iPhone 15 Pro Max Are you limiting your iPhone 15 Pro battery to 80%?

[rkuo]

I am among the - apparently small - minority that aims to maximise battery life span. I have maintained the 80% limit on my iPhone 8plus, 11 and now 14PM. The charger is in a smart plug and once the iPhone gets charged to 80% a shortcut switched off the smart plug. No stress, it’s a simple set-and-forget.
If I need 100% next day I switch on a second shortcut to switch the charger on again one hour before my morning alarm and I have my phone at 100%.

My 8plus I bought in 2017, passed it on to my daughter in 2019 and got her a smart plug and she’s been using 80% charging all the time. The 8 plus battery health is still almost 80% after 6 years. Same with the iPhone 11 that went to another daughter.

Even if you only keep your phone 1-3 years, by using the 80% charging method you can help saving battery health and cut down the mining of valuable earthly resources, ultimately help saving the environment.

I notice that for most here, money is the main decision driver. But our iPhone usage contributes to massive environmental waste. Yes I’m part of that, but I try my best to squeeze the most out of my devices.

I have had several devices, including a MacBook and an Apple Watch, experience battery bloat by being left on the charger all the time at 100 percent. Quite tired of it and the time wasted on service visits, etc … adds up.

Surprising how many people seem offended that this option now exists and that some other people might actually use it.

In fact, the option to limit charge is well known in the world of electric vehicles and is generally well accepted. Probably by necessity, as people keep their cars for much longer periods of time and occasionally push them very hard on range. But the need for it is well understood.

 

[OSXphoto]

Surprising how many people seem offended that this option now exists and that some other people might actually use it.

Quite.

In fact, the option to limit charge is well known in the world of electric vehicles and is generally well accepted. Probably by necessity, as people keep their cars for much longer periods of time and occasionally push them very hard on range. But the need for it is well understood.

Yes. In this article at batteryuniversity.com the scientists explain how it works.
The takeaway:
- avoid 80%-100%
- also avoid 0%-25%.
These battery charge levels affect (decrease) battery health the most.

In electric vehicles, a charge displayed as 100% on the in car monitors is in fact - under the hood - 80%. So users believe they charged to full where in fact they did not.
It might be a good idea to adopt this principle in the phone industry, but then of course the manufacturers have less to boast about.

@rkuo thank you.

 

[doolar]

No.

 

[kiranmk2]

I would definitely use it. Like range axiety on EVs, this feature just means thinking about charging your phone in a diferent want. I don't like leaving my phone on a charger at 100% for a long time. With this I could drop my phone onto a charging stand at my work desk without worrying about it sitting at 100%. So yes, I wouldn't have 100% when I took it off charge, but I would likely have 80% through most of the work day when I pick it of the charging stand.

Same for using carplay - my phone gets fairly hot when using Apple Maps, playing music and charging, even though the phone is stored out of the sun.

If I'm going for a trip or know I will be using the phone a lot I can just charge to 100% in advance.

 

[Lakersfan74]

Nope. When I charge my phone, I don’t ignore it.

 

[Mikeske]

You paid paid for it so use it how you want, but do people not think about the 2nd, 3rd, 4th owner of phones? Even though you only keep it a year or 2, it will likely be resold to another user. If the original owner makes a very small effort to preserve the battery, then the next owner (or the reseller) won't have to replace the battery. So in the long term fewer batteries need to be produced.

Personally I've been trying to limit my charging for years using a smart switch that only charges my phone for 1 hour per night. My launch day 13 pro still has 93% battery health with heavy usage.

Yeah but if the old phone is traded in to Apple it still does not matter as when they refurb the old phone it is stated that they replace the battery anyway even if it is at 95-100% battery life. A thing is the refurbs will be like new condition no matter what.

 

[coso]

Yeah. By doing this my launch day 13P is still at 96% health

 

[Lakersfan74]

New is new, used is used and refurbished is refurbished. The latter two will never be like the former. Apple refurbished is a used phone with a new battery and maybe some other stuff if there were problems with those parts. It will never be new but it can be new but damaged in the box and then refurbished

 

[Momof2.1107]

No I will use it only when I’ll be using CarPlay for more than hour. Other than that it’ll be turned off.

 

[Nozuka]

Quite.

Yes. In this article at batteryuniversity.com the scientists explain how it works.
The takeaway:
- avoid 80%-100%
- also avoid 0%-25%.
These battery charge levels affect (decrease) battery health the most.

In electric vehicles, a charge displayed as 100% on the in car monitors is in fact - under the hood - 80%. So users believe they charged to full where in fact they did not.
It might be a good idea to adopt this principle in the phone industry, but then of course the manufacturers have less to boast about.

@rkuo thank you.

