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iPhone 15 Pro Max Are you limiting your iPhone 15 Pro battery to 80%?
- Thread starter JCCL
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Would definitely use it if my 13 mini would offer it. Cannot understand this limitation to iPhone 15, completely non-sense. I have a notification alert when I reach 80% so that I can disconnect. A charge limit would be highly desired. Also use it on my Macbook Air with Al Dente, works great.
No. Even if I decided to keep my iPPM 14 (launch day currently at 95% batt health) another year I would charge it the same as I normally do.
Stick it on the MagSafe dock I have at my desk, work, take it off. If I go somewhere in my car, I stick it onto the MagSafe mount in my car.
My phone sits at 100% for the majority of the day.
Weekends (usually mid Sunday) it might need a little charge to get me to Monday morning.
Same thing will happen when iPPM 15 arrives.
I'm not sure why I'd want to limit myself to 80%.
Stick it on the MagSafe dock I have at my desk, work, take it off. If I go somewhere in my car, I stick it onto the MagSafe mount in my car.
My phone sits at 100% for the majority of the day.
Weekends (usually mid Sunday) it might need a little charge to get me to Monday morning.
Same thing will happen when iPPM 15 arrives.
I'm not sure why I'd want to limit myself to 80%.
Cleary facetiousness or humor is not allowed on the internet these days... my bad.
You must not have read my further comments. I am often criticized by my SO on how meticulous I am with everything I own. I hate scratches/wear & tear/physical abuse of well, anything. I even have that same Oakley bag for my prescription Maui Jim sunglasses since they match the lenses better, so I like your taste.
However, anything with a battery that qualifies for AppleCare will be charged to my convenience (which is fast charging without concern for battery health). Before AppleCare expires, my devices(phones or MBP only so far) are replaced with a new device or battery.
Because of this, I can not understand babying the battery of a brand new, current generation device. Sure, if something no longer is coverable by AppleCare and you have no desire in upgrading to a generation 3+ iterations newer for some time, then sure... baby your battery and fret about it being over charged. Don't use quick charge and spend extra hours of your life waiting for a charged device.
I bring this up every year a new phone comes out and people insist on caring so much about charging their phones. I think last year I even did the math on how much time people waste babying their phone battery over 2 years vs fast charging and then replacing it via AppleCare. The time spent worrying and slow charging or charging little bits at a time was crazy.
I see your points, I guess we are just different on our charging habits. My “SO” (and my friends) also laugh at the way I’m so anal about everything! We may well have been cut from the same cloth (which I would also check thoroughly before accepting).
haha, yep. that cloth better be free of defects...
(speaking of cloth, I rotate a new microfiber cloth into my bag to clean off all my screens/devices every month or so. I have the Apple polishing cloth and keep it in the original box with me also but despite rarely using it, it seems to hold onto lint and is less effective than just cheap ones from Costco.) "Anal" is probably the right word. 😆
I'm not sure this is correct -- here is at least one article that says a 75% max, using it down to 65%, and then recharging to 75% gives the best battery longevity. To be fair, what the actual numbers are depends on the exact composition of the battery and the type of charging used.
So I will agree it is somewhat arbitrary, though in the right range, as it is typically around the last 15-20% where the battery really heats up to get to 100% charge. Lowering might help more but, as you go lower, the benefit decreases exponentially.
I think my biggest take away from this thread is how defensive some get. I have the 80% set because it works well for me -- particularly since I expect to keep this phone for multiple years. You can argue it is only $100 to replace but, OTOH, why spend money that I can prevent paying out when I don't need to and it isn't causing me any extra "work" or disadvantage me in using my phone.
At the same time, I recognize that for many here they need that last 20% of battery to get them through a day or it won't help them as they have no plan to keep their phones more than a year or two. I'll agree, for them it isn't worth it. Again, this (at least to me) is why Apple includes it as an option, one that is not set by default -- though I'll also agree I can't understand why Apple doesn't include the option on other (older) iPhones with iOS 17.
I don’t find exchanging a phone via AppleCare to be easy at all. Just setting up a new phone will eat up half my day if not more. I have to re-add cards to Apple Pay, deal with new 2 factor, do a glitchy e-sim port, re-pair my watch, reconfirm all kinds of accounts, etc, etc. All of that on top of waiting in line and working thru the replacement process in store.
For someone who values their time, I could argue it's chewing through the battery capacity that's the more expensive route to take.
