iOS 17.4 Lets You See Your iPhone 15 Battery Health at a Glance

[MacRumors]

With iOS 17.4, Apple is tweaking how battery health is reported to iPhone 15 users, making it easier for them to understand their battery status at a glance.

In the Battery section of the Settings app, the Battery Health listing now has a readout such as "Normal" that is accessible without tapping in to the prior "Battery Health & Charging" section.

If you tap on the battery health readout on an iPhone 15, the battery cycle count, manufacture date, and first use will be listed. This information was previously hidden in the General > About section of the Settings app.

The Charging Optimization section continues to provide the same settings. Optimized Battery Charging preserves battery health by learning usage habits and limiting the amount of time that the battery sits at a 100 percent charge. There is also an option to limit charging to 80 percent to further preserve health, and a toggle for turning off optimized charging all together.

Note that these changes are limited to the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Battery settings have not changed on older iPhone models.

Article Link: iOS 17.4 Lets You See Your iPhone 15 Battery Health at a Glance

 

[BanjoDudeAhoy]

Note that these changes are limited to the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Battery settings have not changed on older iPhone models.

The question is, why?
Is there anything that prevents them from doing it on previous models?
It's not like this is such a killer feature that people would pick a 15 over a (likely cheaper by now) 14 or so if they're not already sold on a 15.

 

[jz0309]

Note that these changes are limited to the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Battery settings have not changed on older iPhone

So this data has been available in coconut battery for many years, so limiting this to iPhone 15 seems odd. Or are there HW changes for this type of data in iPhone 15 that I’m not aware of?
Otherwise, seems more useful to older iPhones than the latest and greatest…

 

[CalMin]

Ugh - Cue the anxiety over battery over these forums. Honestly - these detailed metrics lead to so much worry.

A phone battery is a consumable. Use your phone as you need and replace the battery when it's done. It's like tires on a car - drive them until they need replacing, and get new ones when they are worn.

 

[abatabia]

Literally no reason why this is limited to 15, except Apple being Apple.

 

[zorinlynx]

The battery on my 15 Pro Max is so good that I've had 80% limit turned on since I got the phone and have never gotten dangerously low.

It's mind blowingly good!

 

[sjsharksfan12]

Unpopular Opinion:

I think adding cycle count might have been the worse thing about IOS 15. I admit I was guilty of this in the beginning, but people are really too critical of battery life and I don't get it. Then I see articles on Macrumors about how to save your battery and basically it's cut out half or more than half the things that made the Phone worth purchasing. These phones are going to last a while (I hope to keep mine for at least 3 years, which is why I'm hoping IOS 18 will be Iphone 15 Pro Max friendly) and charging a phone is a pretty quick process these days.

 

[Urban Splash]

The battery on my 15 Pro Max is so good that I've had 80% limit turned on since I got the phone and have never gotten dangerously low.

It's mind blowingly good!

Same. 80% every day. No issues lasting all day. Charge to 100% when travelling for work.

 

[dampfnudel]

Literally no reason why this is limited to 15, except Apple being Apple.

Just like Apple limiting 24mp photos to the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max when they could’ve also given that to the 14 Pro/14 Pro Max in an update. Apple being Apple.

 

[jz0309]

Ugh - Cue the anxiety over battery over these forums. Honestly - these detailed metrics lead to so much worry.

A phone battery is a consumable. Use your phone as you need and replace the battery when it's done. It's like tires on a car - drive them until they need replacing, and get new ones when they are worn.

worrying about it day after day - I agree with you. Checking it a few times a year, or when one thinks about a new iPhone - this is helpful, well, would be helpful

 

[JPack]

It clearly needs the power of A16 and A17 Pro processors to show this info.

Just like the charge to 80% limit.

 

[Fuzzball84]

This artificial limitation imposed on older models seems rather odd... unless there is some technical reason I don't see how this cannot be implimentated for older models as when you go to get servicing at Apple Store they can pull this info from the phone.. including cycle count.

It just puts you off the company when they pull things like this.

 

[decafjava]

I've been using Coconut Battery for years so this feature is of limited use to me but ok good for Apple.

 

[deadspider187]

So this data has been available in coconut battery for many years, so limiting this to iPhone 15 seems odd. Or are there HW changes for this type of data in iPhone 15 that I’m not aware of?
Otherwise, seems more useful to older iPhones than the latest and greatest…

Only the A17 is capable of calculating the devision of maxCharge by designCapacity.


