Apple has acknowledged that “a few bugs” within its newest mobile operating system, iOS 5, are impacting the battery performance of certain devices.
The company has stated that a fix will be released in the upcoming weeks.
Recently, the issue surfaced as thousands of users voiced their concerns about diminished battery life on Apple’s forums.
In particular instances, individuals reported that their phone batteries were depleting by as much as 15% per hour, even when the phones were idle.
This problem was not confined to the newly launched iPhone 4S but also impacted some of the company’s iPad tablet computers that had received the upgrade.
Initially, Apple refrained from responding to the concerns but later released a statement: “A small number of customers have reported lower than expected battery life on iOS 5 devices,” they noted.
“We have discovered a few bugs that are impacting battery life, and we will roll out a software update to resolve these issues in a few weeks,” they added.
Upon the announcement of the iPhone 4S last month, some users expressed disappointment over the lack of significant changes.
Nonetheless, sales have been impressive, with Apple reporting over four million units sold within the first three days.
Additionally, when iOS 5 was launched, Apple’s servers experienced overwhelming demand.
However, on a global scale, Apple is starting to face stiff competition, particularly from manufacturers utilizing Google’s Android operating system.
According to research firm Strategy Analytics, in the third quarter of this year, Samsung surpassed Apple, shipping 27.8 million smartphones compared to Apple’s 17.1 million iPhones.
Furthermore, analyst firm Canalys indicated that HTC has emerged as the leading vendor in the US, surpassing Samsung and pushing Apple into a third-place position.
Tim Coulling, an analyst from the firm, remarked that this recent issue is unlikely to impact sales significantly.
“It’s not as severe as the antenna problem that plagued the iPhone 4. This concerns software, and Apple is capable of issuing updates quite rapidly,” he stated.
