iPhone 13 mini Did I do something wrong with my battery?

[Drosera]

Bought iPhone 13 mini in Oct 2021 and the battery is showing as "significantly degraded" at 77%. Pretty sure I've had optimised charging turned on the whole time, usually plug it in at night to charge. Never used magsafe charging. Have had a few trips to hot countries where it may have overheated a bit?

Or is 77% normal after nearly 3 years? Just curious. It's making it a pain to resell despite it being other like new as has had case + screen protector from day 1.

 

[Apple_Robert]

The excess heat can impact your battery. You could get the battery replaced by Apple. 77% does look a little low to me but each battery is different and you can’t expect the exact results as another person.

 

[now i see it]

There really isn’t such a thing as “normal” when it comes to battery lifespan.
It depends on how it’s charged and how deeply it’s discharged.

Get the battery replaced, then sell it if you want to sell it.

 

[Shirasaki]

90% of what impacts a battery’s life is done in factory. 10% is external Factors and user usage. Your charging behaviour impacts battery somewhat, but not going to be earth shattering. Just get your battery replaced so you can have a couple more years on it.

 

[Andeddu]

You’re due a battery replacement. I would suggest you go to Apple for an OEM battery as aftermarket batteries are a complete crapshoot.

 

[russell_314]

Bought iPhone 13 mini in Oct 2021 and the battery is showing as "significantly degraded" at 77%. Pretty sure I've had optimised charging turned on the whole time, usually plug it in at night to charge. Never used magsafe charging. Have had a few trips to hot countries where it may have overheated a bit?

Or is 77% normal after nearly 3 years? Just curious. It's making it a pain to resell despite it being other like new as has had case + screen protector from day 1.

Batteries are like anything that wears. It depends on how you use them when it comes to wear.. I know people that have to replace their car tires every six months and others that replace them every five years. There is no “normal”.

The ambient temperature that you’re using or storing the device in makes a big difference. If you live in a hot climate, use your phone outdoors quite a bit or worse leave your phone in the car or set it on the dashboard. Anything that gets your phone extremely warm or hot is going to shorten the life of the battery. Also using the phone while plugged in is going to do this. You’re running the phone and having the battery charging at the same time. This creates heat.

Another factor is actual use or cycles. Since it is an iPhone mini that means it has a mini battery with less capacity. That means that battery is going to have more cycles than a phone with a larger battery. Someone on their phone quite a bit during the day is putting more wear on the battery versus someone that just checks their phone maybe twice a day.

At the end of the day, don’t stress because the cost of a genuine Apple battery replacement isn’t that much compared to the price of the phone. It’s the equivalent of stressing about having to buy tires for your car, but you really love that car. Batteries are a consumable.

 

[motrek]

AFAIK the two main things that kill battery longevity are heat and how deeply you discharge the battery.

Don't leave your phone in direct sunlight. Even if the ambient air temperature is pleasant, direct sunlight will heat things up like crazy.

Don't let your battery run down to where it only has a few percent left.

I charge my phone almost every time I sit down at my desk or I get in my car to drive somewhere. I'm usually at 70%-80% by the end of the day and my batteries usually last for several years.

 

[ab2c4]

For a small battery and three years worth of use I would think that is normal.

 

[Reverend Benny]

Most things to know about iPhones, chargecycles etc are to be found in the article in the link below.

"Batteries of iPhone 14 models and earlier are designed to retain 80 percent of their original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles under ideal conditions.*"
Would guess that you have passed the 500 cycles after 3 years.

iPhone battery and performance - Apple Support

Understand iPhone performance and its relation to your battery.

support.apple.com

 

[shadowboi]

I have a theory that fast chargers (15W and more, or anything more than 1A) ruin battery faster thanks to increased heat during charging. I have since been using 5W chargers more often and those seem to keep battery good for longer.

But tbh Apple battery quality has been goind downhill for years, and no one on the web seems to notice that thanks to all that consumption culture when as soon as the new phone comes out people go and sell their old ones. I have old iPhone 6 Plus bought at launch lying around and testing in coconut shows 80%, regular 11 (also bought at launch) shows 77%. Both phones were used extensively throughout the years

 

[Drosera]

I have a theory that fast chargers (15W and more, or anything more than 1A) ruin battery faster thanks to increased heat during charging. I have since been using 5W chargers more often and those seem to keep battery good for longer.

But tbh Apple battery quality has been goind downhill for years, and no one on the web seems to notice that thanks to all that consumption culture when as soon as the new phone comes out people go and sell their old ones. I have old iPhone 6 Plus bought at launch lying around and testing in coconut shows 80%, regular 11 (also bought at launch) shows 77%. Both phones were used extensively throughout the years

I'm no Apple cultist in that this could be totally plausable but I wonder if it could just be that iPhones are becoming more and more demanding so they wear out the batteries faster? So the quality actually needs to do more than just say the same - it has to improve. And it's not just about mAh?

 

[JPack]

Given the device is nearly 3 years old, you probably have nearly 1,000 cycles on the battery. It's a small device with a small battery so you're probably charging every day.

It's overdue for battery service.

iPhone 14 and older batteries are designed for only 500 cycles.

 

[shadowboi]

I'm no Apple cultist in that this could be totally plausable but I wonder if it could just be that iPhones are becoming more and more demanding so they wear out the batteries faster? So the quality actually needs to do more than just say the same - it has to improve. And it's not just about mAh?

Absolutely. The beefier the iOS, the more strain on the processor and battery there is. Especially since there is not a single processor but also neural engine which makes all "AI" tasks on the phone. I only wish I could disable every each of these functions, I bet my phone would get 50% more battery life

 

[motrek]

I have a theory that fast chargers (15W and more, or anything more than 1A) ruin battery faster thanks to increased heat during charging. I have since been using 5W chargers more often and those seem to keep battery good for longer.
...

It's conventional wisdom that fast charging a Li-ion battery degrades it, but it's not clear that that's actually true, e.g.:

Report: Supercharging Doesn’t Degrade Tesla Battery Life

A new study of 12,500+ Tesla EVs concludes: No statistical difference in range degradation between fast charging and slow charging.

www.batterytechonline.com

Also, iPhones max out at 20W charging. There are Android phones that can charge at up to 40 watts or more. I'm not even sure that 20W is seen as "fast" charging in the Android world at all, and wouldn't worry about battery degradation at that rate.

I would be more vigilant about not letting a battery run down too far. I charge my phone almost every opportunity I get.

 

[shadowboi]

It's conventional wisdom that fast charging a Li-ion battery degrades it, but it's not clear that that's actually true, e.g.:

Report: Supercharging Doesn’t Degrade Tesla Battery Life

A new study of 12,500+ Tesla EVs concludes: No statistical difference in range degradation between fast charging and slow charging.

www.batterytechonline.com

Also, iPhones max out at 20W charging. There are Android phones that can charge at up to 40 watts or more. I'm not even sure that 20W is seen as "fast" charging in the Android world at all, and wouldn't worry about battery degradation at that rate.

I would be more vigilant about not letting a battery run down too far. I charge my phone almost every opportunity I get.

I think because article focuses on Teslas, they haven’t found any significant difference because Teslas use fans to cool battery during usage and when charging in hot conditions. Smartphones have just some basic passive cooling and thats it