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iPhone 15 Models Feature New Setting to Strictly Prevent Charging Beyond 80%

I’ve been using 20-80% on my 13 Pro Max since purchase 2 years ago.
My battery health is currently at 91%.
Prior to that I’ve used other iPhones ‘normally’ and I noted around the same health TBH.

I feel I would have got around the same just using it ‘normally’.
No I wouldn’t charge to 100% and leave it there, but I’m just going to use my 15PM this time round and not worry about battery. I just wont let it sit at 100% for too long. Life is too short to worry about such things.
 
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Superrenz said:
Stupid question: If I limit charging to 80%, it needs to see the charger sooner and more often. What is worse for the battery: more charging or less charging to 100%? Expertise appreciated….
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Charging more often between something like 40-60% or 60-80% is better for the battery than fewer charges of 0-100%.

Ideally, keeping it at 50% is best but that’s too low for my comfort. 80% on regular days is much better for my peace of mind going up to 100% when I need to be out and about.
 
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lordhamster said:
This is a very cool feature for people who obsess over battery health. The more I think about it though, the less utility I think it will have for me. My iPhone 12 Pro Max is at 90% battery health 3 years after I got it charging it without any regard or care.

If I use this feature, my brand new phone will be nerfed to 80% capacity from day one. So in hopes of avoiding a battery that can’t charge past 80% in 4-5 years, I would artificially prevent my battery from charging past 80% on day one?

I suppose for people who hang onto their phones for 5-10 years this could make sense. For my use case where I probably would wait at most 4 years before upgrading the phone or replacing the battery this feature really doesn’t have a purpose.

On my laptop on the other hand, I could see this as being valuable.
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The difference is that you keep the 100% and you can use it if you need it. If you don't need it you don't need to activate it. So you don't lose anything but others gain a lot.
 
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lordhamster said:
On my laptop on the other hand, I could see this as being valuable.
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I charge the phone kinda similar to my laptop (plugged in to power all the time). The difference this setting brings is instead of being at 100% for like 16+ hours everyday, it should keep the phone at 80% for the same period.

I have 2 iPhone SE3s with purchased at the same time that see similar usage. The one that’s pretty much charging all the time is down to 90% battery health after a year while the other one that gets a of 1 hour daily top-up is still at 98% health.

The SE2’s batteries degraded more quickly than the SE3. I remember those being at 84-87% after just 1 year of use.
 
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Razorpit said:
That's awesome. I wish I could do that. I can think of at least 3 times in the last 2 weeks I would have been either sitting on the side of the road, or twiddling my thumbs at a charging station.
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Yeah, we only Supercharge on long road trips; otherwise, it's strictly at-home charging as needed.
 
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Here is an excellent test graph to get an better understanding about good charging cycle habits, and why the 80% charging limit can help greatly improve battery cycles.

IMG_1840.png
 
It's weird that it's only for the iPhone 15 series, since it looks to me that it's just a pure artificial lock. But I'm not surprised - Apple introduced Photonic Engine, 4K Cinematic mode, Action mode last year only for the iPhone 14 series, when the normal 14 has the same hardware as the 13 Pro. But also, if you think about it, the normal 14 should also support ProRAW or ProRes since it has the same A15 as the 13 Pro...
 
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Torty said:
The difference is that you keep the 100% and you can use it if you need it. If you don't need it you don't need to activate it. So you don't lose anything but others gain a lot.
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Yeah. It is a cool feature for sure. I personally don’t need it for my phone, but iPad and laptop it makes sense for me as those things spend more time plugged in
 
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BordeauxBro said:
is this actually healthy for the battery? I know for a fact that keeping the phone charged at 100% for a long time is definitely harmful to the battery but is it good to never charge past 80%? doesn't that kill the battery cells that are never gonna be used inside the battery? as far as I'm concerned batteries like to be constantly drained and charged on a loop.
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I always keep my phone charged now after an incident. I have NEVER had issues with my Macs or iPhones or iPads being on a charger at 100% whenever possible. Probably about half of its life is plugged in.
 
hinrgmike said:
one of first things I will turn off when I get phone Friday. To each their own. I want 100% when I leave house in AM and I find I use that 100% by nighttime. 80% I'd constantly being having to lug around a charger or find a place to connect. I use IUP and swap out for new phone every 12 months.

