Apple releases IOS 6.1.2 to patch Exchange Calendar bug

Apple has been scrambling to quickly release a fix to the IOS 6.1 bug which causes excessive network traffic to and from the Exchange server as well as excessive battery drain on the IOS device.  The bug shows up when a user creates an exception to a calendar item.  By definition this involves changing a single item in the calendar series.  After doing this, the situation of network traffic and battery drain begins.

Microsoft had recommended rebooting the IOS device to help alleviate the issue or to reactivate the activesyc partnership between the server and IOS device.  However, this seemed like a bad workaround at best.  The lastest IOS release 6.1.2 has been set to fix this calendar issue and was the big ticket item to show up in queue for 6.1.2.  We have seen a few situations where end users have complained about the battery drain on their iPhones with the IOS 6.1 software and this apparently was the culprit.  Surprisingly, it has seemed to be more of an issue from the end user side than from the server side from what we have seen with clients.

Of course many companies and Exchange environments may already have QOS rules and policies setup which may have inadvertently alleviated the server side issues without presenting as much of an issue as may have been the case in other environment with ActiveSync traffic wide open.  The complete and total fallout may however be yet to be seen.  We will see in the coming days and weeks whether this issue has been completely resolved.

Featured Image www.apple.com