Hundreds of people are reporting on social networks that the iPhone 4S is running out of power far sooner than expected and much quicker than Apple promised, according to Mercury News reports Tuesday.

Some users are complaining that even with minimal use, the device can't make it through a workday without needing to be recharged.

Apple says that iPhone 4S owners should get up to 8 hours of talk time and up to 6 hours of time surfing the Web when connected to 3G networks and up to 200 hours of standby time.

So far, Apple hasn't commented publicly on the problem and company representatives didn't respond to requests for comment.

But Apple engineers have quietly contacted some users who have complained about the problem, according to The Guardian report last Friday.

However, the problem doesn't affect all iPhone 4S users worldwide.

Tim Bajarin, a principal analyst at Creative Strategies, a tech research firm and consultancy, said his company has been testing out three or four iPhone 4Ss, but hadn't been able to duplicate the problem.

Battery problems aside, the iPhone 4S has been a big hit so far.

Apple sold 4 million units in the first weekend when the new gadget was on sale, setting a record not only for Apple, but for any phone.

Xinhua