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iPhone 16 Pro Max 80% Charge Limit: One Year Later, Was It Worth It?
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My daughter like all kids are obsessed and in a year she’s 89% battery with 580 cycles… on a 15 pro… not sure if that’s good or bad
True lol, idk there are places like Austin that get even hotter. But it’s very hot here.
I really sympathize with those who have to go to Disney in the summer.
Best times are around September 30th through May30th- June 10ish.
If you must go between August and October, dress appropriately, and spend the $60pp on water if you need to.
On top of that; 90% capacity after 589 cycles and just shy of two years is pretty on-par for these phones.
That's what gets me is that it doesn't really seem like there's a significant benefit. The juice doesn't seem worth the squeeze. Since, eventually, what happens is you end up having the amount of capacity you'd been limiting yourself to anyway.
Datalinks
macrumors 6502
16 pro, purchased early March 25, optimized charging on, mostly MagSafe in car and overnight stand, 100% and 110 cycles…I let the system do it’s thing and don’t notice…
lffd20
macrumors newbie
Anecdotal evidence. My experience makes me think that some batteries are made better than others. Bought a 15 Pro Max in April 2024 that was still on 100% battery health when it got stolen from me 6 months later in October. I got a replacement through Apple Care+ with a new battery (0 cycles). Without changing my usage habits it was at around 95-94% health 6 months later and is now sitting at 90% health with 423 cycles after a year.
With the iPhone 15 series, I did an experiment and kept my iPhone's Charge Limit set at 80 percent for an entire year. It provided an interesting look at the impact of charge limits on battery longevity, so I decided to repeat it for the iPhone 16 line.
Since September 2024, my iPhone 16 Pro Max has been limited to an 80 percent charge, with no cheating. As of today, my battery's maximum capacity is at 94 percent with 299 charge cycles.
With last year's test, I spent a lot of time with my battery below 20 percent. I saw some comments suggesting that draining it so low could also affect battery capacity over time, so this year, I tried hard to keep my battery between 20 and 80 percent. I wasn't always successful, but my iPhone 16 Pro Max was in that middle charge area most of the time.
You can compare your own battery health with mine, but my guess is that my 94 percent battery capacity is about average, regardless of whether charging limits are on or off. In fact, my iPhone 15 Pro Max was also at 94 percent capacity at the 12 month mark when I did this same test last year.
I did a mix of charging via MagSafe and charging with USB-C, and my iPhone 16 Pro Max can get hot when charging over MagSafe, especially with MagSafe battery packs. Since I was trying to keep above a 20 percent charge, I did more wireless charging when I was out. I can't help but wonder if heat was an issue this year.
It continued to be inconvenient limiting my iPhone battery to an 80 percent charge. It was fine when home, but if I was out and wanted to use the camera or needed GPS, it often wasn't enough battery. When you set an 80 percent charge limit, the iPhone will charge to full every so often to calibrate, and I appreciated surprise days with 20 percent extra battery.
If I had to guess, I probably had a 50/50 split between MagSafe charging and fast charging with USB-C. Most charging was indoors at around 72 degrees, but there were times when I was outdoors with a battery pack in warmer conditions.
I use my older iPhones for software tests, so my iPhone 15 Pro Max is still around. At the two year mark, its capacity is 88 percent, down from 94 percent in September 2024. It has 352 cycles, and I've kept it at the 80 percent limit.
During this year's testing, my iPhone 16 Pro Max battery was still at around 98 percent just a couple of months ago, so I thought the limit was having more of an impact, but I saw a decent drop as we got closer to September. It was even at 95 percent about a week ago, but now I'm down to 94 percent.
I now have two years of data with my iPhone limited to an 80 percent charge, and I don't think it's been worth it. My coworker who also has a 16 Pro Max did not have an 80 percent charge limit set, and his battery capacity is 96 percent with 308 charge cycles.
Maybe setting an 80 percent limit improves battery health over a longer period of time, but over a one-year period, the results have been disappointing. Setting charging to a 90 or 95 percent might make more sense.
I have upgraded to the iPhone 17 Pro Max and did already limit it to an 80 percent charge for another 12-month test. I'm interested to see how the larger battery changes things, and whether the switch to aluminum will make a difference.
What's your iPhone battery capacity and cycle count? Let me know in the comments below, and weigh in on whether you think the 80 percent charge limit is a good idea.
