iPhone 7/Plus iPhone 7 Battery Health and Cycle Count

[BrettApple]

So this is less of a question and more of an observation/inquiry. But how is everyone’s iPhone 7 batteries holding up? I just passed 600 cycles today and was surprised to see just how well it has held up! Mine is a day 1 preorder so I’ve had it just about as long as it’s been available.

I was originally planning to do the $30 battery replacement before the month is over just to refresh my 2 year old battery, but now I’d almost rather wait to see just how far it will go. My previous iPhones have not held up this well, particularly my 6S and wife’s SE battery that I have replaced twice. Though I have a 3GS still on its original battery from 2009 that is still holding on quite well.

How is your iPhone 7 holding up? Curious to see if this is a trend and if Apple’s batteries have actually improved or if it’s just a best case scenario. Still undecided on replacement since I could get it for the discounted price and run it another 2 years easily.

 

[DJ_Smith]

I do suggest go and replace your battery before December. After that prices are going high.

 

[JPack]

Note that battery capacity is different from battery health.

Capacity is only one measure of health. Another is internal resistance. Apple didn’t slow down iPhones because battery capacity was low. It was because aged batteries had high internal resistance and couldn’t provide the peak current leading to unexpected shutdowns. None of the software can measure internal resistance.

 

[C DM]

On one iPhone 7 I took in for a battery replacement the capacity was down to 82% and Apple diagnostics showed about 500 charging cycles. On another one the capacity was down to 81% while Apple diagnostics showed over 800 charging cycles. Both are from almost exactly 2 years ago.

 

[aKansasKid]

On one iPhone 7 I took in for a battery replacement the capacity was down to 82% and Apple diagnostics showed about 500 charging cycles. On another one the capacity was down to 81% while Apple diagnostics showed over 800 charging cycles. Both are from almost exactly 2 years ago.

Wow! 800 full charge cycles in two years. That's using over 100% per day. Impressive!

 

[C DM]

Wow! 800 full charge cycles in two years. That's using over 100% per day. Impressive!

Yeah, I was somewhat surprised, although that phone definitely gets used a fair bit. The other interesting thing is that they were both at almost the same capacity yet over 300 charge cycles apart.

 

[imagineadam]

Mine had 640 cycles after 2 years and it was at 87%. I got it changed in my last week of AppleCare plus for "free". It really does make a pretty big difference. I get probably a good hour or 2 more of screen on time. And the standby time has improved as well. I recommend you change it before the price goes up. You will thank yourself!

 

[se95dah]

My 7 was at 88% after 2 years. The battery replacement had a bigger impact than this would suggest - the improvement is very noticeable and I’m glad I did it at the low price. Between restored battery life and the speed of iOS 12 I can see myself keeping this phone another 2 years.... unless we get a 5” mini-XR in 2019 in which case all bets are off!

 

[BrettApple]

Thanks for the input everyone, since it is 2 years old after all, and since it's still discounted I went ahead and shipped her off today for the replacement! I'm in the middle of Kansas and there's not exactly anywhere close that would do the repair for Apple's price with Apple's parts so shipping it was my best bet.

For the meantime, my SIM is back in my iPhone 3GS! Just used a simple nano SIM to standard SIM adapter and it came right online no questions asked. Already moved my music over, iMessage, and a few basic apps like Mail, Dropbox, Hours Tracker, Bible, Notes, Radar, Spotify, Pandora, Chrome, Google Maps, etc. And they all work just fine using the last compatible version. Feels so strange going back this far but still feels right at home.

Looking forward to getting mine back though and if all goes well, I'll keep it around another couple of years. iOS 12 has been great on the 7. We shall see how it holds up to 13 next year I suppose. The A10 is no slouch.