iPhone 7/Plus Battery saver on 24/7?

[Septembersrain]

I've got a 7 Plus. Am I doing more good than harm by keeping this enabled?

I don't need background refresh, push emails, etc. So that's not an issue.

The device isn't very slow, so performance seems to be decent.

7 Plus purchased December 2016 at 95% capacity on the battery, is this average for time frame?

 

[Newtons Apple]

95% sounds good. No need to keep you phone on battery saver unless you are running out before the end of the day.

 

[C DM]

I've got a 7 Plus. Am I doing more good than harm by keeping this enabled?

I don't need background refresh, push emails, etc. So that's not an issue.

The device isn't very slow, so performance seems to be decent.

7 Plus purchased December 2016 at 95% capacity on the battery, is this average for time frame?

There's no harm really, just depends on if you are noticing something not performing as well and/or feeling some of the effects of features that get disabled or changed when LPM is enabled.

 

[Septembersrain]

There's no harm really, just depends on if you are noticing something not performing as well and/or feeling some of the effects of features that get disabled or changed when LPM is enabled.

95% sounds good. No need to keep you phone on battery saver unless you are running out before the end of the day.

Will this increase how long my battery will last and decrease the rate the percentage drops in the long run?

 

[C DM]

Will this increase how long my battery will last and decrease the rate the percentage drops in the long run?

Hard to say what effect it will have in that sort of capacity (no pun intended), of if it would really be noticeable even if there's some sort of an effect. In the overall sense it can help by perhaps you using up your battery somewhat less on a daily basis and not depleting it as low as you otherwise would before you charge it up again which in turn can also help decrease the cycles over time to some degree. But again, how meaningful/noticeable that would really ultimately be, that's harder to say (and chances are in most situations it likely won't be).

 

[Septembersrain]

Hard to say what effect it will have in that sort of capacity (no pun intended), of if it would really be noticeable even if there's some sort of an effect. In the overall sense it can help by perhaps you using up your battery somewhat less on a daily basis and not depleting it as low as you otherwise would before you charge it up again which in turn can also help decrease the cycles over time to some degree. But again, how meaningful/noticeable that would really ultimately be, that's harder to say (and chances are in most situations it likely won't be).

Thank you. I suppose in another 6 months, I'll see where I compare on average. That should make for a decent answer. When is it recommended that a battery be replaced? 80%?

 

[aakshey]

Ideally replace it when it falls under 90%.

 

[C DM]

Thank you. I suppose in another 6 months, I'll see where I compare on average. That should make for a decent answer. When is it recommended that a battery be replaced? 80%?

Generally the lifespan is considered between 100% and 80%, but you can start noticing the battery not performing all that well earlier than that, even when you are below 90%, as there's more to it all than the overall capacity basically.

 

[Septembersrain]

Ideally replace it when it falls under 90%.

That's a good idea. I plan to keep my device for as long as possible. I wonder how long the $29 battery will be available for. Not that I mind paying more. Just would choose less. Haha.

 

[C DM]

That's a good idea. I plan to keep my device for as long as possible. I wonder how long the $29 battery will be available for. Not that I mind paying more. Just would choose less. Haha.

For now at least that discounted pricing is through the end of this year.

 

[scottcampbell]

I learned at the Apple Store that a brand new battery is considered "110%"

 

[Septembersrain]

I learned at the Apple Store that a brand new battery is considered "110%"

Really? Is that able to be seen in coconut battery or on beta battery health in iOS 11.3 on?

I've never heard this.

 

[scottcampbell]

Really? Is that able to be seen in coconut battery or on beta battery health in iOS 11.3 on?

I've never heard this.

I don't think you could see 110% in those apps, but it was something the technician pointed out while running diagnostics on my phone. He said my battery was at 85% out of 110%.

 

[tonybarnaby]

Ideally replace it when it falls under 90%.

This isn’t true at all. It’s always been 80%.
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I've got a 7 Plus. Am I doing more good than harm by keeping this enabled?

I don't need background refresh, push emails, etc. So that's not an issue.

The device isn't very slow, so performance seems to be decent.

7 Plus purchased December 2016 at 95% capacity on the battery, is this average for time frame?

One thing I noticed is that it takes much longer to send pictures or large files via iMessage when I have battery saver on. I haven’t used it in months and haven’t needed it. If my phone ever drops to 50% I’d probably enable it until I could charge it.

One thing I noticed is the battery tended to drop nearly as fast on battery saver as it did on normal mode when in a low signal area. It could be placebo, but I wonder if the signal isn’t quite as strong or what the deal was. My feeling is I’ll only use it if I am low on power and can’t charge for a while.

If you keep your phone on standby a lot then it would theoretically cause your capacity to remain a fraction higher, since you won’t lose as much percent per day and the overall capacity loss would slow a tiny bit. Not nearly enough to worry about. I was a battery ocd snob for years, but I finally broke free. Low power mode has its uses, but keeping it on 24/7 doesn’t seem too productive to me. I keep background sync off like you do, so that’s a big help to keep some battery life from being wasted in the background.

 

[Julienne]

I've got a 7 Plus. Am I doing more good than harm by keeping this enabled?

