Cart 0
It seems like iPhone owners are completely obsessed with the health of their batteries. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked how to keep an iPhone’s battery at 100% health, and there are countless YouTube videos and articles telling owners how to do this.
I have bad news for you if you’re one of those people. There’s only one thing that you can do to keep your iPhone’s battery health at 100%. Stop using your iPhone. Yup, the only way you’re going to keep your iPhone’s battery at 100% is to stop using it and charging it.
I’ve also got another bit of advice to those who are obsessing over the health of their iPhone’s battery. Stop worrying about it. Not seen this iPhone stat before? You can find it by tapping on Settings > Battery > Battery Health.
Battery Health on IOS 15.
It’s a feel-good number that doesn’t really tell you anything meaningful about the actual health of your battery. My iPhone tells me that my battery is still at 96% capacity after almost a year of heavy use.
And after 297 recharge cycles, I guarantee you this number is wrong.
If you want to know how to find out how many recharge cycles your iPhone has been through, I suggest reading this more in-depth piece on iPhone batteries that will show you how to get these numbers out of iOS.
This means that my iPhone is more than halfway through those 500 charge cycles, and yet there’s only 4% of battery wear being reported.
As I said, the number is feel-good nonsense.
You can’t change the laws of physics.
The bottom line is that as part of the normal battery-wear process, your battery will lose about 1 percentage point for every 25 cycles. After 300 recharge cycles, my iPhone will have lost about 12% of health.
So, why is it only showing 4%? Because the battery inside your iPhone has a higher actual capacity than Apple claims.
You can find out how to find the actual capacity of your iPhone’s battery here. The battery doesn’t start showing wear until the capacity falls below Apple’s rated capacity.
This is why it takes many weeks or months before the “battery health” falls below 100%.
So, is there anything else you can do to prolong your battery’s health other than using it less?
No.
This is normal battery wear.
That said, there are a few steps you can take to take the stress off your battery to reduce additional wear.
- Use a good-quality charger.
- Keep your iPhone at room temperature as much as possible.
- Don’t overcharge your iPhone.
And do yourself a favor, and stop obsessing over your iPhone’s battery health.
iPhone Battery Health: What You Need to Know
Here’s what you need to know about battery health and performance under various circumstances.
An iPhone is only as useful as its battery life. From the very first iPhone, users have been swapping tips on how to optimize iPhone battery life and battery lifespan over time to get more performance from every charge. We’ve learned a lot about phone batteries from working together to make iPhones last longer, but eventually, it’s important to know when to have your iPhone battery replaced. If you need troubleshooting because your iPhone is slow or not charging at all read our article for those solutions first.
That’s why Apple introduced the iPhone Battery Health feature that has become a fixture in iOS device settings. Today, we’re walking through the Battery Health feature, how to get the best iPhone battery performance, and when to replace your iPhone battery. If you’re rather not improve your battery health, considering upgrading your device, you can also sell your iPhone to us.
What is iPhone Battery Health?
iPhone Battery Health is a feature added in iOS version 11.3, released in 2018. If your phone is not yet version 11.3 or higher, then it’s time to update your software. The Battery Health feature can be found in the Settings menu and will give you basic, useful information about the overall health and performance of your iPhone’s battery.
From the iPhone Battery Health dashboard, you can keep track of your phone’s battery to help optimize performance and identify the right time to get your iPhone battery replaced.
The three dashboard items in your Battery Health tool are Maximum Capacity, Peak Performance Capability, and a toggle to Optimize Battery Charging
Maximum Capacity
Maximum capacity is the efficiency of your battery since your phone came out of the factory. Batteries typically lose efficiency over time, which explains why an old phone battery will hold less and less charge.
Optimal phone performance is between 100% and 80% maximum capacity.
Peak Performance Capability
Most of the time, this will include a message saying your iPhone is capable of peak performance. Sometimes, if you experienced a recent crash, you may see a message saying your battery was “unable to deliver the necessary peak power.” The second message means your phone has automatically turned on performance management, and the battery should be replaced soon.
Optimized Battery Charging
Toggling this option will prevent your phone from charging over 80% in order to protect the battery and increase your overall battery lifespan. This option is ideal if your phone is charging most of the time, and if you want to charge up overnight, but may be turned off if you plan to travel and need 100% charge when you depart.
How to Check Your iPhone Battery Health
- Settings > Battery Health.
You can find your iPhone Battery Health dashboard by navigating to iPhone Settings. Then scroll down until you see Battery Health and select this option. This will show you some basic information and you can tap to investigate further or change your battery performance settings.
Battery Health Percentage to Replace iPhone Battery, According to Apple
At what Battery Health percentage should you replace your iPhone battery? You will start noticing a significant drop in performance between 75% and 60%.
If your iPhone battery health percentage drops below 80% within the duration of your warranty – usually about one year – then Apple will replace the battery.
How Long an iPhone Battery Can Last
A new, 100%-80% capacity iPhone battery can hold a charge for 8-20 hours, depending on how it’s used. Sitting off in your pocket, it can last all day. Playing games and movies, it will last about a third of the day without a power source.
It usually takes about two years before you start to see any significant drop in iPhone battery performance. An iPhone that has been lightly used with good battery care can hold onto its original battery for up to five years, and heavy use or constant charge extremes can require an early iPhone battery replacement. If you feel that no battery will prove the health of your device, you can also sell your device to us.
