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Battery Maximum Capacity dropped 2% in 2 weeks on iOS 14

R

RN17

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 21, 2020
15
5
Since updating my 2 months old SE 2020 to 14 and subsequently 14.0.1, the battery Maximum Capacity has dropped from 99% to 97% in less than 2 weeks.

Has anyone else experienced this? I took care when it comes to charging (20% to 80%), and it's shocking see this while other users report 100% after almost an year of use.
 
I just upgraded to iOS 14 on my 11 Pro. I've owned it the past year and have 99% health. I have optimized charging off and leave my phone on the charger (using the official charger) over night. In the past month or two i started leaving my phone off the charger overnight if i have 50% or above left over.

I'm curious if these percentages are going down faster for people that are using wireless charging or 3rd party chargers/cables?

I'll keep my eye out to see if it changes in the upcoming weeks.
 
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I've only used the cable charger that came in the box, which is the standard one I think, not the fast type.
 
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The battery capacity number is for entertainment purposes only. It’s not a precise number that holds any special meaning. It could go up to 98% tomorrow and down to 96% the next day. Don’t obsess over it.
 
Last edited:
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Trader05 said:
I just upgraded to iOS 14 on my 11 Pro. I've owned it the past year and have 99% health. I have optimized charging off and leave my phone on the charger (using the official charger) over night. In the past month or two i started leaving my phone off the charger overnight if i have 50% or above left over.

I'm curious if these percentages are going down faster for people that are using wireless charging or 3rd party chargers/cables?

I'll keep my eye out to see if it changes in the upcoming weeks.
Click to expand...
Why would you deliberately turn off Optimized Charging?
 
RN17 said:
Since updating my 2 months old SE 2020 to 14 and subsequently 14.0.1, the battery Maximum Capacity has dropped from 99% to 97% in less than 2 weeks.
Click to expand...

These thing vary quite a bit from one day to the next, and I wouldn't be surprised if you end up gaining back a percentage or two over the next few weeks.

RN17 said:
and it's shocking see this while other users report 100% after almost an year of use.
Click to expand...
A lot of stuff goes into this, usage probably plays a much bigger part than charging habits.

A good example is the difference between my wife's SE1 and my SE1. We got them the same time, but the usage is very different between the two phones.

We got our phones at the same time a little over a year ago, I am at 97% capacity, and she is at 87%.

I averaged 36 minutes of screen time a day last week. I am unsure what my wife averaged, but she is constantly on her phone, so I suspect that is it much higher. Probably 4+ hours a day.


CoronaOnTap said:
Why would you deliberately turn off Optimized Charging?
Click to expand...
It only works well when someone is on a schedule that they routinely stick to. If they deviate from their schedule they risk starting their day with 20% less of a charge.

I have it turned off, as it wouldn't help me at all with my schedule.
 
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RN17 said:
Since updating my 2 months old SE 2020 to 14 and subsequently 14.0.1, the battery Maximum Capacity has dropped from 99% to 97% in less than 2 weeks.

Has anyone else experienced this? I took care when it comes to charging (20% to 80%), and it's shocking see this while other users report 100% after almost an year of use.
Click to expand...

The same happened to me, with the same phone. The day before update to 14, battery went to 99%... and usage was horrible. I downgrade to 13.7 and yesterday (I think) dropped to 98%...

I do the same 20-80%... original cable and charger... so really don't know.
 
Mine 11 was 100% last week. This week 95%. So bizarre. I’m sending this phone back in the 1up program next week so I’m not too worried but if I wasn’t I wouldn’t be happy.
 
I suggest calibrating. I know Apple formerly stated to do it once a month or so but I can’t find the article now. Perhaps they feel their smart features compensate enough.

Battery Calibration - iFixit Support

All newly-installed smart batteries should be calibrated as soon as possible. This helps your system get an accurate reading on the battery’s state of charge. W
help.ifixit.com help.ifixit.com
 
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MacCheetah3 said:
I suggest calibrating. I know Apple formerly stated to do it once a month or so but I can’t find the article now. Perhaps they feel their smart features compensate enough.

Battery Calibration - iFixit Support

All newly-installed smart batteries should be calibrated as soon as possible. This helps your system get an accurate reading on the battery’s state of charge. W
help.ifixit.com help.ifixit.com
Click to expand...
Calibration doesn’t do anything to the Battery Health. It just enables iOS to measure the battery “level” more accurately during your use in the day.
 
CoronaOnTap said:
It actually does!
Click to expand...
I misspoke in vagueness. What I should have said is it can't hurt any more than partial/shallow charging. It doesn't harm a Li-ion battery to get down to 5% or be charged to 98-100%. What can hurt is remaining at those extreme ranges for long periods, hence why Apple's battery optimization feature will limit the charge to 80% if a user leaves their iDevice connected to a power (charging) source for an extended period. If you do need to leave a Li-ion battery unused for long periods, it's recommended to have it about 50% charged and stored on the cooler side of the preferred temp spectrum.

There is one more thing...
www.grepow.com

The Charging Cycles of Lithium-ion Polymer Batteries - Grepow Blog

Do you know what the Lithium-ion Polymer battery charging cycles are? If you want to learn more about cycles of lithium-ion polymer batteries, here is it.
www.grepow.com www.grepow.com
To get the most out of lithium-ion batteries, you need to use it often so that the electrons in the Lithium batteries are always in a flowing state. If you do not use lithium batteries often, please remember to complete a charging cycle every month and do a power calibration, i.e. deep discharge and deep charge, once.
Click to expand...
It's this aspect that I believe -- though open to proof otherwise -- someone who has their device's battery charge range, for example, stay between 50% and 80% has a possibility of not 'working' the cells enough. That aside, I have witnessed the destructiveness of leaving a Li-ion battery unused, and it is most certainly far more harmful than whether a device is typically shallow/partial or deep/fully charged.

So, to circle back, calibration isn't problematic if done properly.
 
RN17 said:
Since updating my 2 months old SE 2020 to 14 and subsequently 14.0.1, the battery Maximum Capacity has dropped from 99% to 97% in less than 2 weeks.

Has anyone else experienced this? I took care when it comes to charging (20% to 80%), and it's shocking see this while other users report 100% after almost an year of use.
Click to expand...
I experienced the same. My battery is 99% in 14.0.1 (2 days ago). After update to 14.1 today, it become 96%.
 
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I’ve just updated my iPhone 6s (that uses to be always plugged in charge) from iOS 10 to 14.1 and the battery’s maximum capacity drops directly from 100% to 82%...
 
I never updated off iOS 13.3 but suddenly in October it went from 100% to 97% within less than a week. My 11 Pro Max was purchased in January. Guess chemical aging?
 
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I charge almost every night, all night. The battery never goes under 30% if I can help it (I'll do a charge during the day if I have to to ensure it doesn't). The phone has been through all the betas since I got it. Currently 14.2.

This is my XR which I've had since June 2019.

8C23F316-F3D6-4CF6-955F-CD0363B58974.png
 
d123 said:
I charge almost every night, all night. The battery never goes under 30% if I can help it (I'll do a charge during the day if I have to to ensure it doesn't). The phone has been through all the betas since I got it. Currently 14.2.

This is my XR which I've had since June 2019.

View attachment 977312
Click to expand...
So you keep the phone almost connected?
 
Trader05 said:
I just upgraded to iOS 14 on my 11 Pro. I've owned it the past year and have 99% health. I have optimized charging off and leave my phone on the charger (using the official charger) over night. In the past month or two i started leaving my phone off the charger overnight if i have 50% or above left over.

I'm curious if these percentages are going down faster for people that are using wireless charging or 3rd party chargers/cables?

I'll keep my eye out to see if it changes in the upcoming weeks.
Click to expand...
About 2 weeks later im at 97%..possibly the battery aging after the 1 year mark :oops:
 
abelpinate said:
So you keep the phone almost connected?
Click to expand...

How do you get to that conclusion from what I wrote?

The phone is plugged in at night, usually around 23h00-00h00 and comes off charge around 06h00. If I have a heavy usage day and the battery level falls to around 30% I will give it a top up charge to get through the day.
 
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