IPhone optimized charging question

[cuzo]

Okay so I have a question, we have 2 iphones here mines is a 13 pro and a friends is a 11 pro max.

My friends 11 pro max always uses optimized charging throughout the night and currently the battery is at 92% and it's about 3 years old

My battery is crap at 86% and I enable optimized charging but it never works.

The thing is my friend uses a older charger which charges at like 5 watts and mines is a 20 watt charger.

I'm guessing it's about watts with optimized charging so should I get a lesser watt charger? I want the battery to last.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Okay so I have a question, we have 2 iphones here mines is a 13 pro and a friends is a 11 pro max.

My friends 11 pro max always uses optimized charging throughout the night and currently the battery is at 92% and it's about 3 years old

My battery is crap at 86% and I enable optimized charging but it never works.

The thing is my friend uses a older charger which charges at like 5 watts and mines is a 20 watt charger.

I'm guessing it's about watts with optimized charging so should I get a lesser watt charger? I want the battery to last.

Ok so first things first - Optimized charging ONLY kicks in if and only if you have an extremely consistent charging schedule (plugging in every night). If you don't, it will never turn on (it never has for me because I plug in whenever I want to). If you are consistent, it charges the phone to 80%, holds it there, then right before you wake up, it'll charge the phone to 100%. This helps the longevity of the phone by not holding a high state of charge for a very long time if you plug it in for long periods of time.

Using a slower wattage charger helps with battery longevity because high rates of charge do stress the battery more. However, one usually doesn't see the benefits of this until several years down the road. There are people who 20w or 30w charge daily and still have 100% health after a year (I'm one of them). It helps, but from what I'm seeing, it doesn't really help all that much.

Comparing your battery health to the battery health of someone else who has different usage patterns is going to provide apple to oranges comparisons. You may game, you may watch 4k video, you may use your phone in the hot sun, and you may wireless charge your phone in the car in sunlight and get the "charging on hold" message because the phone is too hot. Your friend may read books, barely use their phone because they have a MacBook/iPad where they spend most of their time.

My point is - how you use your phone and the state of health you get your phone from the factory determines your phone's wear pattern. A light user is going to have a much higher rate of health than a user who relies on their phone heavily.

If I was you, and since your phone's battery health is already at 86%, I'd just use it as you're using it - you're getting utility from it yes? Try to keep it out of high heat situations. Try not to wirelessly charge if you can help it. Try not to drain past 20% or keep it charged at 100% for long periods of time. All this will help your battery health longevity. But since it is already at 86%, use it like you normally do and go to Apple for a replacement when it hits 79% health. That's what I'd do.

These devices are meant to add utility to our life - not make us change our usage patterns to benefit them. Hope this helped. Please feel free to ask questions.

Most of my info comes from: https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries

 

[cuzo]

Great post and yes I will have more of a consistent charging schedule. I do have a Ipad that I use daily and I want to stick to nighttime charging only.

I also never wireless or magsafe charge since I don't trust that tech yet.

Thanks for the response.

 

[ChrisA]

I also never wireless or magsafe charge since I don't trust that tech yet.

Don't trust it? Do you think it might put poorer quality power into the phone or something? Just don't worry about that.

 

[cuzo]

Don't trust it? Do you think it might put poorer quality power into the phone or something? Just don't worry about that.

That's a great point, I might try it.

 

[ValerieDurden]

I have it disabled, never worked but a handful of times it’s pointless.

 

[Helmsley]

I have it disabled, never worked but a handful of times it’s pointless.

Same here. Never worked on my iPhone 11 or current 13.

 

[MacCheetah3]

I have it disabled, never worked but a handful of times it’s pointless.

Same here. Never worked on my iPhone 11 or current 13.

As already stated:

Optimized charging ONLY kicks in if and only if you have an extremely consistent charging schedule (plugging in every night).

And Apple’s most recent explanation notation:

Optimized Battery Charging needs at least 14 days to learn your charging habits, so it won't engage before then. Also, your iPhone needs to experience at least 9 charges of 5 hours or more in a given location for Optimized Battery Charging to engage.

