Push or frequently checked email can slurp iPhone battery

If your iPhone is exhibiting inordinately short battery life and you're not sure why, check your Mail settings.

First, if you're using a Yahoo! account, navigate to Settings > Mail then select your Yahoo! account and choose "Advanced." Check the "Use Push Mail" setting. If push mail -- which allows the iPhone to notify you of new mail as soon as it hits your inbox -- is enabled, it can put a serious hurt on your battery life.

For other email accounts, reducing the email check interval to every hour (In Settings, choose Mail then tap Auto-Check) or Manual has significantly increased battery life. If you are going to use a short mail-checking interval, tap the Sounds pane of Settings and turn the option for New Mail off.

For more battery saving tips, see our special report.