iOS 6.1.3 battery drain fix needed for iPhone owners

iOS 6.1.3 battery drain glitch
The only thing shorter than iPhone's battery life is Apple fans' patience

iPhone owners are voicing more iOS 6.1.3 battery drain concerns today, claiming that the latest update for their Apple smartphone has resulted in a shortened battery life.

"After 'upgrading' to 6.1.3 a few days ago I have been experiencing major battery drain," wrote Apple Support forum poster Joe, who said he tried all of the reasonable solutions posted.

"It's draining about 1 percent every 7 minutes but that's with the phone not in use. In contrast, last week before the update I would charge my phone at night (and on a day without use) it would still be around 99 percent."

Joe isn't the only iPhone owner experiencing the iOS 6.1.3 battery drain glitch and demanding a fix. This particular message board post has 175 replies and 14,777 views in under a week.

Worse, there are 30 more threads dedicated to battery drainage that have gone up in the Apple Support Communities forum since iOS 6.1.3 was released.

The good news is that while iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S owners have made up a majority of those beset by battery withdraw problems, iPad 4 and iPad mini owners seem to be in the clear for the most part.

More iOS 6.1.3 glitches

iOS 6.1.3 managed to plug security holes that iOS jailbreak hackers were taking advantage of to install custom software, as well as provide a lockscreen fix.

However, in addition to the battery drain problems, users have uncovered a new lockscreen glitch, one that allows for unauthorized access to contacts and photos even with the passcode screen enabled.

Apple hasn't had a major iOS update without a rash of complaints in some time, and battery drain issues have been the source of the problem before.

iOS 6.0.2 notably affected new iPhone 5 owners after the update, and before that, iOS 5 battery drainage issues caused Apple to release a patch by the way of iOS 5.0.1.

And it seems as if Apple is running into problems on all fronts, as its two-step verification feature exposed users' Apple ID, iCloud, and iTunes accounts to a major password reset flaw last week.

Apple has yet to respond to a TechRadar inquiry into the iOS 6.1.3 glitch or whether or not iOS 6.1.4 is on its way.

However, the next update now has to address two problems - battery drain and lockscreen glitch 2.0 - for the emotionally and technologically drained iPhone owners.

Matt Swider