/s

 

[JPack]

The question is, why?
Is there anything that prevents them from doing it on previous models?
It's not like this is such a killer feature that people would pick a 15 over a (likely cheaper by now) 14 or so if they're not already sold on a 15.

We all know the answer already.

It's not just one "killer" feature, it's about having a range of software and hardware features to encourage upgrading. Apple could easily add this feature on iPhone XS and XR, but they leave it out because when consumers upgrade to iPhone 15, it'll feel more substantial and valuable.

 

[Internet Enzyme]

Ugh - Cue the anxiety over battery over these forums. Honestly - these detailed metrics lead to so much worry.

A phone battery is a consumable. Use your phone as you need and replace the battery when it's done. It's like tires on a car - drive them until they need replacing, and get new ones when they are worn.

Sure, but you don't needlessly wear your tires out. You measure their tire pressure and take care of them. Having this information is good. It seems more like a "you" problem if you check your battery cycles as a nervous habit.

 

[Fuzzball84]

Sure, but you don't needlessly wear your tires out. You measure their tire pressure and take care of them. Having this information is good. It seems more like a "you" problem if you check your battery cycles as a nervous habit.

Just wait for the SSD NAND flash remaining life indicator that will come in iOS19. Its gonna get scary... there will be a status page in iOS... and it will be an anxiety inducing page of doom where your battery cycles, NAND cycles, port connector cycles, button presses, and OLED display life to half brightness will be reported

 

[Motawa]

Same. 80% every day. No issues lasting all day. Charge to 100% when travelling for work.

I charge it every day to 100 and have mine since release. 100% health

 

[JPack]

So this data has been available in coconut battery for many years, so limiting this to iPhone 15 seems odd. Or are there HW changes for this type of data in iPhone 15 that I’m not aware of?
Otherwise, seems more useful to older iPhones than the latest and greatest…

*Detecting and warning users of non-genuine parts including display, camera, and battery: added to iPhone 12.

*Moving a battery menu item to a higher level page: iPhone 15 only.

 

[Jim Lahey]

Is there anything that prevents them from doing it on previous models?

Profit. Everyone who's thought about it knows that all iPhones are technically capable of offering this 'feature'. Possibly, definitely, the most egregious case of artificial feature rationing the world has ever seen.

 

[Sully]

I’d rather have a way to clear cookies without having to access “Settings” each time.

 

[vertsix]

Ugh - Cue the anxiety over battery over these forums. Honestly - these detailed metrics lead to so much worry.

A phone battery is a consumable. Use your phone as you need and replace the battery when it's done. It's like tires on a car - drive them until they need replacing, and get new ones when they are worn.

While I fundamentally agree with your point of just using the battery, being transparent about the state of it is extremely important. That's what sniped Apple in the first place in iOS 10.2.1, by throttling iPhones with degraded batteries and not being transparent about it.

If you somehow have 'battery anxiety', then that sounds more of a personal problem.

 

[citysnaps]

That works great! Thanks for the heads-up!

 

[B4U]

Ugh - Cue the anxiety over battery over these forums. Honestly - these detailed metrics lead to so much worry.

A phone battery is a consumable. Use your phone as you need and replace the battery when it's done. It's like tires on a car - drive them until they need replacing, and get new ones when they are worn.

Bad example though.
We can replace the tires ourselves and no need to tear the car apart while also risking to void the warranty.
I miss the good old days where I can just take out the battery and replace with another one.

 

[sw1tcher]

Ugh - Cue the anxiety over battery over these forums. Honestly - these detailed metrics lead to so much worry.

A phone battery is a consumable. Use your phone as you need and replace the battery when it's done. It's like tires on a car - drive them until they need replacing, and get new ones when they are worn.

I find that having battery status and health information is like having some detailed information on my tires. That tire information would include things such as PSI, tread depth, and tread wear pattern.

Some people might not care about knowing this information, but I find having that info handy. For instance, knowing how my tires are wearing using a tread depth gauge tells me when I need to rotate the tires or whether I need an alignment or not.

If your tires are out of alignment (especially in regards to the toe setting), you can wear out your tires much earlier than normal, so instead of tires lasting 60,000 miles, you end up replacing them at 30,000 miles. Tires aren't cheap.