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I learned the hard way that the iPhone's battery won't last long if you are careless with your settings. Use these steps to maximize the time between charges.

1. Setup a Gmail account as a proxy for your other mail accounts so your phone will only have to check one place for all your mail.
2. Set the Mail application to check for mail less often. Do you really need to check your email every 15 minutes?
3. Turn off "Ask to join networks" in your WiFi settings.
4. Set the brightness to a lower level or turn on Auto-Brightness.
5. Turn off Bluetooth when not in use.
6. Set a short auto-lock time.
7. Turn off keyboard sounds.
8. Bonus step - Stop watching so much YouTube!

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Shortly after I got my iPhone, I set it up to retrieve my email via the Mail application that comes with the phone. I have three email addresses for various purposes, so I set each of them to check once every 15 minutes. What I didn't think about was how much battery power all that checking would use. I soon found out that this (in combination with a few other things) was causing my battery to last less than a day. An additional frustration was that I had multiple inboxes on my phone and had to flip between them when I received mail at different addresses.

My solution was two-fold:

1. I set the Mail application to check less often, since, in reality, none of the email I receive is so important that I need to get it within 15 minutes. I set mine for 30 minutes, but you can set yours to whatever is comfortable for you.
2. I setup a Gmail account to act as a proxy (Google calls it Mail Fetcher) for the rest of my accounts.

Gmail will allow you to check up to 5 accounts (via POP), which means that it will fetch mail from your other accounts (and delete it from the other server once it's done if you choose). The result is that you only have one place (Gmail) to check for all your mail.

Here's how you do it:

1. Login to you Gmail account
2. In the upper-right corner, click "Settings".
3. Click the "Accounts" tab.
4. In the "Get mail from other accounts:" section, click "Add another mail account".
5. Enter the email address from which you wish to retrieve mail, then click the "Next step" button.
6. Enter your username, password, and provider's POP settings (Gmail will give you suggestions. Usually, you can accept the defaults. If these don't work, visit your email provider's website for more information.)
7. Make sure to check "Leave a copy of retrieved message on the server." if you don't want your mail deleted from your other mail provider's server. (You'll want to do this if you check your mail from multiple locations.)
8. You will receive a message saying that you are now able to receive mail from the address you entered. It will also ask you if you want to be able to send mail from the address as well. If not, then select "No", click the "Finish" button, then skip to step 12. If so, then select "Yes", click the "Next Step" button, and continue to step 9.
9. Enter the name you want others to see when you send mail from this address, optionally, specify a different reply-to address, then click the "Next Step" button.
10. You will be presented with a screen telling you that you have to verify that you own the email address you are asking Gmail to send from. Click the "Send Verification" button to be sent an email to the address you have specified.
11. Once you receive the email, click the link to verify the address, or enter the code provided in the email.
12. Repeat for each of your accounts.
13. Set up Mail on your phone to access only your Gmail account.
14. You're done! Fewer accounts to check = more battery life and less confusion flipping through folders on your phone!

As an added bonus, Gmail has great spam filtering, so hopefully, you'll have less spam to sift through as well!

Related post: 7 Simple Steps to Conserve iPhone Battery Power

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With so many negative customer service experiences to be had these days, I thought I'd share a positive one...

I bought a MacBook Pro last February and have been absolutely thrilled with it, but noticed that a small issue was developing with the power adapter. The rubber covering on the cord had started to pull back from the power supply part. (See image left - taken with my iPhone while standing in line at the Apple store.)

So, with adapter in hand, I headed into the Apple store expecting to be told that I'd have to send it back and pay for shipping, or worse yet, have to raise hell to get them to replace it at all. However, this was entirely not the case.

I walked up to the first associate I saw and explained the issue. He told me to stand in line and they would get me a new one. Sure enough, about three minutes later, I got the front of the line and they had a brand new one in the box waiting for me behind the counter. No hassle, no arguing, nothing. They sent the receipt to me via email and off I went with my new adapter.

There was also a bonus to the adapter breaking. The new power supply units are smaller by about 25% or so, so now I have a less bulky unit to try to fit into my laptop bag!

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