Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 14 Pro How long does it take optimized charging to start working on new phone?

N

NotApplicable

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 18, 2019
1,068
2,064
Have had my iPhone 14 Pro since launch day. Optimized charging has been on the whole time. It still charges right up to 100% when I go to bed rather than pausing at 80% until shortly before I get up.

I have a scheduled sleep focus.

The feature was working on my 13 Pro Max before migrating to this phone.

Anyone else having this issue?
 
Last edited:
Same. Was finally working well on my 13 mini and now not working on my 14 Pro. If I recall, it can take a whole week or 2 to get working again. If you have a regular sleep schedule, it's usually about a week. If not, it can take longer.
 
It never worked. I charge the phone when I sleep, and I turn off the phone strictly every night.
 
It takes a while, at least a week or two if I recall

I wonder why they just don’t allow charging customization, like Tesla does. On my Tesla, I leave the car plugged in all of the time, but have the option to either 1) start charging at a particular time, or 2) Let the car know when I am leaving in the morning (scheduled departure), and it will start charging when it needs to so that it is ready to go by that time. They also give you the option to set a max charge percentage, which could be another useful feature on the phone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire
Optimized charging was never consistent since the feature was released. I've had it work perfectly for a couple of months then all of a sudden not work. No change in location or time of day when charging. I've turned it off and use automations and a smart plug and couldn't be happier with the results
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
gtg465x said:
I use Shortcuts and a smart outlet to control my charging instead of letting Apple do it. I have a shortcut that turns off my charger when my phone gets to 80%, and then I have it turn back on about an hour before I get up to charge the final amount, and then it turns off again when it gets to 100%.
Click to expand...

I have the same automation shortcut. Auto shut off smart plug when the battery reach 80%, and turn it back on when battery is below 45%. I normally put the phone on the magsafe charger when the battery is below 40%.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ILikeiPhones
Optimization needs the GPS antenna turned on to work, which seems to be a contradiction - ie, activating the most power consuming antenna to save battery? JMHO, but I think it’s a ploy to keep as many GPS’s (not to mention Bluetooth antennas) running in the background as possible to make their AirTag system viable.

If you believe the credible/corroborating battery research, high states of charge are more stressful than high heat. While sitting idle overnight at 80% is certainly better than 100%, why not keep it below the ~60% stressless level?

If you don’t mind the 100% charge, a dumb light timer can beat Apple’s optimization - just set it to commence charging a couple hours before you wake.

I also use a shortcut + smartplugs, or the Chargie USB dongle, for custom optimizations, except mine are programmed to charge in the morning, just before I wake, or during my morning B’fast/surf routine. I cycle ~65-15, or as low a peak & average SoC that’s convenient with a single plug-in per day. My 3yo XR battery is still in great shape.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gtg465x and BigMcGuire
Ok, based on @reppans comment and looking into the research, I decided keeping my phone at 80% most of the night wasn’t great either, so I set up my smart plug to charge to 40% when I first plug it in at night, stop, and then wait until it has just enough time to get to 100% by the time I wake up to start again, and the charger will still turn off at 100% just in case I oversleep or something.

For those that use a smart plug to stop charging at 80% or something, and never charge to 100%, I’m not following the logic. Sure, it’s better for your battery, but aren’t you essentially causing the scenario that you’re trying to prevent? Whether you have 100% battery health and stopped charging at 80% on purpose, or you always charge to 100% and the battery health is 80% after 3 years, the practical result is the same in the end… you only have 80% of the original capacity before you run out for the day. The difference is, the person who always charged to 100% was walking around with more total charge and had less likelihood of running out of battery, at least until their battery health dropped below 80%, but that would probably take 3 years, and they always have the option to replace the battery at that point if they want to keep the phone longer.

I just can’t imagine never charging my phone to 100% and never getting the battery runtime I paid for. Even if you normally only use 50% of the battery and know 80% is plenty most days, don’t you have those occasional days where you needed more and ended up being inconvenienced by having to charge?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: reppans
gtg465x said:
Ok, based on @reppans comment and looking into the research, I decided keeping my phone at 80% most of the night wasn’t great either, so I set up my smart plug to charge to 40% when I first plug it in, stop, and then wait until it has just enough time to get to 100% by the time I wake up to start again.

For those that use a smart plug to stop charging at 80% or something, and never charge to 100%, I’m not following the logic. Sure, it’s better for your battery, but aren’t you essentially causing the scenario that you’re trying to prevent? Whether you have 100% battery health and stopped charging at 80% on purpose, or you always charge to 100% and the battery health is 80% after 3 years, the practical result is the same in the end… you only have 80% of the original capacity before you run out for the day. The difference is, the person who always charged to 100% was walking around with more total charge and had less likelihood of running out of battery, at least until their battery health dropped below 80%, but that would probably take 3 years, and they always have the option to replace the battery at that point if they want to keep the phone longer.

I just can’t imagine never charging my phone to 100% and never getting the battery runtime I paid for. Even if you normally only use 50% of the battery and know 80% is plenty most days, don’t you have those occasional days where you needed more and ended up being inconvenienced by having to charge?
Click to expand...