Article Link: iPhone 16 Pro Max 80% Charge Limit: One Year Later, Was It Worth It
17 Pro Max. I have the charge limit set at 80% because...
-phone sits on a magsafe puck all day at work, and I don't want it sitting at 100%
-magsafe chargers in the car, and I don't want it sitting at 100%
-17 Pro Max has absurd battery life, so there's no usability tradeoff. On weekends I rarely go to bed below 40% and on work days I rarely go to bed below 60%
-if I was going to have a day where I was using the phone all day and away from a charger, I'd do the one time 100% charge option.
My charging is overwhelmingly magsafe. Maybe only magsafe. But, they're first gen (slower) magsafe pucks, which makes me feel a bit better about it. If I was less lazy, I'd do my overnight charging on the 5w brick. But, I'm more lazy, so I don't.
Not going to bother with citing my stats because... 17 Pro Max. It's at 100%, and that is meaningless.
-phone sits on a magsafe puck all day at work, and I don't want it sitting at 100%
-magsafe chargers in the car, and I don't want it sitting at 100%
-17 Pro Max has absurd battery life, so there's no usability tradeoff. On weekends I rarely go to bed below 40% and on work days I rarely go to bed below 60%
-if I was going to have a day where I was using the phone all day and away from a charger, I'd do the one time 100% charge option.
My charging is overwhelmingly magsafe. Maybe only magsafe. But, they're first gen (slower) magsafe pucks, which makes me feel a bit better about it. If I was less lazy, I'd do my overnight charging on the 5w brick. But, I'm more lazy, so I don't.
Not going to bother with citing my stats because... 17 Pro Max. It's at 100%, and that is meaningless.
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I dont use MagSafe because of the waste heat it generates.
Waste heat does not charge phone and negatively impacts phone battery.
Waste heat does not charge phone and negatively impacts phone battery.
Mikey86uk
macrumors 6502a
I came across a real good article about battery wear and why a phones battery should be in the range between 40-80%. The idea is that just like an SSD that has a number of finite writes. A battery also has a number of finite cell movements. What is actually happening inside the battery is, it is moving those cells from one location to another. Eventually those battery cells will not move so you are left with less cells moving from one plate to another plate, ergo lower battery capacity.
If you keep the range smaller in battery cell travel, you can extend the total number of cells that will move from one plate to the other.
Too bad I did not bookmark the article because it makes a lot of sense. This isn't the article but it comes close.
www.ifixit.com
If you keep the range smaller in battery cell travel, you can extend the total number of cells that will move from one plate to the other.
Too bad I did not bookmark the article because it makes a lot of sense. This isn't the article but it comes close.
Why Charging Your Gadgets Over 80% Is Such a Bad Idea
When we think about battery longevity, we think about charging cycles. But that’s not the whole story.
www.ifixit.com
Battery Health percentage aside, years of testing a variety of charging methods with the latest iPhone models, I’ve found it’s all rather pointless. Just use the phone and enjoy it.
I’ve had a 80% limit since getting my 16 Pro Max, I’m still at 99%…
Maybe I just won the battery lottery, but there are plenty of studies of lithium based batteries showing severe degradation when stored at 100%.
Maybe I just won the battery lottery, but there are plenty of studies of lithium based batteries showing severe degradation when stored at 100%.
Jay-Jacob
macrumors 6502a
I had 90% limit since got it and mine is iPhone 16. I am surprised still 100% capacity. Usually drops after 1st year. It seems be working for me at least.
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That’s incredible, send me your charger and cable ASAP 😂
You did win on battery lottery you either got a bigger storage capacity or luck for its degradation rate no 2 batteries are exactly the same.
Also 284 cycles since October 2024 is really low, so either a secondary/backup device. For reference I have 217 cycles since early May 2025 on my 16PM
Apple_Robert
Contributor
Don't worry about the health. If your phone gets to the point where the battery needs to be changed, have Apple replace it and you can get on with more meaningful things in life.
Jay-Jacob
macrumors 6502a
🤣 I actually use my Apple charger and cable. I don’t charge it by MagSafe cos never got one. Mainly cos my setup is already there for many years and I don’t bother upgrade it plus I heard early days how MagSafe can drain battery lifespan etc. Might not be true now.
Probably is true look at my iPhone 17 Pro Max:
