Battery capacity at 87% & AppleCare+ expires 2023 January

[msackey]

So.... my iPhone 12 Pro battery capacity is at 87%. In a recent (but not most recent) update to the PodCast app and iOS, some faultiness in those software quickly brought my battery capacity down from something like mid-90% to 87%; a drop of almost 10%. It was ridiculous. I noticed that as I used the Podcast app, every one or two days the battery capacity would drop 1%.

At this point, Podcast app and iOS latest versions are no longer creating that problem but the damage has been done. From something like 94% battery capacity it is now reduced to 87%.

I have AppleCare+ until January 2023. My question is this: is it reasonable to expect that my battery capacity will drop below 80% before my AppleCare+ expires?

Basically, I want AppleCare to replace my battery for free before my extended warranty expires, especially since one of their iOS and Podcast versions damaged the battery capacity. My understanding is that unless the battery capacity is below 80%, AppleCare won't pay for the battery exchange.

If it isn't reasonable to expect battery capacity to go below 80% with another 16 months to go before warranty expiration date, I want to find a way to reduce my battery capacity so that I CAN get battery replaced under warranty and for free.'

Thanks for any insight!

 

[velocityg4]

I'd suggest re-calibrating the battery.
- Charge to 100% and sit another couple hours
- Drain until it shuts off and let sit a couple hours
- Charge back up to 100%
- Don't interrupt either the charge or discharge cycles

 

[jz0309]

Who knows if the capacity will fall below 80% by Jan 23, but, if you’re planning to keep the phone beyond that time, just extend AC+ month by month…

 

[steelhauler34]

Seems a completely odd worry. 87 percent isn’t bad and worse case scenario what’s a battery replacement cost 50 bucks? Then again this is why I never pre pay for piece of mind against things that haven’t happened IE insurance on an object that quite honestly isn’t that expensive to start with.

 

[msackey]

I'd suggest re-calibrating the battery.
- Charge to 100% and sit another couple hours
- Drain until it shuts off and let sit a couple hours
- Charge back up to 100%
- Don't interrupt either the charge or discharge cycles

Oh I've done that already and battery capacity is at 87%.

 

[msackey]

Seems a completely odd worry. 87 percent isn’t bad and worse case scenario what’s a battery replacement cost 50 bucks? Then again this is why I never pre pay for piece of mind against things that haven’t happened IE insurance on an object that quite honestly isn’t that expensive to start with.

Eh...maybe I'm cheap. iPhone 12 Pro battery replacement done under Apple is $70 if done out of warranty. I'd much rather have AppleCare pay for this while it is still under warranty.

Also, you don't know folk's financial circumstance, so $50 (or $70) might be nothing to some and huge to others. Also, can't presume who paid for the phone and the extended warranty.

 

[chabig]

Then you're good.

Oh I've done that already and battery capacity is at 87%.

Then you're good.

 

[velocityg4]

Oh I've done that already and battery capacity is at 87%.

That stinks. Well you've got Applecare till 2023. If you're already at 87%. You'll likely hit 80% well before then.

You can always just read the advice about how to take care of a battery and do the opposite. /s

 

[BugeyeSTI]

Eh...maybe I'm cheap. iPhone 12 Pro battery replacement done under Apple is $70 if done out of warranty. I'd much rather have AppleCare pay for this while it is still under warranty.

Also, you don't know folk's financial circumstance, so $50 (or $70) might be nothing to some and huge to others. Also, can't presume who paid for the phone and the extended warranty.

Apple won't replace your battery until it reaches at least 80%(they are stubborn on this point) so if your worried about your Applecare+ expiring before you get to 80% you should extend your coverage month to month until it does reach that threshold... You can try to diminish the battery capacity prematurely but my 3+ year old iPhone X stayed at 85% for about an entire year(3rd year) with no lose of performance. It started dipping under 85% around January of this year so to me, replacing the battery for $50-$70 for almost 4 years service is acceptable to me..

 

[msackey]

Apple won't replace your battery until it reaches at least 80%(they are stubborn on this point) ….

Indeed. There crazy thing is I lost almost 10% capacity in just a matter of days thanks to a wonky Podcast app and/or iOS update. That issue has since stopped but I did lose that capacity