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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Apple this week brought back one of the most highly requested features from iOS users since the launch of the iPhone X in 2017: the ability to see your battery percentage directly in the status bar.

iOS-16-battery-percentage.jpg

Ever since the launch of the iPhone X with the notch, Apple has not allowed users to show their battery percentage directly in the status bar, forcing them to swipe down into Control Center to glance at their current battery level.

With the launch of iOS 16 in just a few weeks, that's set to change. The fifth developer beta of iOS 16 includes a new toggle that allows users to always show their battery percentage in the status bar.

ios-16-battery-indicator-2.jpg

When Low Power Mode is enabled, the battery glyph and the percentage turn yellow, and when low on battery, it turns red. When charging your iPhone, it turns green. The battery percentage is visible in the status bar across the system, including on the Lock Screen.

All flagship iPhones since the iPhone X have had a notch, yet not all customers with notched iPhones will gain this new feature.

Here is the list of iPhones that will gain the ability to display the battery percentage directly in the status bar:

  • iPhone 13 Pro Max
  • iPhone 13 Pro
  • iPhone 13
  • iPhone 12 Pro Max
  • iPhone 12 Pro
  • iPhone 12
  • iPhone 11 Pro Max
  • iPhone 11 Pro
  • iPhone XS Max
  • iPhone XS
  • iPhone X

All other iPhones, including the smaller iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 12 mini, the iPhone 11, and the iPhone XR, do not have the battery percentage option. As iOS 16 is still in beta testing, Apple may decide to expand the list to include other iPhones in the future so we'll have to wait and see.
While it's not entirely clear why Apple has chosen to limit the availability of this feature, it may be due to space constraints on the smaller displays.

Article Link: Apple Limiting iOS 16 Beta 5 Battery Percentage Display to Select iPhones: Here Are the Supported Devices
 
Last edited:

Unggoy Murderer

macrumors 65816
Jan 28, 2011
1,133
3,886
Edinburgh, UK
So the iPhone X get that and iPhone 11 not and the iPhone 11 is bigger than the iPhone X. Nice Apple
It could be more down to pixel density to make the text legible, the Xr isn't on there either.

Edit: just noticed the 11 Pro / Pro Max aren't listed, so probably not what I thought. Maybe it's just a bug and some devices have been excluded, or an editorial mistake? Wouldn't make sense to exclude devices where earlier / later
models support it.

Edit edit: Looks like it was an editorial mistake, the 11 Pro and Pro Max are now listed.
 
Last edited:

GubbyMan

macrumors 6502
Apr 3, 2011
446
2,085
Wait! I thought this was available on 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max... Is this list correct or did MR forget about those iPhones?
 
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iF34R

Contributor
Jul 13, 2011
1,274
514
South Carolina
My phone is stuck on 16.0 beta. Can't seem to update it beyond that for some reason. :(
I'm slow.
 
Last edited:

MAlbi

macrumors member
Jun 14, 2022
73
23
Not all iphones have the hw for that kind of experience ? Just nagging mwhahahaha
 
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