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iPhone 16 Pro Max Battery Health Still 100% on My iPhone 16 Pro Max After 239 Cycles. How?!

stillbuffering

stillbuffering

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 5, 2025
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1
Hi everyone!

I’ve never posted here before, but I wanted to share something I’ve never experienced with an iPhone to see if anyone else has.

I got my iPhone 16 Pro Max (1tb natural titanium) the morning of launch day, directly from Apple, and I’ve used it every day since. I just checked this morning — and to my disbelief, after 239 full charge cycles, it is still at 100% battery health.

I’ve never seen anything like this on an iPhone before.

I haven’t done anything extreme. I enabled the 80% charge limit on day one, and otherwise just used it like any other phone. No Low Power Mode. No battery-saving tweaks. Just real-world, daily use. I’m so impressed (and frankly, shocked)!

Here’s what my setup and usage looks like:
  • I average ~10 hours of screen time per day
  • I start charging when the battery hits 30% (I have a Shortcut automation that pops up a reminder to charge the phone when the battery drops to 30%)
  • The 80% charging limit has been on since day one
  • I use the phone while it’s charging
  • I don’t leave it charging once it hits 80%
  • I charge with Apple’s 20W USB-C power adapter and an Anker USB-C cable
  • I’ve never used wireless charging
  • I don’t use battery cases or external battery packs
  • Apple Intelligence is enabled but I don’t use it
  • Raise to Wake and Tap to Wake are both enabled
  • I run a VPN 24/7
  • iCloud Private Relay is always enabled
  • Mostly on Wi‑Fi, occasionally 5G
  • Background App Refresh is fully disabled
  • Dark Mode is always on
  • Brightness is around 50% but set to automatically adjust
  • True Tone is enabled
  • Auto-Lock is set to 30 seconds
  • Always-On Display is enabled (but with wallpaper disabled)
  • I use two location-based lock screen widgets: Weather and Sunrise/Sunset
  • I also use the Weather widget on my Home Screen
  • Location Services are enabled for a handful of apps
  • I use “Siri/Hey Siri” voice commands every day — mostly for music control, texting, checking the weather, and other quick tasks
  • I use AirPods and AirPods Max with it every day
  • I stream Apple Music, Netflix, Apple TV+, and YouTube daily, often in picture-in-picture mode
  • I’m always on the latest public iOS release (currently 18.4.1) — I’ve never used betas
Here’s a quick screen recording showing my 239 cycles and 100% health. I blurred my name, serial number, wifi and Bluetooth address for privacy.

For this level of use, I did not expect the battery to still be at 100%. So my question to you folks is: Has anyone else seen this kind of long-term battery performance?



Cheers!
 
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Still 100% on mine at 134 cycles. I don’t think it’s particularly rare. But it’s certainly very good.

I should add that mine was bought roughly a month after launch date.
 
IMG_2464.png
 
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There's no magic. ;)

The Max capacity of a new battery is greater than the Design Capacity of your iPhone model.

Your new battery starts at 103, 104, or 105% if you're lucky.

The iOS settings only show 100% maximum.
Your battery has decreased, but you don't see it right now...
 
Last edited:
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Shamalow said:
There's no magic. ;)

The Max capacity of a new battery is greater than the Design Capacity of your iPhone model.

Your new battery starts at 103, 104, or 105% if you're lucky.

The iOS settings only show 100% maximum.
Your battery has decreased, but you don't see it right now...
Click to expand...
Exactly what I was going to say. Some units come with a higher battery capacity. So the battery is degrading, but since it was probably at 104% or 105%, when it drops below 100%, it will show.
 
Since you're basically doing 30-80%, it's not that surprising. Now, had you been going 0-100%, that would really be something. Regardless, congrats!
 
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Shamalow said:
There's no magic. ;)

The Max capacity of a new battery is greater than the Design Capacity of your iPhone model.

Your new battery starts at 103, 104, or 105% if you're lucky.