About Charge Limit and Optimized Battery Charging on iPhone - Apple Support

To improve the lifespan of your battery, your iPhone learns from your daily charging habits.

support.apple.com

In other words, optimized charging will only activate if you plug your iDevice in, for example, at 10 p.m. and unplug it at 6 a.m. everyday at home — possibly -/+ an hour.

P.S. I left the feature enabled though it has never engaged, but I have no device charging schedule whatsoever.

 

[cuzo]

As already stated:


And Apple’s most recent explanation notation:

About Charge Limit and Optimized Battery Charging on iPhone - Apple Support

To improve the lifespan of your battery, your iPhone learns from your daily charging habits.

support.apple.com

In other words, optimized charging will only activate if you plug your iDevice in, for example, at 10 p.m. and unplug it at 6 a.m. everyday at home — possibly -/+ an hour.

P.S. I left the feature enabled though it has never engaged, but I have no device charging schedule whatsoever.

Well the 20 watt charger will charge much quicker than that so I'm guessing if you're serious about OC you probably better off with the 5 watt charger.

I personal take the phone off the charger once it gets to 100, I don't let it sit on the charger if I don't have to but that's apparently how it works.

 

[MacCheetah3]

I personal take the phone off the charger once it gets to 100, I don't let it sit on the charger if I don't have to but that's apparently how it works.

Similarly, I unplug it not long after. I also know about how long each device requires, so no need to frequently check or anything like that.

Well the 20 watt charger will charge much quicker than that so I'm guessing if you're serious about OC you probably better off with the 5 watt charger.

Valid observation. Although, Optimized Charging is meant for instances such having a device plugged in overnight or all throughout the day (e.g., if you work primarily at a desk).

However, even with the 5W charger, I recall a complete charge cycle being less than five hours — may retest this as I am curious and have not done it for awhile. For example, the iPhone X can charge as fast as 12W. While (e.g., if using a 20W charger) the charge rate would be more than double of a 5W charger, for battery health and safety, the absolute fastest capable charge speed is only applied up until 50% charge level. From 50-90% charge level, the rate is reduced (IIRC, up to 50%). The last 10% (i.e., 90-100%) is a trickle charge, a rate of a few watts at most. In other words, for example, a twice as ‘powerful’ charger won’t necessarily result in half the time to charge.

 

[cuzo]

Similarly, I unplug it not long after. I also know about how long each device requires, so no need to frequently check or anything like that.


Valid observation. Although, Optimized Charging is meant for instances such having a device plugged in overnight or all throughout the day (e.g., if you work primarily at a desk).

However, even with the 5W charger, I recall a complete charge cycle being less than five hours — may retest this as I am curious and have not done it for awhile. For example, the iPhone X can charge as fast as 12W. While (e.g., if using a 20W charger) the charge rate would be more than double of a 5W charger, for battery health and safety, the absolute fastest capable charge speed is only applied up until 50% charge level. From 50-90% charge level, the rate is reduced (IIRC, up to 50%). The last 10% (i.e., 90-100%) is a trickle charge, a rate of a few watts at most. In other words, for example, a twice as ‘powerful’ charger won’t necessarily result in half the time to charge.

A 5 watt takes about 2.5 hours to fully charge a 11 max so I'm guessing maybe 1.5 for a 13 pro non max.

Regardless it seems Apple designed the battery in this manner, guessing they expected alot of their users to pretty much charge overnight or leave it plugged in for hours at a time.

Me personally after using android for years I took it off immediately because the battery was draining pretty fast and the phone got hot, seems Apple and Samsung have different charging technologies.

Anyways thanks for replying

 

[CoMoMacUser]

I bought a refurb 11 Pro Max from Apple in July 2021, so it came with a brand-new battery. I used only the charger that it came with until November 2022, when I started charging it with one of the USB-C ports on my new Mac Studio. I charge once a day to about 99%. Battery health currently is 91%. I've always had optimized charging enabled, but if it's made a difference, I sure can't tell.

