iPhone 13 Pro Max iPhone 13 Pro Max best battery practices

[Vlad Soare]

Everyone one going to a lot of trouble to deliberately not charge past 80% when they'd be FURIOUS if their battery (eventually) degraded to 80% capacity.

Of course. Because having the full capacity and deciding not to use it when you don't need it is one thing, while not having it is another.
Besides, battery degradation isn't as straightforward as a simple reduction in the overall capacity. A battery that's at 80% due to old age isn't the same as a new one that's been charged to 80%.

 

[Saturn1217]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding was that with iPhones it's pretty easy to walk into an apple store and get a battery replacement? Yes you have to pay for it but last I checked the cost was reasonable (ie way less than the cost of a new phone).

I'm thinking of switching to iPhone this year and hoping I'll have the option to just replace the battery at the 2 year mark (even if it isn't technically below 80% health) as long as I'm willing to pay the replacement fee. Anyone done this? Is that realistic?

 

[warpdrive]

Heat is the other enemy of battery degradation. From what I understand, it's the #1 enemy.

People that have their phones mounted on the top of the dash in direct sunlight, plugged into a charger at 100% battery are ASKING for it. Coupled to a full state of charge of 100%, it's like the perfect storm of conditions to kill your battery prematurely.

I had my phone cradle suctioned to my windshield, on a regular summer day, my phone gets so hot that I can barely hold it....it gets too hot to the touch and I would expect that the battery is suffering a lot.

Also, don't leave the phone in your car to bake. Temps easy get over 125%F/50C

 

[warpdrive]

Of course. Because having the full capacity and deciding not to use it when you don't need it is one thing, while not having it is another.
Besides, battery degradation isn't as straightforward as a simple reduction in the overall capacity. A battery that's at 80% due to old age isn't the same as a new one that's been charged to 80%.

I don't find charging only to 80% to be limiting. On a normal day, I use up max about 60%. And I have chargers and battery packs everywhere, so it's no biggy to top it up.

The real issue is that if you degrade the battery, iOS will start to throttle. That's really what I'm trying to avoid. I still have my XS Max and except for the camera improvements, there really is no need to upgrade.

I used to keep all my devices topped up to 100% as often as I could. But now, instead of putting it back on a nearby charger when it went from 80 to 60%, I'll keep using it for the rest of the day without charging. So all my charging is overnight when the Optimized Battery Charging feature works its magic.

 

[now i see it]

hoping I'll have the option to just replace the battery at the 2 year mark (even if it isn't technically below 80% health) as long as I'm willing to pay the replacement fee. Anyone done this? Is that realistic?

In my town there's a mobile iPhone repair service. They'll drive out to your place and replace a battery or screen right there. Super convenient and fast. Costs a little more, but way worth it in my opinion.

 

[HEK]

having said that my 12 Pro battery got fried on wireless in-car charging / CarPlay over several days in Croatia at >34'C this summer and is now at 88% in less than a year which I am unimpressed by.

I have a lot of Hue lights + Hub already, so might add a smart plug & try this Shortcut on my new 13 & will definitely be trying to keep the phone cooler, or at least mindful of overheating.

It’s the heat. The critical Li battery destroyer is heat. Makes no difference if the phone is on or not. Do not leave phone in hot car. Also, the 100% and 0% are not the actual battery readings. Apple bakes in safety margins for the calculated percentage readout.

 

[AbSoluTc]

Report back in 5 years.

My 3 year old Xs Max is 88%

 

[warpdrive]

It’s the heat. The critical Li battery destroyer is heat. Makes no difference if the phone is on or not. Do not leave phone in hot car. Also, the 100% and 0% are not the actual battery readings. Apple bakes in safety margins for the calculated percentage readout.

Exactly.....As I mentioned above. Compounded by the fact that people also charge their phone to 100% docked in the car...not a recipe for good battery capacity retention.

Do you know what the safety margins are? I'm sure somebody has measured the voltages at 100 and 0 somewhere....just curious about the numbers.

 

[adam1080]

I quick charged the ever-loving daylights out of my 11 Pro for 2 years.

Wednesday this week my battery health was 79%.

magically in less than an hour it was back to 100% for no cost…

amazing how AppleCare and not stressing over stupid stuff works.

 

[reppans]

I’ve been using this Battery University Article since ‘08 - seems to work well for me with my iPhone3/iPhone5/iPad2 lasting 5/6.5/7.5yrs (respectively) on original batts as primary devices before consolidating onto the iPhoneXR as a ‘phablet’ (ie, incl. home computing).

‘Keep it over 40%’ is good advice for long-term storage situations (so self-discharge does not deplete voltage below critical minimums) but it’s not necessary with daily-use devices. Battery University makes no mention of short-term low-voltage harm; these studies indicate it’s actually good; and this article implies satellites are cycled 60-0 for 8yrs/40k-cycle lives.

As another poster mentioned above, the shortcut/automation app plus a smart plug permits a custom battery optimization that’s as easy as flipping Apple’s ‘optimization’ switch (after one-time set-up, of course). Apple could easily build this into the battery settings for more user control (as some laptop manufacturers have) but they‘d lose sales with folks upgrading less frequently.

FWIW, I’m cycling ~70-20 now, avg ~7-8hrs SOT/day (it’s my home computer), @96% health after 2yrs, and still managed to break a new 50% SOT record yesterday. If it’s anything like my iPad2 experience, i should still be able to get over 10hrs SOT from a full charge through 2026, although I expect to upgrade before that.

Just my $0.02, YMMV and all.

 

[HEK]

I’ve been using this Battery University Article since ‘08 - seems to work well for me with my iPhone3/iPhone5/iPad2 lasting 5/6.5/7.5yrs (respectively) on original batts as primary devices before consolidating onto the iPhoneXR as a ‘phablet’ (ie, incl. home computing).

‘Keep it over 40%’ is good advice for long-term storage situations (so self-discharge does not deplete voltage below critical minimums) but it’s not necessary with daily-use devices. Battery University makes no mention of short-term low-voltage harm; these studies indicate it’s actually good; and this article implies satellites are cycled 60-0 for 8yrs/40k-cycle lives.

As another poster mentioned above, the shortcut/automation app plus a smart plug permits a custom battery optimization that’s as easy as flipping Apple’s ‘optimization’ switch (after one-time set-up, of course). Apple could easily build this into the battery settings for more user control (as some laptop manufacturers have) but they‘d lose sales with folks upgrading less frequently.

FWIW, I’m cycling ~70-20 now, avg ~7-8hrs SOT/day (it’s my home computer), @96% health after 2yrs, and still managed to break a new 50% SOT record yesterday. If it’s anything like my iPad2 experience, i should still be able to get over 10hrs SOT from a full charge through 2026, although I expect to upgrade before that.

Just my $0.02, YMMV and all.

I am guessing here, but am of opinion that Apple may have changed the -recent ages it reports over the years.