Been using the 80% limit option on my 15 Pro since launch day. So far the battery life is somewhat better than my 14 Pro. Even I upgrade yearly and tend to keep the old phone around, less wear and tear the better.
Indeed/fair.
Apple said:
Batteries - Maximizing Performance
Maximize the life and lifespan of the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in your MacBook, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.
www.apple.com
On the flip side, for example, I know the e-bike company Aventon has incrementally raised its recommended charge state for long term battery storage each generation. This, and perhaps general, increased percentage recommendations could be to compensate for lithium-ion battery self-discharge.
With that said, I’ll circle back to quoting the BU article you linked:
To me, this implies there are a lot of volatile factors and it will probably always just be best guesstimate.
Assuming the use of fast-charge, the first stretch is the most stressful, hottest and the final portion/“top off” least because the charge current/rate is decreased in steps as the charge level/state of charge nears the upper “extreme” (i.e., 100%).
Batteries - Why Lithium-ion?
Learn why Apple rechargeable lithium-based technology provides the best performance for your iPhone, iPad, iPod, and MacBook.
www.apple.com
For a more thorough explanation, see this post:
2 years and 2 days later and we are in DEJA-fricken-VU
My OOOLD post... (yep, maybe 4 hours once every 2 years is less time/cost/energy than slow charging your phone):
Charging my phone to 80% or slow charging over night doesn't take any extra time away from me. I don't find the hypothetical scenario you are posing to reflect any sort of reality.
Not a chance. If I had planned on keeping the device for more than 2-3 years maybe, but I typically upgrade annually.
The point of the 2 year old post is to show the "Battery Health" debate/discussion has evolved but still remains a constant thing to obsess over. 2 Years ago the fixation of "Battery Health Nuts" was you shouldn't fast charge your phone. Doing so would "ruin" your battery.
Fast charging is now more widely accepted in the iPhone community as "normal" more so than it was 2-3 years ago, but go read the posts from back then. Fast charging was the devil for your battery. The daily gymnastics and lengths people would go to in order to not "fast charge" or go above 80% back then was much worse than the efforts of today with new iOS functionality.
Now that we have MagSafe @ 15w and all new phones have USB-C and fast charge @ 20-27W for a portion of the charging cycle; "battery health" focus is now focused on not charging past the magical 80%.
My point then and now is: worrying about battery health is a waste of time for brand new/latest generation phones unless you are diametrically opposed to AppleCare. Get AppleCare, use your phone, replace it and move on.
If you want to worry about battery health, do it in 2 years after you have a "new" iPhone 15 Pro in 2025 with no more AppleCare. Then create a thread about maximizing your battery, and making your phone last for as long as you want. There is just no need try and maximize the battery health on day 1 of an iPhone release.
But ultimately "to each their own." If people's kink is worrying about how they charge a new phone that could be replaced FOR FREE if their worst fear of poor battery health occurs, then who am I to judge? Plenty of people out there do dumb things that don't affect me at all, why should I care?
You’re the one missing @rkuo ’s point:
IF it takes 0 time and 0 effort (slow charging while you sleep to 80% max, given your daily use pattern doesn’t require you to charge throughout the day while doing so)
THEN you sacrifice absolutely nothing to “maximize battery health” from day 1
AND you do not need to waste time, money, or landfill space with a battery replacement/phone replacement in 2 years
To argue that getting a battery replacement for free is somehow better than not even needing a battery replacement in the first place, without making any meaningful sacrifice, is straight up idiotic.
Correct, now with iOS 17 you can limit your charging to 80%. So, it no longer takes the level of obsession it used to require. Do we have data or a guarantee that there will be ZERO battery degradation over 2 or more years of never charging past 80%? I'll shut up if there is... but your battery will degrade cause, well... the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics for starters.
So, to all those folks who limit their capacity to 80% and then inevitably find themselves one day wishing they had that extra 20% while in an emergency, I hope it was worth it. That's all.
Many people do not need 100% of the battery charge every day. I can keep my phone plugged in on my desk all day if I want, but that causes it to always be charged to 100% and slowly impact the battery health. If I can stop it from charging above 80% that is more than enough charge for almost any day and it keeps the battery health better. If I think I’ll be out for an extended period of time and might need more change, I would switch this feature off. I tend to keep phones at least 3 years and sometimes more. I’d rather not have to get a replacement battery if I can better manage the charging and not really miss the charge.
Thank you for explaining it perfectly.