My assumption but I think a lot of us who do the 20-80% are probably like me where I average 30% of usage a day on my iPhone so keeping my phone at 20-80% is fairly easy for me and not an inconvenience in the least bit. So doing this means that in 2 years my phone should have near new capacity due to reduced wear and tear.

I connect my phone to power several times a day. So my phone sits at 80%-90% most of the time. (Desk job, reader, I do not commute for work, etc).

My educated guess is that people doing this are more like myself vs those who go out, have a job where they're on their feet or in a place they can't charge, and those who utilize their phones heavily. In that case, I'd charge to 100% and utilize my phone to its full potential.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️, reppans and gtg465x
This thread is veering a little off track. I understand people may want to implement their own version of optimized battery charging, but I’m only interested in the version built into the OS.

The other options are totally valid, it just wasn’t my intent to focus on them in this thread.

For me, I like the native OS option because it takes 0 effort or micromanagement from me. I only keep my phones for a year anyway, so I don’t obsess about their long-term battery health. BUT, if there’s a feature of the OS that will keep the battery a bit healthier over that year without ANY work on my part, by all means I’ll take advantage of it.

My 2 cents on the SoC debate: Apple chose 80% SoC as the “resting point” for optimized charging for balance. If the feature is ever wrong about its timing, the user isn’t nearly as screwed as they would be if it were, say, 40% SoC. And resting at 80% SoC prevents plenty of degredation vs. resting at 100% SoC.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ILikeiPhones and BigMcGuire
NotApplicable said:
The other options are totally valid, it just wasn’t my intent to focus on them in this thread.
Click to expand...

Suppose the recommendations for Apple optimizations are exhausted? Keep a consistent sleep/plug-in schedule; make sure your GPS is on; and wait a few weeks for it learn.

gtg465x said:
I just can’t imagine never charging my phone to 100% and never getting the battery runtime I paid for. Even if you normally only use 50% of the battery and know 80% is plenty most days, don’t you have those occasional days where you needed more and ended up being inconvenienced by having to charge?
Click to expand...

Can sort of look at it like cars - how often do you really redline the motor on it? I can charge to higher capacity when needed (eg, backpacking), but day-to-day, I already feel my ~7hrs SOT/50% batt per day usage is too-high/time-wasting. Thinking of moving down another notch as ‘parental control feature’. I really only ‘need’ my phone for ~3hrs/day (say morning through dinner), the rest is just wasting time surfing on-couch/in-bed with plug available nearby.

Not sure I’ll keep a phone 6+yrs again, but there’s also li-ion time degradation that’ll eventually widen my charging window to maintain the 7+2reserve hrs from a single plug-in. Lastly as an outdoor/EDC/preparedness enthusiast, I backpocket a 2oz powerbank worth ~5hrs SOT that I don’t think I’ve ever used (yet) for the phone.
 
reppans said:
Suppose the recommendations for Apple optimizations are exhausted? Keep a consistent sleep/plug-in schedule; make sure your GPS is on; and wait a few weeks for it learn.



Can sort of look at it like cars - how often do you really redline the motor on it? I can charge to higher capacity when needed (eg, backpacking), but day-to-day, I already feel my ~7hrs SOT/50% batt per day usage is too-high/time-wasting. Thinking of moving down another notch as ‘parental control feature’. I really only ‘need’ my phone for ~3hrs/day (say morning through dinner), the rest is just wasting time surfing on-couch/in-bed with plug available nearby.

Not sure I’ll keep a phone 6+yrs again, but there’s also li-ion time degradation that’ll eventually widen my charging window to maintain the 7+2reserve hrs from a single plug-in. Lastly as an outdoor/EDC/preparedness enthusiast, I backpocket a 2oz powerbank worth ~5hrs SOT that I don’t think I’ve ever used (yet) for the phone.
Click to expand...
~7 hrs screen time? I’d love that! I’m down to 20 percent from 100 after 5 hrs on this new 14pro. I only have the basic apps too. Safari uses most of it. Do you keep your gps antennae off or something?

Also my optimized charging still isn’t working after 2 weeks. I thought it would have used the data from my 12 pro and started sooner:(
 
Jte1023 said:
Also my optimized charging still isn’t working after 2 weeks. I thought it would have used the data from my 12 pro and started sooner:(
Click to expand...
Today marks 2 weeks for me on the new phone and it hasn't started working for me either. My previous phone was working well on iOS 16 so look like usage data doesn't carry over and it needs to start learning from scratch.
 
lordhamster said:
You people are overthinking charging your phones.
Click to expand...
I would be ecstatic if this iPhone battery has all day usage that lasts at least as long as my Apple installments this time, so it’s a little bit important to me. I probably am overthinking it though, think I’ll try the charging automation others here enlightened me about!
 
jav6454 said:
Day 1 as the Ai starts learning your habits. It helps if you set a sleep schedule (tentative sleep and wake up times).
Click to expand...

I have a sleep schedule set and have since I've had the phone (14 PM - owned since 9/19), it still immediately charges to 100% with optimized charging enabled.
 
FWIW, looks like optimized charging begin working for me for the first time last night on my launch day 14 Pro.

61FDA29C-C23E-490B-A725-FFB3DCFF22AB.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back