I use about a cycle a day. I try my best to prevent my phone from overheating and I never charge when its running at high capacity as that further increases heat. 95% of my charging is MagSafe.
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iPhone 16 Pro Max Battery Health Still 100% on My iPhone 16 Pro Max After 239 Cycles. How?!
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25% is MagSafe and all else wired charging and indeed I am a cycle or two a day just like you
I do fast charge on wired charging
Sorry, but the concern is totally ridiculous. 244 cycles and 97% health is insanely good. There’s nothing “concerning”; on the contrary, that’s an amazing number.
People are not only way too worried about this, but I’ve also been seeing recently a massive influx of posts with people who show concern over amazing numbers. If the rate is “80% after 1000 cycles”, why would you be worried about 97% after 244 cycles? It makes no sense at all.
I wouldn’t worry even with poorer numbers. My 9.7-inch iPad Pro is rated for 80% after 1000 cycles as well. This has been its cycle count to health progression:
Purchased September 2016 on iOS 9 and forcibly updated by Apple to iOS 12 in 2019, the device showed signs of a possible catastrophic battery failure by October 2017, dropping to 91% after only a year and 164 cycles. Not close to the 80% after 1000 cycles number. Did I care? Well… no.
It first showed 85% after 415 cycles and 3.5 years of age. Almost 5 years later and almost twice as many cycles… it still shows 85%. Ignore the number, or don’t, and be happy that your number is insanely good.
Ignore the number unless it drops to 75% after 8 months and 190 cycles. That would be a battery failure. Your number? That is not concerning at all.
Thanks for the tip!
I remembered you’re always on the iOS 18 battery thread and mentioned why you never update your iPhone and iPad unless it’s absolutely necessary. Also your valid opinion and testing between your devices you had for years.
That’s why using the battery cycle number helps us make more assumptions about how our batteries age compared to if the cycle count number didn’t exist.
By the way, I only got the steepest battery drain yesterday night because I had to export and edit an 8-minute video on my 15 Pro using iMovie. During the 1-hour edit and export period (including uploading to Canvas), it used up 50-60% of the battery. I can’t have the screen off when I’m exporting and uploading edited videos because it suspends it if I lock my iPhone.
That message came across more aggressive than I intended, I apologise, but I really wanted to drive forward the point that not only is your battery health better than average, you also shouldn’t really worry about it.
I will always recommend staying behind, but I understand it’s both massive unpopular and a hassle sometimes.
I agree that tracking it is fun, but I wouldn’t let it hold too much weight, anyway. You can’t help it. I’d just take some basic precautions:
-Avoid heat
-Charge as slowly as possible
-Don’t install betas
-A personal one, don’t update
This is if you plan to keep the device for years on end. If you don’t, nothing matters. I have 10-year-old devices in active use, so I try to do all of that. I’ve found that devices are really resilient, and that the amount of time and energy people expend worrying is nowhere near worth it. The device will, in 99% of all cases, be fine.
It won’t when heat is too much, when it has been updated a million times, and it may suffer with wireless charging that’s too hot. Otherwise, it will be fine. If you upgrade every two years do whatever you like, really.
Still lasting long off the charger for most of the day, friend. I am also on a public release of iOS 18.5 so I don’t experience a huge effect on battery life versus the betas I go back and forth between.
Yeah, it’s pretty new, should be fine. Betas have been known to impact battery health, primarily because of heat. But with a 15 series you shouldn’t struggle for a long while.
Sure, I understand. My iPhone 15 Pro only had hot flashes when I edit videos on iMovie and export them, and used MagSafe chargers, especially when I used a third-party wireless charging pad connected to an outlet or my laptop.
I do use a third-party MagSafe power bank that doesn’t have the temperature fluctuations as often when I use it, but that one is only 10 watts, while the Courant leather wireless charging MagSafe pad (which is also available at Apple Stores) is rated at 15 watts wireless charging with compatible iPhones.
My iPhone XR used to have heat issues even when it wasn’t charging. Even regular, heavy usage caused it. That XR was always a hand warmer for me 😆 it ran iOS betas and developers beta back and forth too
I honestly have no idea; my 16 Pro Max is using the same settings and charging as my 15 Pro Max, which was at 91% in October 2024. I use MagSafe, USB-C, and AOD (but not AOD every day). MagSafe with/ StandBy practically every night.
16 Pro Max is still at 100% with 150 cycles.
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Got it. That is the type(s) of battery health/preservation methods I used, 90% limit, MagSafe and USB C are all the things I did to preseve iPhone battery.