The iOS settings only show 100% maximum.
Your battery has decreased, but you don't see it right now...
Click to expand...
Yep, take my 16e for example.

Maybe not 100% accurate, but according to analytics my battery was 4160mAh, roughly 104% battery health vs the design capacity of 4005mAh.

So 4% more from the factory & analytics is showing that the battery health is already falling from the 4160mAh…

But until my device goes under the rated capacity of 4005mAh the battery health reading in settings will stay at 100%.
 

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stillbuffering said:
Hi everyone!

I’ve never posted here before, but I wanted to share something I’ve never experienced with an iPhone to see if anyone else has.

I got my iPhone 16 Pro Max (1tb natural titanium) the morning of launch day, directly from Apple, and I’ve used it every day since. I just checked this morning — and to my disbelief, after 239 full charge cycles, it is still at 100% battery health.

I’ve never seen anything like this on an iPhone before.

I haven’t done anything extreme. I enabled the 80% charge limit on day one, and otherwise just used it like any other phone. No Low Power Mode. No battery-saving tweaks. Just real-world, daily use. I’m so impressed (and frankly, shocked)!

Here’s what my setup and usage looks like:
  • I average ~10 hours of screen time per day
  • I start charging when the battery hits 30% (I have a Shortcut automation that pops up a reminder to charge the phone when the battery drops to 30%)
  • The 80% charging limit has been on since day one
  • I use the phone while it’s charging
  • I don’t leave it charging once it hits 80%
  • I charge with Apple’s 20W USB-C power adapter and an Anker USB-C cable
  • I’ve never used wireless charging
  • I don’t use battery cases or external battery packs
  • Apple Intelligence is enabled but I don’t use it
  • Raise to Wake and Tap to Wake are both enabled
  • I run a VPN 24/7
  • iCloud Private Relay is always enabled
  • Mostly on Wi‑Fi, occasionally 5G
  • Background App Refresh is fully disabled
  • Dark Mode is always on
  • Brightness is around 50% but set to automatically adjust
  • True Tone is enabled
  • Auto-Lock is set to 30 seconds
  • Always-On Display is enabled (but with wallpaper disabled)
  • I use two location-based lock screen widgets: Weather and Sunrise/Sunset
  • I also use the Weather widget on my Home Screen
  • Location Services are enabled for a handful of apps
  • I use “Siri/Hey Siri” voice commands every day — mostly for music control, texting, checking the weather, and other quick tasks
  • I use AirPods and AirPods Max with it every day
  • I stream Apple Music, Netflix, Apple TV+, and YouTube daily, often in picture-in-picture mode
  • I’m always on the latest public iOS release (currently 18.4.1) — I’ve never used betas
Here’s a quick screen recording showing my 239 cycles and 100% health. I blurred my name, serial number, wifi and Bluetooth address for privacy.

For this level of use, I did not expect the battery to still be at 100%. So my question to you folks is: Has anyone else seen this kind of long-term battery performance?

View attachment 2508164

Cheers!
Click to expand...
This makes sense because your 16 Pro Max came with significantly higher battery capacity than its design capacity.
It’s not anything that you have done that has helped.

My 15 Pro Max got to 243 cycles with 100% battery health before the battery health began going down. I don’t use any of that charging limit stuff or anything, I charge when I want and will hit 100% charge multiple times a day if I want.

Many iPhone units tend to come with more battery capacity than their design capacity, the number seems to range between 3%-5% more,just depending on your luck this then means you can log more 100% charge cycles before your health drops below 100%.
IMG_5608.png
 
Shamalow said:
CoconutBattery on Mac or imazing on PC can display the percentage above 100%.

But they use the raw capacity, not the current capacity, to calculate battery health. And you must plug your iPhone into your Mac or PC.

So I created a shortcut to check battery health without having to plug your iPhone in.
https://routinehub.co/shortcut/19090/

View attachment 2509009
Click to expand...
Thank you for your shortcut - I found it on routinehub and have been using it for a while now. Keep the updates coming.

