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The best way to get the most out of your battery

N

NickyLanzz

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 13, 2012
135
0
East Coast
So when I first bought/traded for my iPhone 5, I looked up ways to get the most out of my battery. I am pretty sure the simple methods were to charge the phone for a full 12 hours for the first three charges. Rather that is true or not, what are the tips and tricks to keep the battery life for the 5S/5C as I will be upgrading to either one :). Thanks!
 
Jimmy James said:
On my iPhone 4 I turn off 3G for longer phone calls. Only half the battery drain.
Click to expand...

I understand how to SAVE battery, but what I meant to say was how to prolong your iPhones battery life. So it will stay healthy and what not. Like when you FIRST get it and pull it out of the box, should you drain it to 10% or so and fully charge it for 12 hours, stuff like that!
 
The odd thing about Apple batteries is that they are NEVER given a break. They are run indefinitely from the moment of purchase. They never get turned off.

The iPhone battery isn't as conservative as the MacBook. I wonder if that plays into its generally low capacity.

Apple mentions nothing about turning the phone off while charging.
 
NickyLanzz said:
Wow! Never saw this on there site, thank you so much.
Click to expand...

Yes, good stuff. I'm tardy to the party but the most important part is below. It doesn't get mentioned enough and folks get red in the face arguing this stuff.

Use iPhone Regularly
For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).
 
PNutts said:
Yes, good stuff. I'm tardy to the party but the most important part is below. It doesn't get mentioned enough and folks get red in the face arguing this stuff.

Use iPhone Regularly
For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).
Click to expand...

Wow haha thanks for pointing that out. Luckily it says at LEAST, cause I do that 90% of the time to my phone..
 
Most of the advice you read on the next relates to older NiMh batteries. Lithium ion batteries in the iPhone are different.

You don't need to run them down EVERYTIME. Just once a month.

12 hour first charge is bullspit. When the battery is full the iphone stops taking a charge for a bit, then takes a little, then stops, then takes a little. So when it's full, leaving it in for 12 hours will do nothing. No damage, no benefit.

People will tell you not to run it to zero as it damages the battery. If you could go to true zero that would be true but the iPhone won't let you. When it says zero on the screen it actually still has some charge.

The moral to this story? Just use your phone and give the battery no thought. Let the iphone take care of things and you just use it and have fun.
 
Mercenary said:
Most of the advice you read on the next relates to older NiMh batteries. Lithium ion batteries in the iPhone are different.

You don't need to run them down EVERYTIME. Just once a month.

12 hour first charge is bullspit. When the battery is full the iphone stops taking a charge for a bit, then takes a little, then stops, then takes a little. So when it's full, leaving it in for 12 hours will do nothing. No damage, no benefit.

People will tell you not to run it to zero as it damages the battery. If you could go to true zero that would be true but the iPhone won't let you. When it says zero on the screen it actually still has some charge.

The moral to this story? Just use your phone and give the battery no thought. Let the iphone take care of things and you just use it and have fun.
Click to expand...

^^^This^^^

Far too much time is spent on worrying about your battery. Just use it and move on with life.
 
Lithium batteries don't need cycles. The sensors that calculate the level of charge of the battery sometimes need calibration, and you can achieve that by fully charging and discharging the battery itself.
 
Mercenary said:
Most of the advice you read on the next relates to older NiMh batteries. Lithium ion batteries in the iPhone are different.

You don't need to run them down EVERYTIME. Just once a month.

12 hour first charge is bullspit. When the battery is full the iphone stops taking a charge for a bit, then takes a little, then stops, then takes a little. So when it's full, leaving it in for 12 hours will do nothing. No damage, no benefit.

People will tell you not to run it to zero as it damages the battery. If you could go to true zero that would be true but the iPhone won't let you. When it says zero on the screen it actually still has some charge.

The moral to this story? Just use your phone and give the battery no thought. Let the iphone take care of things and you just use it and have fun.
Click to expand...

Amen brother, AMEN!
 
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