I'm finally upgrading to a 16 Pro Max, but my 12 Pro Max has 85% health after daily use since May of 2021! Charged to 100% nightly. I will be turning this feature off on my 16 Pro Max. Even at 85% health I never worry about my battery.
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Apple's 80% Charging Limit for iPhone: How Much Did It Help After a Year?
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My anecdotal experience is that, before when I couldn’t limit the charge level, i always connected the phone to the charger during the work day so it’s kept at 90-100% most of the time, normally, after 1 year the battery health will be about 90%, the worst was the 14 Pro at 85%. This year the 15PM is at 97%. I’m doing the 80% on work days and 100% on weekends and holiday cycles.
With AT&T Up Next Anytime I don’t need to worry about it, setting my 16 Pro to 100% charging limit and will upgrade to the 17 Pro when it comes out.
It’s so interesting to see that some people’s battery can retain near 100% even after hundreds of cycles. How often do you drain the battery to below 10%?
I traded in a 15 Plus on Saturday. I had 151 cycles and 100% battery health still. Almost exclusively MagSafe charging except when in car driving to and from work. I just used optimized charging.
You guys are aware that this is just a few minutes difference and would vary based on factors out of your control, right? This is just the "CLOSE" button in an elevator; does nothing but you feel like you're in control.
Launch day iPhone 15 Pro, 99% @202 cycles with Optimized Charging turned ON and no charging limit set.
I charge every night, overnight using MagSafe.
I charge every night, overnight using MagSafe.
Yea, agree, battery replacement after let’s say 2yr3mos or 2yrs6mos… or something like that
It defaults to off/100% so no need for you to do anything
Ok, and? How much more battery life do you get being at 97% vs someone at 90%. No one knows, it’s all subjective and there is no data behind it supporting that 97% is better than even 90%.
iPhone 15 Pro Max.
80% limit since day one.
Heavy user.
Battery Manufactured July 2023
Battery First Use September 2023
Battery Health:
• 98% March 31, 2024 (215 cycles)
• 89% June 21, 2024 (321 cycles)
It dropped to 88% in early July where it has since stayed.
• 88% September 20, 2024 (457 cycles)
The 9% drop in 82 days was simply wild.
iPhone 16 Pro Max, Max Charge 95%
• 100% September 24, 2024 (5 cycles)
See you in a year.
80% limit since day one.
Heavy user.
Battery Manufactured July 2023
Battery First Use September 2023
Battery Health:
• 98% March 31, 2024 (215 cycles)
• 89% June 21, 2024 (321 cycles)
It dropped to 88% in early July where it has since stayed.
• 88% September 20, 2024 (457 cycles)
The 9% drop in 82 days was simply wild.
iPhone 16 Pro Max, Max Charge 95%
• 100% September 24, 2024 (5 cycles)
See you in a year.
I’m at 87% after 477 cycles.
MagSafe at night, 20W USB C car charger as needed later in the day.
MagSafe at night, 20W USB C car charger as needed later in the day.
With the iPhone 15 models that came out last year, Apple added an opt-in battery setting that limits maximum charge to 80 percent. The idea is that never charging the iPhone above 80 percent will increase battery longevity, so I kept my iPhone at that 80 percent limit from September 2023 to now, with no cheating.
My iPhone 15 Pro Max battery level is currently at 94 percent with 299 cycles. For a lot of 2024, my battery level stayed above 97 percent, but it started dropping more rapidly over the last couple of months.
I left my iPhone at that 80 percent limit and at no point turned the setting off or tweaked it. There were some days when I ran out of battery because I was without a charger for most of the day, and there were other times that I had to bring a battery along to make sure I didn't run out of power. It wasn't always convenient to keep it at 80 percent, but there were days when it didn't have too much of an impact.
It was always a treat when the iPhone randomly decided to charge to 100 percent, which is something Apple has baked in to the 80 percent limit to ensure the battery level stays calibrated.
For the most part, I charged using USB-C rather than MagSafe, but there was some MagSafe charging mixed in. There was probably a 70/30 split between wired charging and MagSafe charging. I did often let my battery get quite low before charging, and it didn't sit on the charger for long periods of time too often. Most charging was done in a room at 72 degrees. I'm adding this context because temperature is a factor that can affect battery longevity, and wireless charging is warmer than wired charging.
You can compare your level battery to mine, but here are a couple other metrics from MacRumors staff that also have an iPhone 15 Pro Max and did not have the battery level limited.
I don't have a lot of data points for comparison, but it does seem that limiting the charge to 80 percent kept my maximum battery capacity higher than what my co-workers are seeing, but there isn't a major difference. I have four percent more battery at 28 more cycles, and I'm not sure suffering through an 80 percent battery limit for 12 months was ultimately worth it.
- Current capacity: 87%. Cycles: 329
- Current capacity: 90%. Cycles: 271
It's possible that the real gains from an 80 percent limit will come in two or three years rather than a single year, and I'll keep it limited to 80 percent to see the longer term impact.