I just got a 16 PM yesterday, and one of the first things I did was set the charge limit to 80%. Hope I can get many cycles out of it. My 13 was at 94% BH but just wouldn't last. So far the 16 PM is a beast even though it's still indexing/finishing updates and what not.
 
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Batteries ship at over 100% capacity. That's why they stay at 100% for so long. Because when you get it it's at 104%.
 
I mean.... it's great that you're still seeing 100% but what is it really DOING for you?

My iPhone 12 Pro, bought 4 years ago, is at 84% now. Charges on MagSafe to 100% every night (Optimized Charging is on, so it does pause charging until about 3am before I pick up the phone at 6am). I work from home so normally it's just sitting on my desk, but if I do drive anywhere it's usually on a MagSafe charger in the car so that GPS doesn't run the battery down. The ONLY times it's ever dropped below around 50% charge is when I'm taking an airline trip somewhere, and I have a MagSafe battery pack for those occasions. In other words - I don't concern myself about the battery other than "not letting it go dead." It might - MIGHT - need a new battery in a year or so.

How long do we really need a battery to last? Replacing once at 5 years, with NO precautions, means that one replacement will EASILY cover the useful life of the hardware - and for many users, they won't even get to the battery replacement point before upgrading. I really don't understand the obsession over battery capacity ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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FreakinEurekan said:
I mean.... it's great that you're still seeing 100% but what is it really DOING for you?

My iPhone 12 Pro, bought 4 years ago, is at 84% now. Charges on MagSafe to 100% every night (Optimized Charging is on, so it does pause charging until about 3am before I pick up the phone at 6am). I work from home so normally it's just sitting on my desk, but if I do drive anywhere it's usually on a MagSafe charger in the car so that GPS doesn't run the battery down. The ONLY times it's ever dropped below around 50% charge is when I'm taking an airline trip somewhere, and I have a MagSafe battery pack for those occasions. In other words - I don't concern myself about the battery other than "not letting it go dead." It might - MIGHT - need a new battery in a year or so.

How long do we really need a battery to last? Replacing once at 5 years, with NO precautions, means that one replacement will EASILY cover the useful life of the hardware - and for many users, they won't even get to the battery replacement point before upgrading. I really don't understand the obsession over battery capacity ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Click to expand...
I'm guessing resale value or something?
Feels like a lot of focus has turned toward "preserving" the value of Apple products instead of just using the **** out of them.
Assuming it's an economic and less waste thing?
 
mnsportsgeek said:
Batteries ship at over 100% capacity. That's why they stay at 100% for so long. Because when you get it it's at 104%.
Click to expand...
Batteries shipped @ 100% capacity. But they gimmick the capacity @ 104% to make you feel good, a marketing scheme.
 
Hey everyone! The moderation team referred me to this thread with y’all as 16 pro users, despite that I’m an iPhone 15 Pro user, but I’m mostly interested in what you’ve got to say about keeping your battery health on an iPhone. I’m thrilled to hear about how the OPs habits led to over 230 battery cycles while still keeping your battery at 100%.

By the way, I’m currently at cycle count 244, and my iPhone 15 Pro is at 97% health. I use a mix of public release and beta software for my 15 Pro. Currently running public release iOS 18.5. When it dropped to 97% on Monday, I was a bit surprised. It’s been less than six months since I got it, and it went down so quickly. In the first few months, my battery was always at 100%, but then on April 29th, it dropped to 99% at around 212 cycles. That’s when the OP posted this thread.

I’m a heavy user, so I use my iPhone a lot and often leave it off the charger when I’m out and about. Off the charger for 5 to 8 hours on average I only charge it when the battery drops below 45-30%. I also set a Siri shortcut to automatically turn on low power mode, dark mode, and send a notification if the battery is critically low at <20%. I usually use the MagSafe charger (Courant 15W Apple certified) on my desk in the evenings when I’m on my laptop, and I only use the iHome MagSafe power bank once or twice a week if no outlet or computer access, in case the battery runs low on a long school day.