Yuck, today it got duked to 95% at 250 cycles! This 18.5 public version really messed up battery health rapidly. 5% down in 3 weeks period does not make sense- any other 15 Pro or 16 Pro users feeling the same as me?
Yep, the posters here are right! It is not uncommon for these iPhones to come slightly over provisioned from the factory. You can use apps like coconutBattery (Mac OS) to see this. My iPhone 15 Pro Max came 103.9% provisioned from the factory. Over the last 1 year and 9 months it has mostly stayed between 101% and 103%, it had one day where it went to 99% - so Apple Health says it is 99%, but in reality it is:
Keep in mind, that these phones can run off of wall power entirely, bypassing the battery. I work at a desk and I can use my phone plugged in and it not use a cycle for days on end. This helps battery longevity significantly. I plug my phone in as much as I can as often as I can (set to 80% limit).
Heat - keep the battery away from heat. Charge frequently and often.
Keep in mind, that these phones can run off of wall power entirely, bypassing the battery. I work at a desk and I can use my phone plugged in and it not use a cycle for days on end. This helps battery longevity significantly. I plug my phone in as much as I can as often as I can (set to 80% limit).
Heat - keep the battery away from heat. Charge frequently and often.
Macrumors is full of threads where people post battery health drops doing the betas. I'm not sure if it's a software thing or hardware thing.
My best guess - batteries are a chemical science that is not 100% exact. So the act of installing a beta, which is hard on the battery (especially if you're not plugged in (even plugged in the phone gets HOT) during the heavy indexing) - can result in changes. Say you were 95.1% health, installed the beta, let the phone cook itself in a hot room, I could see it going down a little bit from that (93.8%) - and it show a few % drop. But in reality your battery health probably didn't shift all that much. Having coconutbattery observe your daily capacity would be helpful in this case.
You want to look at battery health from LONG term observation - not just a point in time health %. This is where coconutBattery excels - you can look at your battery long term.
My iPhone 15 Pro Max, over the last 1.7 years has gone from 99% (lowest) to 103.9% (highest) and spends most of its time between 101% and 103%.
Hope this helps.
My 10 cents. I now charge my new iPhone 16 Plus accroding to the 20-80 rule. I check and the battery is at 80%. I usually turn my iPhone off ater that. Surprisingly when i Turn it on later the battery percentage show 82-83% so maybe some batteries are more than 100% when new. Can't say more cause I only charged my Plus 4 times now.
233 cycles and battery is 100% I always charge to 100% but rarely let my battery drop below 80% when I’m at work I use my phone as a hotspot for the whole of my 12 hour shifts so my phone is constantly working and often warm to hot, I also use my phone as a hotspot at home so again it’s often warm to hot so it is almost always constantly in use and almost always on charge. I don’t fast charge and I don’t use the original cable that came with the phone I use Anker 2 metre cables and the plug is anything other than Samsung. Phone arrived on release day direct from apple.
It generally takes the same amount of time/cycles to drop from 100% to 99% as it does to go from 99% to 90%.
Day 1 16 Pro Max, and still at 100% with 162 Cycles. I don't limit battery charging to 80%, strictly charge using my wireless charging night stand, and don't otherwise take care of the battery. Very, very impressed!
Simple - you don’t use MagSafe charging. Thats what trashes the batteries, however it’s too convenient , I could never give it up!
I have no clue why mine with less than a year is now with 98% with 238 cycles.
I’ve set the iPhone 16 to 80% from day one and charged it when it was 20%.
I’d might also say battery life was always less than I’ve expected.
Battery life for me is subpar than I’ve expected.
I’ve set the iPhone 16 to 80% from day one and charged it when it was 20%.
I’d might also say battery life was always less than I’ve expected.
Battery life for me is subpar than I’ve expected.
Seriously. My M4 Air has "102%" after 4 months. I only have 19 cycles on it, but still, the battery health metric is kind of loose, and I think people should not constantly obsess over it. IMO it's something to look at every 6 months for trends, but other than that just use your device and live your life. Batteries are replacable for a reason.
Launch day 15 Pro Max - 93% battery health, 262 charge cycles. I always leave the max charge at 80%, and apparently I use what the phone classifies as a slow charger. Your stats are really impressive!
I suspect the first iPhone 16 batch wasn’t well. I’ve went today to major seller and reviewed all demo units after a year.
PM16 was best with 96-97%
Other models was between 92-96%
Only models with good health showed they were first used on November and manufactured on October.
PM16 was best with 96-97%
Other models was between 92-96%
Only models with good health showed they were first used on November and manufactured on October.