Tips to Extend iPhone Battery Life & Lifespan
How do you maximize the performance if an iPhone battery?
- Avoid full charge or full drain
- Don’t charge overnight
- Use a dimmer screen
- Switch off location services
- Turn on Optimized Battery Charging
- Use an original or approved Apple charger
- Close apps and unused features
- Avoid extreme temperatures
- Use the right phone case
- Keep your software updated
- Replace the battery on time
KEEP YOUR IPHONE BATTERY HEALTH AT 100% FOR OVER A YEAR
As a tech enthusiast, I keep receiving a lot of messages and questions from people, particularly iPhone users on how to keep their battery health at maximum capacity for a longer time. The rate at which I get these questions tells me that it is a worry for many people. Most users of Apple products feel a little jump in their hearts when they see a drop in the battery health of the devices.
One thing worth noting is that every battery depletes with time. It does not really matter what kind of battery or what kind of device uses the battery. Phones, laptops and even Electric Vehicles see their batteries deplete with time. The problem is that some users see their batteries deplete faster than others which can be a burden. If you find it difficult managing your iPhone battery health, this article is for you.
These same tips and advice have helped a lot of new iPhone owners maintain their battery health at 100% for a minimum of one full year. Just follow these simple practices and you will be surprised how the battery of your iPhone runs at optimum capacity for a longer time.
USE CERTIFIED APPLE CHARGER
We now live in a world where we buy new phones without chargers in the box. Due to this, many users tend to use third-party chargers in charging their phones. We do have some good brands like Anker, Belkin and the rest. In most cases, these third-party brands may be cheaper than the certified Apple chargers. But for the sake of your battery health, it is advisable to use Apple certified chargers.
Secondly minimize the use of fast chargers. You can still have the fast charger to help you when you need to quickly get things charged up. However, if you have time to keep your smartphone on charge for a longer time either at home or at the office, you can use a 5W or 10W charger. Fast chargers usually make the phone feel a bit hot during charging. When the phone gets hot, and this drastically affects your battery health.
USE MAGSAFE WIRELESS CHARGER FOR OVERNIGHT CHARGING
The stubbornness of charging our phones overnight is everywhere. It is something that most people do every night. Due to this, advising people to avoid overnight charging is something that does not really work. If you are one of those who cannot quit the habit of overnight charging, then get yourself a certified Apple MagSafe wireless charger.
Wireless chargers are usually slower than wired chargers because it uses a coil of wires to generate electromagnetic fields. Wired chargers on the other hand comes with small transformers that generate the charging power. For this reason, charging with a wireless charger works at a lower temperature than wired chargers.
BATTERY LEVEL SHOULD ALWAYS BE BETWEEN 20 AND 80%
This is a very important point to notice in order to keep your iPhone battery health at 100% for a long time. This especially has to do with draining your battery completely to 0%. Smartphones use lithium batteries which have limited number of charging cycles. Whenever you allow your battery to discharge completely, you have used up one of the cycles. The more this happens, the more the charging cycles deplete and the faster your battery health goes down.
It is therefore recommended to always keep your battery between 20 and 80% to avoid using up the charging cycles of your battery. Ones in a while, allow it to charge fully and completely use it to 0%. This helps the battery gauge to recalibrate. However, never make battery drainage or charging fully a habit if you don’t want your battery health to drop quickly.
DO NOT EXPOSE YOUR PHONE TO HEAT
Exposing your smartphone to heat is a very bad habit because the chemicals used in Lithium batteries react to change in temperature. Exposing your smartphones to direct sunlight, keeping them on the dashboard of your car or any form of heat can affect the battery health.
Make sure you always keep your phone within cool temperature environments to avoid degrading the battery. When the battery begins to degrade due to heat, the lifespan of your battery automatically becomes short due to chemical reaction within the battery.
ACTIVATE OPTIMIZED BATTERY CHARGING
This option is mainly for those who do not have wireless chargers yet want to keep charging their phones overnight. There is a feature in iOS called Optimized Battery Charging which can help you manage your battery while you sleep. What this feature does is that it monitors your usage and charging routine in order to manage the way your battery is charged, by so doing helping keep your iPhone battery health at maximum.
This feature works by allowing the phone charge to 80% and then pausing the charging process. Because it has observed your usage pattern, it can predict the time you will unplug your phone from charge. Some minutes before you unplug your phone, it allows the charging to continue until it gets to 100%. When this happens, the phone does not stay on charge after fully charging for a long time. This helps a lot in keeping your battery at optimum performance.
This feature also helps the phone stay at lower temperature while charging. As you already know, high temperatures damage batteries, so keeping it cool helps the battery health of your iPhone stay on top for a longer time.
HOW TO ACTIVATE OPTIMIZED BATTERY CHARGING
First of all, you need to have iOS 13 or later installed in order to be able to use this feature. If you have the above requirement, tap on Settings on your iPhone. Scroll down to Battery and tap on it. After that, tap on Battery Health and tap on Optimized Battery Charging to Activate it.
Here we are, just five simple tips to help keep the battery health of your iPhone at 100 percent for a longer time. Just follow these simple battery management rules and your new iPhone will go a full year without a single drop in your battery health.