My friend @Stiille and I are both 15 pro and 15PM users, and we’re both experiencing this concerning behaviour with our iPhones. My prior iPhones and Apple Watch did not rapidly decline in battery health this fast.

Our cycle counts are pretty similar.

By the way, we do have AOD on, and we’ve set the charge limits to 90%. We mostly charge our iPhones using the wired charger when we need to.
 
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goldmac2006 said:
Hey everyone! The moderation team referred me to this thread with y’all as 16 pro users, despite that I’m an iPhone 15 Pro user, but I’m mostly interested in what you’ve got to say about keeping your battery health on an iPhone. I’m thrilled to hear about how the OPs habits led to over 230 battery cycles while still keeping your battery at 100%.

By the way, I’m currently at cycle count 244, and my iPhone 15 Pro is at 97% health. I use a mix of public release and beta software for my 15 Pro. Currently running public release iOS 18.5. When it dropped to 97% on Monday, I was a bit surprised. It’s been less than six months since I got it, and it went down so quickly. In the first few months, my battery was always at 100%, but then on April 29th, it dropped to 99% at around 212 cycles. That’s when the OP posted this thread.

I’m a heavy user, so I use my iPhone a lot and often leave it off the charger when I’m out and about. Off the charger for 5 to 8 hours on average I only charge it when the battery drops below 45-30%. I also set a Siri shortcut to automatically turn on low power mode, dark mode, and send a notification if the battery is critically low at <20%. I usually use the MagSafe charger (Courant 15W Apple certified) on my desk in the evenings when I’m on my laptop, and I only use the iHome MagSafe power bank once or twice a week if no outlet or computer access, in case the battery runs low on a long school day.

My friend @Stiille and I are both 15 pro and 15PM users, and we’re both experiencing this concerning behaviour with our iPhones. My prior iPhones and Apple Watch did not rapidly decline in battery health this fast.

Our cycle counts are pretty similar.

By the way, we do have AOD on, and we’ve set the charge limits to 90%. We mostly charge our iPhones using the wired charger when we need to.
Click to expand...
Battery health is not linear. Sometimes it can stay at 100% for 300 cycles, and then rapidly drop. Other times it can rapidly drop and then remain steady. My 14" MBP dropped from 100% to 94% within 100 cycles, then remained at 94% for 250 more cycles.

On average you should expect to lose 1% health every 25-50 cycles (depends on if the battery is rated for 500 or 1000 cycles). Ultimately, its a game of averages.

I am at 195 cycles on my 16PM. Still 100%. I never let the battery drop below 25%. My wife on the other hand is at 254 cycles on her 16. Her health is 95%. She doesn't take care of the battery as much as I do (running it down, fast charging, etc.). 244 cycles at 97% is better than average wear.
 
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Mlrollin91 said:
Battery health is not linear. Sometimes it can stay at 100% for 300 cycles, and then rapidly drop. Other times it can rapidly drop and then remain steady. My 14" MBP dropped from 100% to 94% within 100 cycles, then remained at 94% for 250 more cycles.

On average you should expect to lose 1% health every 25-50 cycles (depends on if the battery is rated for 500 or 1000 cycles). Ultimately, its a game of averages.

I am at 195 cycles on my 16PM. Still 100%. I never let the battery drop below 25%. My wife on the other hand is at 254 cycles on her 16. Her health is 95%. She doesn't take care of the battery as much as I do (running it down, fast charging, etc.). 244 cycles at 97% is better than average wear.
Click to expand...
Typical usage? I feel that way about most factors causing accelerated battery health loss too. I am a heavy user on school days and work days on my iPhone, so I keep a 90% charge limit.

I fast charge my iPhone often. Use an official Apple adapter and cables, some third party USB C cables (including one on my dock) and at home using a non MagSafe dock with my own cables and a USB C port on a power strip.
 
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