Won't do any harm, but why? Stuff will just generally run slower, especially networks; you won't get your mail through unless manually fetching, iMessage may take longer than usual...

 

[C DM]

Won't do any harm, but why? Stuff will just generally run slower, especially networks; you won't get your mail through unless manually fetching, iMessage may take longer than usual...

Why would iMessage take longer?

 

[joeblow7777]

I've got a 7 Plus. Am I doing more good than harm by keeping this enabled?

Won't do any harm at all. Theoretically, it will cut down om battery cycles and prolong the life of your battery. I say "theoretically" because it probably won't make much of a practical difference. Still, the only down side is decreased peak performance, but that probably won't be very noticeable if you're not doing anything demanding anyway.

 

[yegon]

I could live with low power on pretty much permanently if it didn’t dim the screen so quickly. Yeah yeah, that’s the whole point, I agree, but still.

Then again, my X lasts me all day with battery to spare so it doesn’t really matter.

 

[cynics]

CPU/GPU performance is reduced. Screen dims. Powers off the display quicker. Disables visual effects. iCloud features like iCloud Photo Library syncing pauses. Hey Siri is disabled. Mail fetch is disabled. And it turns off low power mode once the iPhone is charged passed 80%.

While you won’t hurt anything its a little silly to pay for an iPhone and disable so many of its features and reduce its performance. It’s mostly for when your low on battery, can’t afford for it to die and is accompanied by the mindset you aren’t going to use it either unless you have too.

 

[now i see it]

The battery saver feature down clocks the CPU. You can see for yourself. Run Geekbench with it on and off. The CPU is much slower when battery saver is on.

You can use it all day, starting at 100%. It won't hurt anything at all. There have been tests (with graphs) comparing all-day usage using battery saver on vs off and if you turn it on at 100% the battery will definitely last longer throughout the day / by a couple hours.

But I wouldn't use battery saver for the reason to try to extend your battery capacity out a few more years. That's not what it's for (or means). It's saving the battery during the day by under clocking the CPU (and doing a few other things) not saving the battery's ultimate lifespan years from now.

My recommendation is use battery saver if you can't make it to a wall socket for a recharge. But the phone is much nicer to use when it's turned off.
Personally I'd rather bring a spare battery pack with me to bump up the charge mid day than use the battery save feature. On my phone it makes it laggy.

 

[Septembersrain]

CPU/GPU performance is reduced. Screen dims. Powers off the display quicker. Disables visual effects. iCloud features like iCloud Photo Library syncing pauses. Hey Siri is disabled. Mail fetch is disabled. And it turns off low power mode once the iPhone is charged passed 80%.

While you won’t hurt anything its a little silly to pay for an iPhone and disable so many of its features and reduce its performance. It’s mostly for when your low on battery, can’t afford for it to die and is accompanied by the mindset you aren’t going to use it either unless you have too.

I use it only for a few apps. It currently doesn't even have a SIM in it. I just am trying to maximize time between charges.

When is the ideal time to charge it? 30%, 10%?

 

[Xgm541]

I use it only for a few apps. It currently doesn't even have a SIM in it. I just am trying to maximize time between charges.

When is the ideal time to charge it? 30%, 10%?

Maximizing time between charges to cut down on charge cycles isn't necessarily going to prolong how long your phone will last before it, or the battery, need a replacement.

Any tips on "ideal time to charge it" are purely anecdotal.

I understand the want to prolong your device life and avoid wear where possible but IMO it's better to just use the device without triggering OCD. It's kind of like saying that you won't drive your car so as to not put miles on it.

Also, 3rd battery replacements (or dyi kits) for iPhones aren't super expensive. In your use scenario, I doubt you'd need a replacement anyone soon.

Exit : just to answer your question since you might just do your own thing anyway, if you sparsely use the phone, keep it plugged in. You can't overcharge or damage the battery and that will effectively eliminate charge cycles more than low power mode.

 

[tonybarnaby]

I use it only for a few apps. It currently doesn't even have a SIM in it. I just am trying to maximize time between charges.

When is the ideal time to charge it? 30%, 10%?

The best way to care for a lithium ion battery is to keep it between 60-70%. This is impossible in practice, so 40-80% is the happy medium. Batteries hate extremes, so if you can keep it above 20% that's good.

 

[C DM]

Maximizing time between charges to cut down on charge cycles isn't necessarily going to prolong how long your phone will last before it, or the battery, need a replacement.

Any tips on "ideal time to charge it" are purely anecdotal.

I understand the want to prolong your device life and avoid wear where possible but IMO it's better to just use the device without triggering OCD. It's kind of like saying that you won't drive your car so as to not put miles on it.

Also, 3rd battery replacements (or dyi kits) for iPhones aren't super expensive. In your use scenario, I doubt you'd need a replacement anyone soon.

Exit : just to answer your question since you might just do your own thing anyway, if you sparsely use the phone, keep it plugged in. You can't overcharge or damage the battery and that will effectively eliminate charge cycles more than low power mode.

It's not really anecdotal as much as it is realistically not that practical for the most part given the likely smaller benefits that would come from it all for smaller batteries like those for mobile phones: http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

 

[blairian89]

Can you?

Sure.

Is your battery a problem?

Not yet.

Just use your phone and enjoy it.