The only time I've ever used wireless on any brand is when the phone is old and the charging port is worn out. Too slow and too hot to use wireless for any other reason.

Anybody know how much power the Studio's front USB-C ports put out? 5 W?

 

[MacCheetah3]

Anybody know how much power the Studio's front USB-C ports put out? 5 W?

Apparently, up to 15W:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/usb-power-output-of-m1-and-m2-macbook-usb-c-thunderbolt-ports.2356508/

You can check when your iDevice is connected via:

• System Information

What do the various USB 'current' labels under macOS System Report mean?

Could someone please clarify what the following values under System Report > USB mean. I am using an iMac 5K 2019 Current Available Current Required Extra Operating Current Sleep current Also, wh...

apple.stackexchange.com

The USB section of the System Report actually provides data for each of the USB devices connected to your Mac.
The information you're asking about relates to each of those devices. More specifically:

• Current Available is the standard amount of power (in milliamps) provided by the specific USB port
• Current Required is the amount of power (in milliamps) needed by whatever you have plugged into that USB port - if nothing, it should display 0 (i.e. zero)
• Extra Operating Current refers to a special feature that Apple Macs support in relation to other Apple devices whereby under the right circumstances they can provide additional power (i.e. above the standard amount) to those connected devices. The right circumstances are as follows:
  1. The Mac must be running and booted into macOS (i.e. not booted into another operating system)
  2. The Mac must be awake (i.e. not in sleep mode)
  3. The connected device must be manufactured by Apple (I'm not aware of an exhaustive list anywhere, but typically the device is an iPod, iPhone or iPad)
  4. The connected device actually requires the extra power for some reason (i.e. the Mac does not provide the extra power unless the device actually requires it)

• coconutBattery

 

[MacCheetah3]

However, even with the 5W charger, I recall a complete charge cycle being less than five hours — may retest this as I am curious and have not done it for awhile.

A 5 watt takes about 2.5 hours to fully charge a 11 max so I'm guessing maybe 1.5 for a 13 pro non max.

Regardless it seems Apple designed the battery in this manner, guessing they expected alot of their users to pretty much charge overnight or leave it plugged in for hours at a time.

Me personally after using android for years I took it off immediately because the battery was draining pretty fast and the phone got hot, seems Apple and Samsung have different charging technologies.

Anyways thanks for replying

Retested:

iPhone X
• 1099 battery charge cycles
• ~75% battery health (74% in coconutBattery)
— factory new target of 2716 mAh, 75% would be 2036 mAh

• no apps open or other usage beyond occasionally checking charge percentage from the Lock Screen
• charging begun after auto power off of low battery state
• original/included Apple 5W charger “brick” and Apple USB-A to Lightning cable'
• ambient temp: 23 - 25ºC

Charging status:
• 1 hr = 40%
• 2 hrs 15 mins = 90%
• 3 hrs 15 mins = 100%

* I have not rounded these values (e.g., it was not 41% after 60 minutes)
** This is only one example, one device and one charge instance.

If we do some simple calculations...

The iPhone 11 Pro has a factory new battery capacity target of 3046. 2036 x 1.5 = 3054 (close enough). Therefore, we can roughly estimate the iPhone 11 Pro will require about 4.875 hours (4 hrs 53 mins) to fully charge via 5W. The iPhone 14 Pro, with its 3200 mAh battery, would roughly/possibly require about 5 hrs and 11 mins to fully charge. The iPhone 14 Pro Max, having a 4323 mAh battery, could require up to 7 hours to charge via a 5W charge. By the way, the iPhone 13 Pro Max has a battery capacity target of 4352; so, negligibly the same as the 14 Pro Max.

I think, these guesstimates are (a little) high. Nonetheless, even the biggest/flagship iPhone can presumably be fully charged within a proper rest period (i.e., eight hours) — which demonstrates an easy change for those who are leery about the effects of charging on battery health.