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When do you charge your iPhone?

  • 90% and more, I charge it frequently

    Votes: 8 9.0%
  • 70%-90%

    Votes: 4 4.5%
  • 50%-70%

    Votes: 10 11.2%
  • 30%-50%

    Votes: 16 18.0%
  • 30% and below, I charge it less

    Votes: 44 49.4%
  • I wait till my phone dies

    Votes: 7 7.9%

  • Total voters
    89

Appl3FTW

macrumors 603
Original poster
Nov 15, 2012
5,552
1,252
i heard my brother in law told my sister, don't charge it yet, or else ull kill the battery life faster. meaning to say, if she charges her phone all the time, it will decrease battery life. is there validity to this? i've always thought that a healthy battery needs to constantly charge itself.

now, when do you charge your iPhone?
 

thewitt

macrumors 68020
Sep 13, 2011
2,102
1,523
There is info on Apple's website, but basically you can charge as often as you want without any risk to your battery life. In fact, if you let your battery go flat before charging that will actually shock the battery and impact it's life - though in a very small way.

Apple does say to run your battery to zero once in a while, but this only resets the battery percent indicator software.
 

Appl3FTW

macrumors 603
Original poster
Nov 15, 2012
5,552
1,252
i do the battery power cycle here and there.. but mostly keep charging it when it's around 70%-90%
 

Appl3FTW

macrumors 603
Original poster
Nov 15, 2012
5,552
1,252
i charge it most of the time when at work and that's it. i try not to charge it until it's around 70% tho or below
 

Wicked1

macrumors 68040
Apr 13, 2009
3,283
14
New Jersey
50-70, only because I usually do not want it to go below on a normal day, however at least once every 2 weeks I let it go all the way down and die, then fully charge it before using it again. With syncing personal and work email, sometimes I have to charge often depending on how much email I get, because Push Email kills the phone very quick when getting a lot of email or calendar invites from Exchange.
 

bdoople

macrumors member
Apr 18, 2012
69
0
Cincinnati, OH
+1 for every night regardless of battery percentage. It really depends on my usage for the day. Sometimes it's low, sometimes it's at like 70-80%. Yesterday I got to about 2% during work. Damned jailbreak. :p
 

Dino F

Suspended
Sep 16, 2010
4,515
3,403
Croydon, South London, UK
I've always charged my iPhone (& iPad for that matter) when it gets below 20% and you get that warning message flash up on the screen. I follow the principle of : charge it to max, use it til battery is almost dead then recharge it again.

I think it's unnecessary to charge it every night (unless its on a nightstand or something).
 

Small White Car

macrumors G4
Aug 29, 2006
10,966
1,463
Washington DC
I can't answer this poll, I do it by my location, not by the phone's percentage. My phone lives on the charger at my work desk and also at my bed. I really pay very little attention to the actual percentage meter.
 

nburwell

macrumors 603
May 6, 2008
5,451
2,365
DE
I also charge my phone at night while I'm asleep. Usually as long as my battery is below 50%, I charge it. If not, then I will usually just charge it at work the next day. But since I use the Sleep Cycle app to analze my sleep, my iPhone is always plugged in at night.
 

Mrbobb

macrumors 603
Aug 27, 2012
5,009
209
i heard my brother in law told my sister, don't charge it yet, or else ull kill the battery life faster


Your brother in law must be over 30+ at least, because he's thinking of the old Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) batteries of past, which yes, is better be discharged completely before charging, this does not apply to modern Lithium Ion (Li-Ion).

Some power tools still use NiCd and more are switching to Li-Ion. So yes you have to think, no one size fits all.

So next time when "insert your friend's name here" says you should rotate your tires THIS way. Ask how old that information is.
 

AAPLinc

macrumors 65816
Jul 27, 2012
1,292
2
Hollywood, CA
I usually dont charge during the day unless I'm using my phone a lot.

I charge every night while sleeping. Sometimes when I plug it in at the end of the day, my charge is at 60%-50%-40%, it all depends on how intensely I used it.
 

PNutts

macrumors 601
Jul 24, 2008
4,874
357
Pacific Northwest, US
There is info on Apple's website, but basically you can charge as often as you want without any risk to your battery life. In fact, if you let your battery go flat before charging that will actually shock the battery and impact it's life - though in a very small way.

Apple does say to run your battery to zero once in a while, but this only resets the battery percent indicator software.

Not true. Per Apple: Charge whenever you want and let it run down completely once a month.
 

SnowLeopard2008

macrumors 604
Jul 4, 2008
6,772
17
Silicon Valley
Lithium-ion battery technology has improved to the point where you can charge and discharge whenever you like. You don't need to discharge it completely the first time you use it. You should cycle it every now and then if you don't use the device/battery often (Apple recommends once a month) to get the electrons flowing but that's about it. That is not to say you should discharge the battery until it's physically at 0% (even when the software battery percentage indicator says 0%, there is still about ~<=5% charge on the battery itself) or abuse the battery. Just use it and that's it.
 

adam044

macrumors 65816
Jan 24, 2012
1,095
10
Boston
I dont really fit into any of these categories. Put it on the charger when I go to bed so its different all the time
 
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