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mateo124

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 15, 2011
277
61
Hey all. I have a couple different battery health apps and they both say I'm already at around 5% wear on my battery. Can this be correct? According to Battery Health, I'm at 95.4% health and 122 charge cycles and with Battery Life reports 7% wear. Normally I wouldn't be concerned over this, but my iPhone 6 Plus which I gave to another family member, still has 98% health with over 300 charge cycles. That phone is essentially used till less than 10% charge remains, while I charge mine around 50% usually. I'm just a little worried it won't last long at this rate. Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks.

For the record, I ran it down to less than 5% last night thinking it needed to be calibrated but that didn't help at all.
 

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lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,720
Boston, MA
98% at 300 cycles is really on the high end. When you started, was that phone reporting over 100%? This can happen if the battery capacity is slightly over what is promised and isn't unusal. The numbers you are reporting for the number of charge cycles seem just fine to me. An admittedly rather old article (from 2007) from Macworld claims 80% at 400 cycles is your normal wear.

Edit: I installed battery life (had never done so before) and am at 89% with 222 cycles. I'm on a 6s plus.

image.png
[doublepost=1462218430][/doublepost]I'll also add that my current total capacity just went up a percentage point, so take this info with a grain of salt, or maybe a few. image.png
 
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BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,022
Wasn't too many days ago I read a thread just like this one where the OP took the phone into an Apple Store because a battery app said he had a crazy low % battery left. Apple store said he had 97% left after checking his phone.

These apps are crazy inaccurate. I've tested a few (coconutBattery on Mac, several iOS apps) and they're never consistent or accurate. One day my phone will be 110% of factory and another day it'll be 93%. Figure just use the phone and if I think it's really bad - I'll take it in if I have to.

I've noticed that charging my iphone 6+ with battery bricks tends to throw off the % life left apps significantly vs wall plug.
 
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lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,720
Boston, MA
Same phone. Same battery. Higher capacity. I went from 89 to 90 health in a matter of minutes. Later that day (the day of posting) I am at 92%. I think we can safely say the accuracy isn't great, as has been said by others as well.
image.png
 
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decafjava

macrumors 603
Feb 7, 2011
5,090
7,122
Geneva
Same phone. Same battery. Higher capacity. I went from 89 to 90 health in a matter of minutes. Later that day (the day of posting) I am at 92%. I think we can safely say the accuracy isn't great, as has been said by others as well.

My understanding is that the accuracy is TOO good, it reports moment to moment - variability is normal with batteries - while Apple looks at averages with their (hopefully) more sophisticated software. The OP has really nothing to worry about as his battery is still in very good shape.
 
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blcfla

macrumors regular
Oct 17, 2013
136
55
I was slightly worried about my 6S when I downloaded that 'battery life' app, but I actually deleted it. I'm around 160-170 cycles and at first it was 94% max capacity, then anywhere from 87-92% depending when you check it.

I checked with iBackupBot on my PC and it says it's around 96% so I just deleted the app, just creates unnecessary worries.
 
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Jerhen

macrumors 6502
Oct 22, 2015
330
57
I don't have an iPhone 6s but I currently have an iPhone 5s and I recently downloaded the same apps and I currently have 672 charge cycles on my 2 year old 5s and according to the apps, I am at 97% in one app and 92% in the other. I know Apple says that after 400 or 500 charge cycles, your battery will be at 80% health. I don't know if the apps are accurate or not. IMG_6281.jpg IMG_6282.jpg
 

BearBert

macrumors regular
Oct 6, 2015
117
84
I don't have an iPhone 6s but I currently have an iPhone 5s and I recently downloaded the same apps and I currently have 672 charge cycles on my 2 year old 5s and according to the apps, I am at 97% in one app and 92% in the other. I know Apple says that after 400 or 500 charge cycles, your battery will be at 80% health. I don't know if the apps are accurate or not. View attachment 629887 View attachment 629888

Maybe take the average of the two percentages, however your battery is holding up very well after 672 charge cycles.

Curious whats your charging habits?
 

Jerhen

macrumors 6502
Oct 22, 2015
330
57
Maybe take the average of the two percentages, however your battery is holding up very well after 672 charge cycles.

Curious whats your charging habits?

I don't really have any special charging practices that I use so thats why it makes me wonder if these apps are fairly accurate. I tend to charge it daily at night around 7:00-8:00 and take it off the charger before I go to bed. When I take it off the charger before I go to bed, it is at 100 percent so it gets a full charge. If I charge it during the day, it is probably around 30 some percent when I charge it or less. I also let it completely die probably 5 times a month, so about once a week. I also never charge it overnight, I maybe did once but I never have again.
 