My current 14 Pro Mac is at 90% max battery capacity. And that's typical for what I see charging to 100% every day for a year and then swapping out for new model. I suppose this makes sense for someone keeping their phones for many years. Would be curious where the threshold in years is where this would make sense? But for me, for 1yr it's a big net negative.
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If you really need the full charge, then sure -- makes sense not to use this new option.

But my experience with iPhones (having owned them since the original model) is that if you hang onto the phone for 2-3 years, that's when you see the difference. People who constantly charge theirs up 100% and/or let them run all the way down until they go dead will typically wind up with a battery pack the phone is warning them needs replacement, somewhere past the 2 year mark.
 
GDF said:
What is the point of any battery if charging past 80% causes excessive wear and tear. Same with EV’s. Just plain dump. I want the full capacity always, so develop battery technology that does that.
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Well, I fully support developing a battery that can go to 100% and down to 0% without harm... but in the short term, wouldn't the compromise be to just put larger batteries in these devices? All they'd need to do is get them to provide 20% more capacity, so at 80%, we're at the old 100%. Doesn't seem so challenging to me.
 
I just did some surgery and sawed off about a quarter of my iphone 15 battery, so even if I use the 80% setting, I'm actually getting 100%.
 
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Sevendaymelee said:
Well, I fully support developing a battery that can go to 100% and down to 0% without harm... but in the short term, wouldn't the compromise be to just put larger batteries in these devices? All they'd need to do is get them to provide 20% more capacity, so at 80%, we're at the old 100%. Doesn't seem so challenging to me.
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I mean, sure ..... but it's not like manufacturers didn't think of that already. The larger the battery, the more expensive it is, for starters. And they're always trying to build things to hit certain price points. But also, you have trade-offs of how bulky the device gets if you go above certain battery sizes, and longer charging times for bigger batteries.

With devices like smartphones or even laptops, the truth is - the battery packs aren't all THAT costly to replace anyway. If they work as intended for a couple years, most people are satisfied and understand it's not a big deal to spend the money for replacements at that point. So manufacturers just went with the battery sizes they thought were optimal for the devices they wanted to produce, and let people charge them to 100% and run them all way down as they pleased.
 
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Ifti said:
I’ve been using 20-80% on my 13 Pro Max since purchase 2 years ago.
My battery health is currently at 91%.
Prior to that I’ve used other iPhones ‘normally’ and I noted around the same health TBH.

I feel I would have got around the same just using it ‘normally’.
No I wouldn’t charge to 100% and leave it there, but I’m just going to use my 15PM this time round and not worry about battery. I just wont let it sit at 100% for too long. Life is too short to worry about such things.
Click to expand...
Mine (13 Pro) is at 96% after the same 2 years. Half of the time it’s plugged in. I have had to let it go to the teens and have needed to use it in the single digits. I let it charge to 100%. I get a lot of use out of it daily. So it’s interesting I went with the “charge whenever possible” approach and have higher health percentage than you do. Even getting it to 100% and keeping it plugged in.
 
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Ifti said:
I’ve been using 20-80% on my 13 Pro Max since purchase 2 years ago.
My battery health is currently at 91%.
Prior to that I’ve used other iPhones ‘normally’ and I noted around the same health TBH.

I feel I would have got around the same just using it ‘normally’.
No I wouldn’t charge to 100% and leave it there, but I’m just going to use my 15PM this time round and not worry about battery. I just wont let it sit at 100% for too long. Life is too short to worry about such things.
Click to expand...

On the flip side my 13PM is also at 91% after two years.
I pretty much full charge every night on a stand (OnePlus 50W) and it sips during the day at my desk if needed (falls below 50%).

Thought: if iOS is limiting the charge at 100%, unless it is in use while charging why does it matter?

I tend to upgrade at a whim or when a family member needs a gift. Having a high charge is more important to me. I would really like to see Apple go fast charge like some of my Android devices do.
 
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adrianlondon said:
Just for info, as it seems most posters here don't keep their phones long enough to get any stats ...

I bought my iPhone 11 almost exactly four years ago. I don't use optimised charging, and charge my phone up most nights. So that's what ... almost 1,500 times.

I use the basic 5W charger as that's all I have.

"Maximum Capacity" is 81% (and easily lasts the day).
Click to expand...
iPhone 11 Pro
20 watt charger
Optimize charging every evening
"Maximum Capacity" is 82% (and easily lasts the day).
 
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