I feel it’s a great feature. As someone who cares about longevity and passes on their phone instead of disposing them every 12 months. I do try my best to preserve my phones and while I don’t go crazy about battery preservation. I do pay attention to it. My battery trends to degrade approximately 6-8% per year. I always charge via a 5w charger over night to last my full day of use. Fast charging is a feature that is very rarely used by me because it’s just not necessary for my needs. I rather not bbq my battery every charge unless it’s an absolute necessity.
This seems exaggerated. The large majority of the time, my phone charges while I sleep. The phone reaching its max (or 80%) in a half hour vs a few hours makes no big difference there. Even in the worst case scenario and I forget to plug the phone in - I can either decide to fast charge it then while I shower etc.. or just charge it at work.
It would be extremely unusual for the lack of fast charging or topping up to only 80% to cost me any time in productivity (let alone an hour a week). Going to the Apple Store, waiting in line for a “genius” to see me, and waiting for them to repair the phone takes a lot of time out of my day.
My issue with this comment is that, at least for most people I've seen, unless you horribly abuse your battery (100-0% on a frequent basis where your phone actually dies) you aren't likely to meet the threshold for a replacement under AppleCare. My understanding is that Apple will not replace your battery/phone unless your battery is under 80% health and, typically, the phone health is going to be somewhat better than that. Most people won't be able to replace their phone's battery at the two year mark, meaning AppleCare+ isn't really a factor (unless you "invent" a reason to get a replacement). I don't recall the exact percentage of my iPhone 13 Pro when I traded it in, but it seems like the battery health was somewhere around 90% -- not enough for AppleCare+.
And this is similar to what I'm looking at. My car mount has a MagSafe charger built in -- so if I charge my phone to 100% overnight then get in my car, then I'm using the phone, often with a Navigation or other app. So I'm getting heat from the wireless charger at 15 watts (or whatever the actual number is), the phone trying to stay charged at 90+%, and the heat the navigation/GPS antenna tend to create in the phone (particularly using satellite maps) while running streaming music.
So, I have my charge limited to 80%. Now, typically I charge my phone at night before bed, so it can sit off the charger overnight -- not an issue for me as I typically spend a couple of hours at my computer desk at night and can charge then. My phone will still be close to 80% -- it is only going to lose maybe a percent or two most nights, but when I get into the car the phone is only trying to charge to 80% -- so with the same things going on I'm only in the 70% range rather than in the 90% charge. Arguably still not ideal but still likely much better on the battery health.
Additionally, it is rare than I'm away from a charger more than a few hours. Even should an emergency happen, it would have to be a major emergency for me to run out of battery (and at that point, I'm likely running out even if it happened to be at 100% when the emergency started). I also am trying to get away from being someone that always has to have the "latest and greatest," particularly with how little is actually changing on phones from year to year, so after managing to keep my iPhone 13 for 2 years (after replacing annually previously), I'm looking to keep this phone for a few years (provided I can keep my FOMO under control).
As for my FOMO, I do still have my Samsung Z Flip 5. I'm shocked I still have a Z Flip as it is a "backup" phone. My issue is that I think of getting rid of it every year (I started with a Z Flip 5G) but then Samsung offers $900 in trade in value towards buying the newer Z Flip (which is $100), plus free storage upgrade (I started with 128GB, got a free upgrade to 256 the next year, and my Flip 5 is 512GB storage), some amount of free accessories (typically $50 or more), and other discounts -- and it is tough to turn down an upgrade for $100 or less. If only I was a fan of Samsung phones -- particularly since they don't even make the best flip phone now (that is likely the Motorola Razor now).
So I realize my situation is far different than others. I'll agree that if you are going to replace your phone next year, or even in two years (even without AppleCare+), there is likely no reason to limit your phone charging -- you likely aren't going to lose more than about 10% battery unless you horribly abuse your battery. It has everything to do with both how you use your phone and how long you plan on keeping it and I'm glad Apple gave us this option, even if it isn't important to most of us on phone forums where we are frequently upgrading phones.
My mother still gets a day's use out of my old Note 10 Plus which is 4 years old and has been recharged over 1800 times. I absolutely hammered that phone and used it as my only device for 3 years. I charged it from 0 - 100% loads of times and used it whilst charging.
Because it has this setting, it makes me wonder, does the device have the ability to run directly from a power source like a computer does (bypassing the battery) or does all power still go through the battery? There are smartphones that have the ability to do this, including the Samsung Galaxy S23 lineup.
Then this feature is not for you. It is for people who want to hold on to their phones for a while and keep the battery health up.