iPhone 12 Pro Max iPhone 12 Pro Max Rapidly Degrading Battery.

[Oblivious.Robot]

I know that this topic over the 12 series poor batteries has been talked about a lot, with some having no issues at all and their battery health near a 100% almost a year after, while others, which sadly include 2 very expensive 12 Pros in my family, claim to have a piss-poor battery which is degrading on a daily basis.

Rather than the usual response of “You’re using it wrong” AppleTM - by a few users both here on the forums & on Reddit. I really just want to know what some of us are doing wrong? Or more importantly, what can be done about it? Think Apple will issue recall/replacement for “some affected models”, or should we just buy another battery?

Can folks who seem to have a great battery life on the 12 series share the manufacturer details from coconut battery? As I'm starting to suspect either Apple or one of the Manufacturer is issue for this battery-gate. Link - https://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/

Purchased in Jan ‘21 - 12 Pro Max's battery is hot garbage, made by Desay Corporation.

For comparison, my iPad Air 3's battery is over 2 years old and just hitting 91%. Made by Sunwoda. No performance issues at all.

 

[now i see it]

Apl says an iPhone battery is "normal" if it gets 500 load cycles before it hits 80% battery health.
In real world usage, that's horrible longetivity compared to what some people CAN get, but if you get it that far, that's all it's designed to do.
CoconutBattery will show you accumulated load cycles and battery health degradation.

Sure you can baby the battery doing partial discharges and charges from 40% to 75% like some of us do which will GREATLY increase the lifespan of the battery, but you'll have to pay the rather steep price of always keeping an eye on the charge level and topping the battery off several times a day.

 

[cutienoua]

12 pro max , first batch now at 96% capacity. The irony is that iphone 11 is still at 100%. but the iphone 11 is not used as much as the max . carplay and magsafe charging probably not kind on the battery .

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

Apl says an iPhone battery is "normal" if it gets 500 load cycles before it hits 80% battery health.
In real world usage, that's horrible longetivity compared to what some people CAN get, but if you get it that far, that's all it's designed to do.
CoconutBattery will show you accumulated load cycles and battery health degradation.

Sure you can baby the battery doing partial discharges and charges from 40% to 75% like some of us do which will GREATLY increase the lifespan of the battery, but you'll have to pay the rather steep price of always keeping an eye on the charge level and topping the battery off several times a day.

The thing is, I’m using my past experience with iPhones and with a similar usage the first year or even till the second year, the battery degradation was never this severe.

For the last six months, 12PMx lasted all day without a fuss with 50-60%+ battery leftover which I charged overnight with a belkin wireless charger. (It does not get hot)
These days however, my battery by nightfall can range from 40 to even 20% by which I have to rely on low power mode. I don’t believe this is normal, definitely not in first year of ownership.

I specifically remember my X degrading to below 80% only in its third year, after which I replaced the battery as I gave it away to my sibling while I upgraded to the 12PMx.

Don’t get me wrong, 12PMx in Gold is possibly the best iPhone that I’ve ever owned. It’s the battery that is disappointing. And, without an Apple Store in my country, I’m screwed with the third party guys.

 

[imp3rator]

iPhone 12 since launch - 95% - 245 cycles, but weird drop after 20 cycles.
I use Magsafe charger 30-40% time of charging.

 

[Boardiesboi]

iPhone 12 Pro Max
Manufactured 2020-08-30
Desay
Cycle count 228
Battery health = 96%

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

iPhone 12 since launch - 95% - 245 cycles, but weird drop after 20 cycles.
I use Magsafe charger 30-40% time of charging.

View attachment 1830320

Have you noticed any drop in performance or any drop in battery charge in day to day usage? If we really observe it, it's kinda dropping after the 8th month.

iPhone 12 Pro Max
Manufactured 2020-08-30
Desay
Cycle count 228
Battery health = 96%

I assume it's launch day iPhone? It's fairing well even with the same manufacturer, any case of performance drop or drop in battery charge in day to day usage?

 

[tommyboy9996]

What apps do you guys recommend to use for battery health monitoring. I was the first wave of 12 Pro Max, currently at 94%. I will be buying the 13 Pro Max but I’ll be giving this one to my Mom.

 

[now i see it]

By FAR the best app is no app.
If you keep the charge level between about 40% and 80%, the battery will outlast the phone. Easily last more than 7 years.

 

[reppans]

The thing is, I’m using my past experience with iPhones and with a similar usage the first year or even till the second year, the battery degradation was never this severe.

Hard to compare to previous models - for one there’s the rumored ‘cheaper’ 12-series battery. Add to that, the old 5w chargers vs today’s fast 20w and magnetic chargers, and then increasing power consumption from more feature-pack iOS updates, better cameras, improved 5G capability/real-world availability, etc, etc.

Sure you can baby the battery doing partial discharges and charges from 40% to 75% like some of us do which will GREATLY increase the lifespan of the battery, but you'll have to pay the rather steep price of always keeping an eye on the charge level and topping the battery off several times a day.

Need not be the case - the automation app + $10 smart plug makes under-charging as simple/transparent as flicking Apple’s ‘optimization’ switch. They could easily build this into the settings, as some laptop manuf. have, but then Apple would lose sales.