I did set my iPhone 16 Pro Max to an 80 percent limit, but I don't know if I want to continue the test given the lackluster results I had from 2023 to 2024. Will the thermal changes in the iPhone 16 models make any difference? Maybe, maybe not. There's a 90 percent charge limit option too, and that might be more feasible than 80 percent for most people, especially those that have phones with smaller batteries.
Let me know your current battery capacity and cycle count in the comments below, and weigh in on whether you think Apple's limits are worthwhile.
Article Link: Apple's 80% Charging Limit for iPhone: How Much Did It Help After a Year?
My iPhone 15 Pro will be a year old in early October. I run it at 80% charge level about 85% of the time and 100% the other 15%. I show a cycle count of 237 and Maximum Capacity of 99%
With the iPhone 15 models that came out last year, Apple added an opt-in battery setting that limits maximum charge to 80 percent. The idea is that never charging the iPhone above 80 percent will increase battery longevity, so I kept my iPhone at that 80 percent limit from September 2023 to now, with no cheating.
My iPhone 15 Pro Max battery level is currently at 94 percent with 299 cycles. For a lot of 2024, my battery level stayed above 97 percent, but it started dropping more rapidly over the last couple of months.
I left my iPhone at that 80 percent limit and at no point turned the setting off or tweaked it. There were some days when I ran out of battery because I was without a charger for most of the day, and there were other times that I had to bring a battery along to make sure I didn't run out of power. It wasn't always convenient to keep it at 80 percent, but there were days when it didn't have too much of an impact.
It was always a treat when the iPhone randomly decided to charge to 100 percent, which is something Apple has baked in to the 80 percent limit to ensure the battery level stays calibrated.
For the most part, I charged using USB-C rather than MagSafe, but there was some MagSafe charging mixed in. There was probably a 70/30 split between wired charging and MagSafe charging. I did often let my battery get quite low before charging, and it didn't sit on the charger for long periods of time too often. Most charging was done in a room at 72 degrees. I'm adding this context because temperature is a factor that can affect battery longevity, and wireless charging is warmer than wired charging.
You can compare your level battery to mine, but here are a couple other metrics from MacRumors staff that also have an iPhone 15 Pro Max and did not have the battery level limited.
I don't have a lot of data points for comparison, but it does seem that limiting the charge to 80 percent kept my maximum battery capacity higher than what my co-workers are seeing, but there isn't a major difference. I have four percent more battery at 28 more cycles, and I'm not sure suffering through an 80 percent battery limit for 12 months was ultimately worth it.
- Current capacity: 87%. Cycles: 329
- Current capacity: 90%. Cycles: 271
It's possible that the real gains from an 80 percent limit will come in two or three years rather than a single year, and I'll keep it limited to 80 percent to see the longer term impact.
I did set my iPhone 16 Pro Max to an 80 percent limit, but I don't know if I want to continue the test given the lackluster results I had from 2023 to 2024. Will the thermal changes in the iPhone 16 models make any difference? Maybe, maybe not. There's a 90 percent charge limit option too, and that might be more feasible than 80 percent for most people, especially those that have phones with smaller batteries.
Let me know your current battery capacity and cycle count in the comments below, and weigh in on whether you think Apple's limits are worthwhile.
Article Link: Apple's 80% Charging Limit for iPhone: How Much Did It Help After a Year?
I’d assume that you’d retain 7% of the battery’s maximum charge capacity, that’s what the rating is for.
Or am I missing something and it’s all nonsense? (serious question)
This is quality content. My 13 Pro is showing 89% remaining (it's three years old now). I have to use CoconutBattery to see the number of cycles, but I had almost 600 the last I checked.
No option to limit to 80 or 90%, but I have both Optimized Charging and Clean Energy Charging turned on. Typically, if I charge overnight, Optimized Charging will start charging to 100% about four hours before I normally wake up (when it would only take perhaps an hour to charge from 80-100%), so there's an excessive amount of time at 100%.
No option to limit to 80 or 90%, but I have both Optimized Charging and Clean Energy Charging turned on. Typically, if I charge overnight, Optimized Charging will start charging to 100% about four hours before I normally wake up (when it would only take perhaps an hour to charge from 80-100%), so there's an excessive amount of time at 100%.
iPhone 15 Pro, charged on any random charger right up to 100% whenever and wherever I feel like it:
91%, 363 cycles.
Does it though? Your battery has a grand total of 3% more estimated health, on fewer cycles than mine.
LOL, what's the end game here with you 80 percenters? Suffer with less battery life now so that... you don't get less battery life later? 🤔
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15 Pro have the setting on 100% charge limit with optimized charging on.
89% health with 585 cycles.
89% health with 585 cycles.
Seems like they should just have the setting to where you say you want to either extend your daily battery life or extend the life-time of the battery. If you choose to extend the lifetime of the battery then it just charges to 80% capacity but considers that 100% and scales the percentages accordingly.
Why do you get AppleCare when your devices are never outside of the included warranty?