The problem is, by only charging the phone to 80%, you increase the chance to end up below 25% 😂

 

[JCCL]

I have had several devices, including a MacBook and an Apple Watch, experience battery bloat by being left on the charger all the time at 100 percent. Quite tired of it and the time wasted on service visits, etc … adds up.

Surprising how many people seem offended that this option now exists and that some other people might actually use it.

In fact, the option to limit charge is well known in the world of electric vehicles and is generally well accepted. Probably by necessity, as people keep their cars for much longer periods of time and occasionally push them very hard on range. But the need for it is well understood.

Agree. That why I use it on my Surface Pro 8. Half of the time it’s connected and docked while I use it like a normal PC. Limiting charging to 80% has been great to prevent its degradation.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

This is an enthusiast forum. So you get a very high concentration of disappointed iPhone mini users are with Apple & claiming never to buy from them again until they revive the iPhone mini. They use "I love my iPhone mini" as if it were a punctuation mark.

You read it that often that you think 1 of 3 iPhone users bought a mini.

But what's the connection and context? No one even mentioned an iP Mini.

 

[ToddH]

I probably will. I’m still at 100% on my iPhone 14 pro max that’s a year old. I charge from 50% to 80% all the time. I carry 20k battery banks with me.

 

[-Gonzo-]

All the comments about not understanding the feature…. It’s for people who have their phone constantly plugged in throughout the day. I used to have an hour long commute everyday plus if I was in the field I was always in the car using wired CarPlay. I rarely even used 50% battery. Doing this will degrade battery life over time. That’s the purpose of the 80% charge limit. And it will still periodically fully charge to maintain the battery

I’ve only just found out about this 80% Limit and this is exactly what I was coming here to ask about.
I’ve recently had my work vehicle replaced and the new one has CarPlay which needs to be connected via USB so for the past two weeks my iPhone 12 Pro Max has been used pretty much daily for navigation so pretty much on charge all day at 100%.
So was wondering if this 80% limit charge would be the ideal solution to that issue.
Seems I’ve already found the answer to that question so thanks.
Charging to 100% has never really bothered me before until I started using the CarPlay in this vehicle as before that it’s never been on a constant charge as used a satnav in the previous vehicle.

 

[Ryan P]

I could see the point of it if you keep the phone on 100% on charger a lot - being fully charged for long periods is the worst for the battery. Maybe for those who use nightstand feature while plugged in

I think this is quite false. My iPhone 14 Pro spent 95% of its life on my desk MagSafe stand or my car MagSafe. It is still at 100% battery health. It’s the charge cycles and heat that gets lithium.

 

[Banglazed]

I’ve set to 80% limit but I think it will take some times to kick in as you’ll still charge over it. However, I have shortcut automations to let me know when I hit 80 or even 100% charged. Hope they bring this option to all iPads.

 

[rkuo]

I think this is quite false. My iPhone 14 Pro spent 95% of its life on my desk MagSafe stand or my car MagSafe. It is still at 100% battery health. It’s the charge cycles and heat that gets lithium.

The science is settled on that. All of those things matter, including being stored at 100 pct.

 

[Ryan P]

The science is settled on that. All of those things matter, including being stored at 100 pct.

Source please.

 

[rkuo]

Source please.

Google.com

 

[Ryan P]

Google.com

Got it..you have no idea in other words.

 

[thecautioners]

Nope. My 14PM was at 94% after a year charging exclusively on MagSafe. I will upgrade to 16PM next year anyway, so I’m not looking to get several years out of my battery.

 

[JCCL]

I think this is quite false. My iPhone 14 Pro spent 95% of its life on my desk MagSafe stand or my car MagSafe. It is still at 100% battery health. It’s the charge cycles and heat that gets lithium.

You had luck with a battery, but that’s anecdotal at best. Having it constantly plugged in is definitely not good. That’s why more and more OEMs implement 80% limit for those cases.

 

[Ryan P]

You had luck with a battery, but that’s anecdotal at best. Having it constantly plugged in is definitely not good. That’s why more and more OEMs implement 80% limit for those cases.

It’s not the being at 100%. it is the charging from 80% to 100% that is damaging. Otherwise, find a study showing it or a manufacturer who warns against it.

There is basically no charging going on when it is at 100%, it is primarily using power from the charger to run.

 

[Apple_Robert]

How do I make a shortcut that enables this feature! I don’t see a way to.

Follow my directions found below. It is from 2021 but will still work.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-to-set-an-automation-to-turn-off-charging-at-80.2315533/?post=30396702#post-30396702

 

[JCCL]

It’s not the being at 100%. it is the charging from 80% to 100% that is damaging. Otherwise, find a study showing it or a manufacturer who warns against it.

There is basically no charging going on when it is at 100%, it is primarily using power from the charger to run.

Nope it actually pulls from the battery then the charger is constantly refilling it. That’s the part that damages it.