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btownguy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 18, 2009
545
19
So now we have multiple charging options available to us that have an iPhone 8:

  • standard charging using included USC-A charger
  • fast charging using purchased USB-C charger
  • wireless charging using 3rd party (for now) charging pads

Which option, when used day in and day out, would result in the healthiest battery over time?
 
So now we have multiple charging options available to us that have an iPhone 8:

  • standard charging using included USC-A charger
  • fast charging using purchased USB-C charger
  • wireless charging using 3rd party (for now) charging pads

Which option, when used day in and day out, would result in the healthiest battery over time?

I would think both wireless and standard lightning charging would be the best as it is slower and might put less stress on the battery. I know the fast charge people will argue. Speed does not matter to me as it all happens while I sleep. My phone does not even seem to get warm when using the Belkin wireless charger.
 
Yeah speed doesn't matter to me either. Wireless charging is not the fastest... but it sure is convenient. Also will save wear and tear on the lightning port... I've used my port for charging just once in the 10 days I've had the phone.

I come home from work and drop it on the charger and forget about it. Later on in the evening it's full and ready for the next day.

Very impressed with the 8 Plus battery life when compared to my old 6s Plus. I even made a thread about it last week. :)

Not at all concerned about the battery health.
 
So is charging speed a determining factor in battery health?
How about device temperature? I've heard wireless charging results in fairly heated phones. I can't imaging it being hot overnight being good for the battery.
 
Lithium Ion batteries like to be cool and they like slow charging.

However, that said, today, batteries can stand a lot more abuse than they used to in the past. Rapid charging and heat tolerance has gone way up so much so that with normal usage, charging with the included 5w charging brick will most likely show no difference vs a 12w iPad brick over the course of two years or more.

The negative about wireless charging in the past is that it does warm up the phone a bit but in my experience with my 8+ it doesn't warm it up enough to harm the battery. Wireless is only 7.5w I believe.

If you're really worried, just use the included 5w brick. That said, I used a 60w Anker charger for the life of my 6+, 6s+ and both after 230 cycles showed within 6% of design capacity.

The heat of wireless charging on my 8+ doesn't worry me at all. Using a 12w iPad brick will heat it up more (and this doesn't bother me either). Leaving it in the sun in a car till the phone shuts down from overheating will affect battery life.

Want to take care of your battery to make it last long? Keep it out of long exposure to the sun, try to keep it above 20%, don't keep it at 100% charge for long periods of time (months), and just use it. Best thing I did for my iPhone happiness was turn off the battery % reader.

I do use coconutBattery on my Mac to record my iPhone's battery health a few times a month (I put into a Google Spreadsheet).


Apple won't even touch your battery unless it is below 80% design capacity. So use it up :).

Edit: If you're looking for some extra reading: http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
 
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