Minimize iPhone Charge Cycles Using a Mophie

[teknikal90]

Hello,

I just got a new iPhone and I would like to minimize the wear and tear on the battery.

If I get myself a Mophie and leave the pack always on, presumably the brunt of the battery wear and tear (and charge cycles) will lay on the Mophie's battery, as opposed to the iPhone's battery. Only after the Mophie's battery is depleted will the iPhone's battery be used.

Anyone with any experience using the Mophie 'always on'? As opposed to following the 'official' recommendation of letting the phone run down to 20% before charging using the Mophie. How does that work out? Presumably this is also the simplest way of using the case...just keeping it always on.

I wanted the official apple battery case originally..but at double the price to the comparable Mophie, I find that hard to swallow....

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Itsedstech]

Ummm the mophie works by charging your iphone, its no different then plugging your iphone into the wall outlet. wear and tear will be the same.

 

[Gav2k]

iOS would still use the main battery in a way. To be honest save your money use the iPhone battery and pay for a replacement in 3-5 years time when it becomes an issue

 

[tsevince]

Wear on batteries are so minimal nowadays, you'll probably have a new phone by the time you notice it. There are general guidelines to keeping your battery healthy and the one I recommend the most is to not deplete your battery every day, as that's detrimental to the health of it. Try and keep it above 50% and charge from there.

 

[teknikal90]

Ummm the mophie works by charging your iphone, its no different then plugging your iphone into the wall outlet. wear and tear will be the same.

if it works like the wall outlet then wear and tear (charge cycles) will be minimized when using it with the mophie no? As the phone will draw power from the Mophie's battery adn hence minimize the charge cycles on the iPhone's own battery (we have 500 cycles)

 

[Gav2k]

if it works like the wall outlet then wear and tear (charge cycles) will be minimized when using it with the mophie no? As the phone will draw power from the Mophie's battery adn hence minimize the charge cycles on the iPhone's own battery (we have 500 cycles)

No. when the battery is at 100% it stops drains a bit and starts again. Also keeping the battery pinned at 95/100 % is worst than actually using the battery.

 

[Mlrollin91]

if it works like the wall outlet then wear and tear (charge cycles) will be minimized when using it with the mophie no? As the phone will draw power from the Mophie's battery adn hence minimize the charge cycles on the iPhone's own battery (we have 500 cycles)

Keeping the Mophie turned on 24/7 won't change the fact that the iPhone will discharge automatically, like it does with a wall charger. Its to prevent overcharging. Once it hits 100% it will begin to discharge to 97-98%. Once its at 97-98% it will charge back to 100% and then do it all over again. Therefore applying the wear and tear you don't want anyway.

In regards to the 500 cycle count. Don't pay too much attention to that. The battery is deigned to retain 80% of the capacity after 500 charges. The battery is not just gonna stop working at 500 cycles. My MacBook Air was designed to maintain 80% capacity after 500 cycles. It is currently at 910 cycles and 87% battery capacity remaining. Just use the battery as you please, don't let it fully die too often as that can hurt the capacity. But thats about it.

 

[decafjava]

Good advice here OP, not that it's a bad idea to get a battery case especially if you are often on the go - no need to look for outlets or carry a separate battery.

 

[nmeed]

Keeping the Mophie turned on 24/7 won't change the fact that the iPhone will discharge automatically, like it does with a wall charger. Its to prevent overcharging. Once it hits 100% it will begin to discharge to 97-98%. Once its at 97-98% it will charge back to 100% and then do it all over again. Therefore applying the wear and tear you don't want anyway.

In regards to the 500 cycle count. Don't pay too much attention to that. The battery is deigned to retain 80% of the capacity after 500 charges. The battery is not just gonna stop working at 500 cycles. My MacBook Air was designed to maintain 80% capacity after 500 cycles. It is currently at 910 cycles and 87% battery capacity remaining. Just use the battery as you please, don't let it fully die too often as that can hurt the capacity. But thats about it.

My MacBook Pro Retina is at 85% capacity at 220 cycles. I'm wondering if more often than not you would let it run down to near 0 or would let it hit 50% and charge it back up. Basically, what are your charging habits. Thank you.

 

[Mlrollin91]

My MacBook Pro Retina is at 85% capacity at 220 cycles. I'm wondering if more often than not you would let it run down to near 0 or would let it hit 50% and charge it back up. Basically, what are your charging habits. Thank you.

Every time you let a lithium ion battery going to 0, it hurts it. It is true lithium ion batteries do not have memories, but it still depreciates health faster when it drops all the way to 0. I rarely, rarely, rarely ever let any of my devices hit 0. My MacBook Air has a few times over the years when at school and I needed to squeeze every second out of it, but it is definitely not a habit. For a general rule of thumb, once my devices (Mac and iOS) hit 20% I plug them in.

What year is your MBP? 85% after 220 is really low IMO. Because its a retina it should be 80% after 1000 cycles. I would continue to monitor that and if you are in warranty, contact Apple if it drops to 80%.

 

[nmeed]

Every time you let a lithium ion battery going to 0, it hurts it. It is true lithium ion batteries do not have memories, but it still depreciates health faster when it drops all the way to 0. I rarely, rarely, rarely ever let any of my devices hit 0. My MacBook Air has a few times over the years when at school and I needed to squeeze every second out of it, but it is definitely not a habit. For a general rule of thumb, once my devices (Mac and iOS) hit 20% I plug them in.

What year is your MBP? 85% after 220 is really low IMO. Because its a retina it should be 80% after 1000 cycles. I would continue to monitor that and if you are in warranty, contact Apple if it drops to 80%.

That sounds like what I do...weird.
It's the latest 2015 version. I actually already took it in because it's going to be out of warranty in a couple weeks. Guy didn't even know what battery capacity was so after trying to explain it a couple times kind of just gave up and left.

 

[Mlrollin91]

That sounds like what I do...weird.
It's the latest 2015 version. I actually already took it in because it's going to be out of warranty in a couple weeks. Guy didn't even know what battery capacity was so after trying to explain it a couple times kind of just gave up and left.

You could try calling AppleCare? They are typically better with battery type stuff. I have yet to get the Genius Bar to replace a single battery for any of my devices, but have had half a dozen replaced via AppleCare.

If you purchased it with a credit card that offers warranty protection, after your AppleCare expires and the battery does fail (within 2 years of purchase) you can get Apple to replace it for the $129-149 fee and your credit card company will reimburse you.

 

[C DM]

Every time you let a lithium ion battery going to 0, it hurts it. It is true lithium ion batteries do not have memories, but it still depreciates health faster when it drops all the way to 0. I rarely, rarely, rarely ever let any of my devices hit 0. My MacBook Air has a few times over the years when at school and I needed to squeeze every second out of it, but it is definitely not a habit. For a general rule of thumb, once my devices (Mac and iOS) hit 20% I plug them in.

What year is your MBP? 85% after 220 is really low IMO. Because its a retina it should be 80% after 1000 cycles. I would continue to monitor that and if you are in warranty, contact Apple if it drops to 80%.

Technically speaking a 0% is not actually the real zero as things are set up not to let the battery fully run down to absolutely nothing (which would be more detrimental). That said, it's better for the battery to be in the 20 - 80 % range more of the time than not, but I don't think running out really hurts it as much, at least not unless it happens very often or too many times in a row.