ion Polymer 3.7V-5.3Whr

So with $10, not only are you replacing your battery and acquiring the tools necessary for taking the phone apart, but you are also upgrading the capacity of the battery by over by almost 2 times! Just another example of Apple wanting to shorten the life of your phone so you may quicker upgrade the new phone that they (coincidentally) come out with nearly every year.

Replacing is as simple are 4 screws on the iPhone 4S, so why bother with an upgrade when you do not need to? Here is what i got:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/190909512516?redirect=mobile
Feel free to drop comments about this with me, i did this to my personal phone before writing this post.

New Zealand Mobile Coverage

I suppose you could title this article as my assessment on the cellular coverage in New Zealand in general because as we speak, i am here and using it as a first hand experience. I had done some extensive research beforehand my month long excursion to New Zealand, and now i am happy with my results.

First off, i would like to point out one thing; I have a smartphone, more specifically an iPhone 4s. All of my work done on the phone is through the data plan on my provider, with the occasional phone calls / texting, but those are generally for personal reasons and i can live without them. However, turning on an international plan for an iPhone through AT&T is rather expensive, and quite personally i do not want to pay an arm and a leg just for the wee bit of data/text/talk that they give you; so why not join the New Zealand network? That is exactly what i did.

In New Zealand, there are 4 main cellular networks:

• Telecom NZ
• Vodafone NZ
• 2 Degrees
• Skinny Mobile

I only did my research with the first three providers because i had never actually heard about Skinny Mobile until i actually arrived into the Auckland Airport, where i saw it advertised. What i was looking for was into buying a prepaid SIM card where i could use my phone on a mobile network here in New Zealand like i could back at home. Seeing that i have an iPhone, there is always an app out there that can allow you to text other smartphone users back at home without international charges (like Whatsapp Messenger), so all i was looking for was a simple prepaid data SIM card.

• Telecom NZ is the most solid cellular network in New Zealand. They have the most coverage throughout the country, but they tend to be a bit more pricey. Their website is not the most friendliest to navigate, i would imagine it would probably be best to talk to a Telecom representative or just visit one of their stores. Though one thing that Telecom does have that no other provider has is an extensive amount of hotspots throughout the country, i have seen their hotspots in nearly every place i have been to (i will list below). These hotspots offer 1GB of free WiFi as a trial, but plenty to last a month long vacation (and as i soon found out, there is no such thing as free WiFi in New Zealand, even in hotels).
• Vodafone NZ is probably the most expensive one i have seen by looking at their Red and Sim only packages. The only real thing you would get from them is the coverage, their coverage is very comparable to that of Telecom NZ.
  EDIT: I found an advertisement sign for Vodafone NZ while in Auckland that quoted: 2GB data, 120 minutes, 200 texts, $10 account credit for only $55
• 2 Degrees is a New Zealand exclusive provider that has less coverage than the previous two, but is much more inexpensive. If you are planning on going to rural places in New Zealand, and not tourist places, 2 Degrees is not for you. However, 2 Degrees does run off of the Vodafone cellular towers when outside of their own coverage; this means as long as your inside Vodafone coverage, you are covered by 2 Degrees.

**It costs NZ$5 for a SIM card through all three providers.

I ended up going with 2 Degrees cellular coverage on two different SIM cards, and i am remarkably pleased with the results i have gotten. For my iPhone 4S, i got the NZ$50 3GB NZ Data Pack, and for my iPad, i have the NZ$19 Carryover Minute Combo (expires 01.14.2014). So far, i have gotten coverage nearly everywhere i have gone with the exception of a very few remote places.

I will go ahead and name off the places i have been to where i have gotten coverage (keep in mind that 2 Degrees uses Vodafone towers. I will mark the places i had to select Vodafone as my carrier to get 2 Degrees):

• Auckland
• Russells, Bay of Islands (through Vodafone)
• Whangarei (through Vodafone)
• Roturua
• Hamilton (through Vodafone)
• Taupo (through Vodafone)
• Napier
• Hastings
• Wellington City and surrounding townships
• Picton (through Vodafone)
• Blenheim (through Vodafone)
• Kaikoura (through Vodafone)
• Christchurch city and surrounding townships
• Greymouth (through Vodafone)
• Franz Josef (through Vodafone)
• Fox Glacier (township) (through Vodafone)
• Queenstown
• Te Anau (through Vodafone)
• Gore (through Vodafone)
• Dunedin city and surrounding townships

Places with no coverage from any provider:

• Orakeikorako Rd
• Fox Glacier hiking trails
• Franz Josef hiking trails
• Milford Sound

West Coast of the south island had very spotty coverage, i would only get coverage when entering and goign through towns. Arthur's pass was the same. 

Nearly every town that i went to had it's own town-ranged cell phone tower, not once did i enter a town and not have cell phone coverage while in the town. It was particularly the area's between the towns where i did not have great coverage, especially on the south island. The north island was more ranged to its cellular coverage, and not as spotty until i got further north towards the Bay of Islands.

All in all though, i am very pleased and would highly recommend 2 Degrees as the way to go!

Also as a side note, loading money onto your prepaid SIM card here is known as 'Topping Up'. So if ever needed to do so, look for that phrase.