The 12 Pro Max specs ‘up to 20hrs SOT (video)’, how much of that can you really use in a day? With some simple ‘efficiency tuning’ of Settings/Apps, incl turning-off antennas when not in use, I can still get the XR’s ‘up to 15hr SOT’ spec after 2yrs. However, I only have the need/time/patience to average 7-8hrs/day, or 50% batt (it’s also my ‘home computer’). As my battery degrades with time, I expect to widen my automated charge window to 80-20, then 90-10 to compensate. If it’s anything like my iPad2 experience, then it should take >7yrs for Max runtime to drop from 15hrs > 10hrs… but I expect to upgrade before that.

Also dispute the ‘keep it over 40%’ myth (except for long-term storage situations), although I do try to maintain over 20% for unanticipated emergency-use reserve power. Battery University makes no mention of short-term low-voltage harm, these studies suggest low voltage is actually good, and this article suggests satellites cycle 60-0 for 8y/40k-cycle lives.

I get it… most folks will simply upgrade in 2-3yrs, or just swap a battery for $70…. but hearing so many 12-series folks complaining about drastically reduced runtime within a year, and even folks being refused PAID battery swaps**, you really have to wonder if a ~$10/1hr one-time investment to set-up a better automated custom battery optimization is worth it, esp. for the 12-series.

Anyways, just my $0.02, sorry for the long post, YMMV and all.

**- makes sense, always a good risk of breaking something in a batt swap, and Apple would have to give you a new phone if they do.

 

[now i see it]

Hard to compare to previous models - for one there’s the rumored ‘cheaper’ 12-series battery. Add to that, the old 5w chargers vs today’s fast 20w and magnetic chargers, and then increasing power consumption from more feature-pack iOS updates, better cameras, improved 5G capability/real-world availability, etc, etc.



Need not be the case - the automation app + $10 smart plug makes under-charging as simple/transparent as flicking Apple’s ‘optimization’ switch. They could easily build this into the settings, as some laptop manuf. have, but then Apple would lose sales.

The 12 Pro Max specs ‘up to 20hrs SOT (video)’, how much of that can you really use in a day? With some simple ‘efficiency tuning’ of Settings/Apps, incl turning-off antennas when not in use, I can still get the XR’s ‘up to 15hr SOT’ spec after 2yrs. However, I only have the need/time/patience to average 7-8hrs/day, or 50% batt (it’s also my ‘home computer’). As my battery degrades with time, I expect to widen my automated charge window to 80-20, then 90-10 to compensate. If it’s anything like my iPad2 experience, then it should take >7yrs for Max runtime to drop from 15hrs > 10hrs… but I expect to upgrade before that.

Also dispute the ‘keep it over 40%’ myth (except for long-term storage situations), although I do try to maintain over 20% for unanticipated emergency-use reserve power. Battery University makes no mention of short-term low-voltage harm, these studies suggest low voltage is actually good, and this article suggests satellites cycle 60-0 for 8y/40k-cycle lives.

I get it… most folks will simply upgrade in 2-3yrs, or just swap a battery for $70…. but hearing so many 12-series folks complaining about drastically reduced runtime within a year, and even folks being refused PAID battery swaps**, you really have to wonder if a ~$10/1hr one-time investment to set-up a better automated custom battery optimization is worth it, esp. for the 12-series.

Anyways, just my $0.02, sorry for the long post, YMMV and all.

**- makes sense, always a good risk of breaking something in a batt swap, and Apple would have to give you a new phone if they do.

Link to suitable HomeKit compatible smart plug?

 

[sjperformance]

12 Pro Max. Ordered at first launch. Today battery at 99%. I have wireless charged about 98% of the time.

 

[macsound1]

I've read a ton of posts about people having battery issues.
Based on my personal experience of many jobs, many iPhones and very different battery results, I believe battery life is mostly determined by cell coverage.
Until they installed a cell tower outside my brick office building I got about 30% worse battery life than I get now.
I used to work at a hotel where my office was in the basement. I had to turn off cellular otherwise it would constantly reach for that 1 bar.

Currently, without disabling cellular, try disabling background app refresh.
Even if the phone is hunting for a signal, if it doesn't try and update apps over the crappy service, your battery will last longer.

Also I used to notice a phenomenon where certain pants and phone cases would attenuate cell coverage, sometimes to the point of no service appearing when I wasn't actively holding the phone.

 

[imp3rator]

Have you noticed any drop in performance or any drop in battery charge in day to day usage? If we really observe it, it's kinda dropping after the 8th month.

I think yes. When I bought phone I was impressed by battery life. Now I can say just still very good but maybe 1-2 hours SOT less then before.

I have 1 year iPhone 7 Plus with 89% battery life - but dropped from 5 hours SOT to 3-3,5 SOT (which is 40% less than 11% drop in battery life). Some users there complain that have 85-88% battery health and still have very good battery life through day. I think that can exists a "healthier" 90% and worse 90% battery health.

 

[egraphixstudios]

Mine was 100% - then had a few hire cars for work travel that had car play (wired) and now my battery at 95% health.



My personal car has wireless carplay so it works nicely on a overnight bedside charge (my normal routine).

Maybe Apple can introduce a setting to power/charge toggle to allow/not allow charging while wired into carplay??

 

[reppans]

Link to suitable HomeKit compatible smart plug?

I use VOCOlinc. Seems sold out of the 2 for $20, but they have a 3 or 4 pack for even cheaper per plug.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Mine just dropped to 95%

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

Dropped to 88% today. Again, just 9 months of ownership.

I have to charge the 12PMx by the end of the day or hit low power mode. Love the iPhone, hate the battery & disappointed at Apple for poor support who still suggest until it’s below 80%, they can’t (won’t) replace it, even under warranty.