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lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,720
Boston, MA
My understanding is that the accuracy is TOO good, it reports moment to moment - variability is normal with batteries - while Apple looks at averages with their (hopefully) more sophisticated software. The OP has really nothing to worry about as his battery is still in very good shape.
Perhaps. I didn't know that a battery can vary quite that much in total charge. Today my max is at 87%. That's almost five percentage point swing between yesterday and today. I don't know enough about batteries to be able to agree or disagree.

image.png
[doublepost=1462288061][/doublepost]
I don't have an iPhone 6s but I currently have an iPhone 5s and I recently downloaded the same apps and I currently have 672 charge cycles on my 2 year old 5s and according to the apps, I am at 97% in one app and 92% in the other. I know Apple says that after 400 or 500 charge cycles, your battery will be at 80% health. I don't know if the apps are accurate or not. View attachment 629887 View attachment 629888
Based on the apps you're doing better than I am. I have 223 charge cycles lol. I'm starting to think the apps are mostly bunk, but as was mentioned above, it may be the opposite? Idk.
 

mateo124

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 15, 2011
277
61
I was slightly worried about my 6S when I downloaded that 'battery life' app, but I actually deleted it. I'm around 160-170 cycles and at first it was 94% max capacity, then anywhere from 87-92% depending when you check it.

I checked with iBackupBot on my PC and it says it's around 96% so I just deleted the app, just creates unnecessary worries.

I'll probably end up doing the same thing, it's unnecessary worry as you said. Even if capacity is down, it's not like 5 or 10% is something noticeable.

From the looks of it these apps do appear to be rather inaccurate and don't reflect the actual life of the battery all that well. Thanks everyone for the responses!
 

npolly0212

macrumors 65816
Sep 21, 2015
1,366
457
I use battery Life and was at 4% the other day. I am now at 9% on my 6S+. I don't know who to view the charging cycles though..But mine keeps going back and forth between 7% and 9% on battery life.
How do i check my battery cycles?
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
I use battery Life and was at 4% the other day. I am now at 9% on my 6S+. I don't know who to view the charging cycles though..But mine keeps going back and forth between 7% and 9% on battery life.
How do i check my battery cycles?
Seems like the app tells you that information. And you are saying you are down by 4% or 9% or 7%, or you are actually at those percentages (meaning you basically have no battery capacity left)?
 

npolly0212

macrumors 65816
Sep 21, 2015
1,366
457
Seems like the app tells you that information. And you are saying you are down by 4% or 9% or 7%, or you are actually at those percentages (meaning you basically have no battery capacity left)?
Meant it keeps telling me I'm down to 91 93 and 96
 

BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,022
coconutBattery on my Macbook is by far the most accurate of all the battery apps I've tried. Since I have quite a few Anker battery bricks I tend to charge my iPhone 6+ off of those bricks regularly - I've noticed that the battery % design capacity on these apps seems to vary wildly when using battery bricks to charge vs wall current. A full drain to shut off and full charge seems to correct the % left - I'm at 230 cycles, over a year old, and around 96% of design capacity.

So yes, ignore, use your phone, I wouldn't worry about it. If you are still within a year, you can go to Apple and have Apple check it: http://www.apple.com/batteries/service-and-recycling/ or 2 years with AppleCare+. From link: "Your battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles. The one-year warranty includes service coverage for a defective battery. If it is out of warranty, Apple offers a battery service for $79, plus $6.95 shipping, subject to local tax."

Charge habits: I plug in whenever I can as often as I can (all work day on desk) though never overnight. Rare for me to see my phone go below 60% unless I'm doing Ingress without an Anker battery pack (rare).
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
coconutBattery on my Macbook is by far the most accurate of all the battery apps I've tried. Since I have quite a few Anker battery bricks I tend to charge my iPhone 6+ off of those bricks regularly - I've noticed that the battery % design capacity on these apps seems to vary wildly when using battery bricks to charge vs wall current. A full drain to shut off and full charge seems to correct the % left - I'm at 230 cycles, over a year old, and around 96% of design capacity.

So yes, ignore, use your phone, I wouldn't worry about it. If you are still within a year, you can go to Apple and have Apple check it: http://www.apple.com/batteries/service-and-recycling/ or 2 years with AppleCare+. From link: "Your battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles. The one-year warranty includes service coverage for a defective battery. If it is out of warranty, Apple offers a battery service for $79, plus $6.95 shipping, subject to local tax."

Charge habits: I plug in whenever I can as often as I can (all work day on desk) though never overnight. Rare for me to see my phone go below 60% unless I'm doing Ingress without an Anker battery pack (rare).
Any real difference between essentially all day at work vs. overnight?
 
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BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,022
Any real difference between essentially all day at work vs. overnight?

I would guess not - great point (never thought about it like that), I spend 8-10 hours at work and it's plugged in most of that time at 100% doing Google Music. Would be nearly identical to someone plugging it in all night for 8 hours (wish I got that much sleep). Only difference is Google Music and streaming to bluetooth headphones and getting used for a few minutes every few hours.

Interesting.
 
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MrJM

macrumors 6502a
Jan 15, 2012
713
574
Wasn't too many days ago I read a thread just like this one where the OP took the phone into an Apple Store because a battery app said he had a crazy low % battery left. Apple store said he had 97% left after checking his phone.

These apps are crazy inaccurate. I've tested a few (coconutBattery on Mac, several iOS apps) and they're never consistent or accurate. One day my phone will be 110% of factory and another day it'll be 93%. Figure just use the phone and if I think it's really bad - I'll take it in if I have to.

I've noticed that charging my iphone 6+ with battery bricks tends to throw off the % life left apps significantly vs wall plug.

That was me! From my experience I'm never touching these battery apps again. Far too inaccurate to be useful.
 
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