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iPhone 5 Battery - Are Car Chargers Bad?

Stangs55

Stangs55

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 3, 2007
778
47
The Lone Star State
I can't seem to find an answer to this question...

My 4S battery was pretty poor by the time I mailed her off today, so I'm going to really try and take extra care of the battery in the 5 from day 1.

I've always been told that charging a cell phone with a car charger is a bad idea and will decrease its life...something about DC instead of AC and the fact that the current goes up and down as you idle and then accelerate.

So should car chargers be avoided? If not, is there a "good" brand out there I should look for that I can plug my USB lightening cable into?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: let me add that I ask because one of the rules of long battery life for Li ion batteries is "charge when you can" with an OCD goal of keeping it near 50%...This makes me think that during my 30 minute drive home from work each day, I would do my iPhone some good by charging it during the drive instead of letting it trickle down to 5% by bedtime
 
No idea. I used a car charger very often on both my 4 and 4S with no noticeable battery life issues. My wife has used my old 4 for the past year as well...no problems. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
I'm not an expert but power is power.

The adaptor makes sure your phone gets the right juice.

I've used them for years with zero problems.

GL!
 
Stangs55 said:
I can't seem to find an answer to this question...

My 4S battery was pretty poor by the time I mailed her off today, so I'm going to really try and take extra care of the battery in the 5 from day 1.

I've always been told that charging a cell phone with a car charger is a bad idea and will decrease its life...something about DC instead of AC and the fact that the current goes up and down as you idle and then accelerate.

So should car chargers be avoided? If not, is there a "good" brand out there I should look for that I can plug my USB lightening cable into?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: let me add that I ask because one of the rules of long battery life for Li ion batteries is "charge when you can" with an OCD goal of keeping it near 50%...This makes me think that during my 30 minute drive home from work each day, I would do my iPhone some good by charging it during the drive instead of letting it trickle down to 5% by bedtime
Click to expand...

Batteries nowadays are based on cycles. There is a life on your battery where after a specific number of recharging cycles, the life decreases. Not sure what the number of cycles on an iPhone is (MBP Retina is 1,000).
Keeping it charged and plugged in makes no difference of the overall life, it's all down to the charging cycles.
 
i-John said:
Batteries nowadays are based on cycles. There is a life on your battery where after a specific number of recharging cycles, the life decreases. Not sure what the number of cycles on an iPhone is (MBP Retina is 1,000).
Keeping it charged and plugged in makes no difference of the overall life, it's all down to the charging cycles.
Click to expand...

Actually, leaving it plugged in all the time isn't exactly good for it and can deplete it's life.

The best info I've found is here and here...but nothing on car chargers...however there's alot on the life of a battery with varying currents, which a car chargers can do...
 
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