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iPhone 12 Pro Keeping iPhone charged between 40-80%?

G

GigabitEthernet

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 21, 2013
1,196
896
United Kingdom
My understanding is the best way to maintain my iPhone's battery health is to keep the battery between 40% and 80%.

On my MacBook Pro I cap the charge at 70% and leave it always plugged in, I can't do this for the iPhone so is the best thing to use it between 40% and 80% and then to re-charge it when it hits 40%, rinse and repeat? I understand I should also use a slow charger, so the 5W charger for this, rather than the fast charger. Is this correct?

Is this the best way to maintain my iPhone's battery health?
 
GigabitEthernet said:
My understanding is the best way to maintain my iPhone's battery health is to keep the battery between 40% and 80%.

On my MacBook Pro I cap the charge at 70% and leave it always plugged in, I can't do this for the iPhone so is the best thing to use it between 40% and 80% and then to re-charge it when it hits 40%, rinse and repeat? I understand I should also use a slow charger, so the 5W charger for this, rather than the fast charger. Is this correct?

Is this the best way to maintain my iPhone's battery health?
Click to expand...

It doesn’t really matter.

Your battery’s management chip count how many mAh being used. Each time when you used up designed capacity (for example, iPhone 7 use 1960mAh battery, each time you used up 1970mAh) you get one cycle count.

It doesn’t really matter if you used it up or capped at 40% and charged to 80%.

Your battery also has chip to prevent over current. Really, fast charge does not damage your battery what do ever. Because most heat generated from charging are dissipate by charger.
 
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You're gonna end up doing more damage to your battery by wasting time trying to come up with tricks to "preserve" it than you would just using your phone.

Are you having any battery issues or performance issues? No? Then stop worrying about it. Just use your phone. It's designed to manage its battery so it doesn't take any massive damage. I abuse the hell out of my phones (Constantly going from 100% to <5% in a day, almost exclusively wireless charge, etc.) and my phone batteries have been perfectly fine.
 
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macOS Lynx said:
You're gonna end up doing more damage to your battery by wasting time trying to come up with tricks to "preserve" it than you would just using your phone.

Are you having any battery issues or performance issues? No? Then stop worrying about it. Just use your phone. It's designed to manage its battery so it doesn't take any massive damage. I abuse the hell out of my phones (Constantly going from 100% to <5% in a day, almost exclusively wireless charge, etc.) and my phone batteries have been perfectly fine.
Click to expand...
What has your battery % health end up being at the end of your iPhone life before you upgraded to a new one?
 
Tsepz said:
Use your phone as you wish. People try all sorts of tricks and end up with a variety of outcomes because the Battery Health is simply an estimate.

I don’t pay much attention to when I charge, sometimes I plug in at 5% sometimes I plug in at 70%, still get great battery life.
Click to expand...
This. Enjoy your phone. Battery degradation is inevitable. Replace the battery when it needs it. It doesn’t cost that much. People need to stop stressing about battery health.
 
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Er... i had my iPhone 12 PM for almost 3 months now. Always charge from below 40% to 100%. Battery Health still 100%. And Apple should just remove Battery Health because its not accurate.
 
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I charge it when it gets below 20%, sometimes even 10% (by that time, i’m already getting prepared to go to bed) and charge it overnight using the 5W charger. One thing that I did that degraded my 11PM battery pretty fast was fast charging my phone using the 18W charger that came with it and using it while it was charging. After one year, I was at 86% battery health.

With the 12PM, I changed the way I charge my battery and with 3 months of heavy every day use, using the 5W charger overnight, and not using it while charging, I still have 100% battery health which I’m surprised. Within 3 months of using my 11PM, I had already lost 3%.
So I recommend just using a 5W charger and use a fast charger when you need to quickly charge, not use your phone while charging. This is what seems to work for me at least.

I don’t really keep track of the way that I charge my battery. It lasts pretty much the whole day for me and just charge it when I get to bed. Battery degradation is going to happen regardless but I understand if you want to keep your phone for a long time or plan on reselling it later on without having to pay for a battery replacement.
 
If you buy a HomeKit compatible smart power socket, you can set up a shortcut using the shortcuts app to automatically turn the power socket off when the phone hits 80% and back on again when it drops to 40%.
 
I’ve been using iPhones since the 3Gs. My advice to you is not to worry about it. Just use your phone how you want, and charge it now and whenever you want. Your battery should last for years no matter what you do. Long enough that you’ll probably be ready for a new phone anyway by the time it becomes an issue.
 
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joeblow7777 said:
I’ve been using iPhones since the 3Gs. My advice to you is not to worry about it. Just use your phone how you want, and charge it now and whenever you want. Your battery should last for years no matter what you do. Long enough that you’ll probably be ready for a new phone anyway by the time it becomes an issue.
Click to expand...

We've got a 5s, OG SE and 7 that were functioning fine at the time of replacement apart from battery. Historically, I think we only get ~2-3 years of acceptable battery from our iPhones. Light use but with awful signal so radio probably has to work extra hard. SoCal weather so heat's likely a problem, too.
 
I'm in the camp that the amount of time you waste by trying all these charging tricks to extend the life of your battery wastes way more of your time than having to charge it a tiny bit more regularly towards the end of the battery's life. It's also only £69 to get a fresh Apple Store battery put in, if you're wanting to keep your phone for another couple of years after the battery gets below 85% ish, that's a damn sight cheaper than upgrading.

I also have 'battery issues' but mine is that I just want it charging whenever I can so that I don't ever run out, so mine is on charge 2/3 times a day and probably goes under 50% once or twice a week when I'm out for a long time. I'm sure it's not perfect for the battery life, but if at late notice I'm going somewhere for a few hours and I've been managing the battery at 40%, I'm then with a redundant phone (and pretty redundant watch too!)
 
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Sometimes people want to extend the life of this battery though, especially those who keep their phones for 3+ years. It makes a huge difference in the long run when you have good battery health and your aging iphone has to work harder to run the latest OS.

I guess another way is that you could immediately set aside $70 as soon as you get an iphone for a future battery replacement and be done with the battery tendering.
 
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Motionblurrr said:
Sometimes people want to extend the life of this battery though, especially those who keep their phones for 3+ years. It makes a huge difference in the long run when you have good battery health and your aging iphone has to work harder to run the latest OS.

I guess another way is that you could immediately set aside $70 as soon as you get an iphone for a future battery replacement and be done with the battery tendering.
Click to expand...
Doubt going through all this trouble will extend your battery enough to make it worth the trouble.

There are threads of people who baby their battery asking why the % has gone down & there are threads of brand new phones losing % after a few months.

My launch day XS max is at 85% & I charge it overnight & throughout the day as needed.
 
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Spetsgruppa said:
Er... i had my iPhone 12 PM for almost 3 months now. Always charge from below 40% to 100%. Battery Health still 100%. And Apple should just remove Battery Health because its not accurate.
Click to expand...

They should remove Battery Health to end this interminable debate and the forum threads that keep sprouting. I used Android phones for nine years and I don't remember ever giving battery health a thought.
 
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Spudlicious said:
They should remove Battery Health to end this interminable debate and the forum threads that keep sprouting. I used Android phones for nine years and I don't remember ever giving battery health a thought.
Click to expand...
I’m pretty sure this is exactly why iOS don’t show the user battery health for the longest time, but Apple was forced to put it in once the controversy over devices being throttled because of their battery’s charge diminishing became an issue some years ago. But yeah, it’s probably done more harm than good for many users who now stress and obsess every time they see their battery hearth go down by 1%.
 
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GigabitEthernet said:
My understanding is the best way to maintain my iPhone's battery health is to keep the battery between 40% and 80%.
Click to expand...

Yes, but the most important thing is to try not to drain it completely.

GigabitEthernet said:
I understand I should also use a slow charger, so the 5W charger for this, rather than the fast charger. Is this correct
Click to expand...

I very much doubt an original, wired, Apple fast charger will damage your phone. I only use my Apple 20W charger with the original USB-C to lightning cable when I charge my iPhone mini (sometimes twice a day), and after ~5 months of such use my phone’s battery health is still at 100%.
 

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keti2377 said:
I charge it when it gets below 20%, sometimes even 10% (by that time, i’m already getting prepared to go to bed) and charge it overnight using the 5W charger. One thing that I did that degraded my 11PM battery pretty fast was fast charging my phone using the 18W charger that came with it and using it while it was charging. After one year, I was at 86% battery health.

With the 12PM, I changed the way I charge my battery and with 3 months of heavy every day use, using the 5W charger overnight, and not using it while charging, I still have 100% battery health which I’m surprised. Within 3 months of using my 11PM, I had already lost 3%.
So I recommend just using a 5W charger and use a fast charger when you need to quickly charge, not use your phone while charging. This is what seems to work for me at least.

I don’t really keep track of the way that I charge my battery. It lasts pretty much the whole day for me and just charge it when I get to bed. Battery degradation is going to happen regardless but I understand if you want to keep your phone for a long time or plan on reselling it later on without having to pay for a battery replacement.
Click to expand...
Not to derail the thread too much, but I think that has more to do with the 12 PM than it has to do with the fast charger. I’ve used the fast charger that came with my 11 PM since launch (so about 5-6 months) and I’m still at 100% maximum capacity. I know differences will occur with different people, but my 11 PM battery just wasn’t as good as the battery on the 12
 
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Barbareren said:
I very much doubt an original, wired, Apple fast charger will damage your phone. I only use my Apple 20W charger with the original USB-C to lightning cable when I charge my iPhone mini (sometimes twice a day), and after ~5 months of such use my phone’s battery health is still at 100%.
Click to expand...
I think the reasoning is that the 5W charger / a slow charger generates less heat.
 
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Spudlicious said:
They should remove Battery Health to end this interminable debate and the forum threads that keep sprouting. I used Android phones for nine years and I don't remember ever giving battery health a thought.
Click to expand...

Well said. Kick out the percentage as well. Just a guess unit to get people all worked up about.
 
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