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WoodTableFromIkea

Suspended
Sep 23, 2022
131
233
Florida
Can't bear to put anything over the lens like a glass cover tho, I want to shoot with no glass obstruction, I can't find a case with a quality slide over cover? Can you link me to these existing solutions? That link you sent doesn't link to anything.
 

Alpha Centauri

macrumors 65816
Oct 13, 2020
1,302
1,013
Charge when I need to, replace the battery when I need to.

I have never had to replace a battery with this method. In the years it takes to notice a decline in battery life, it's time for a new phone anyway.

I truly do not understand all this hand-wringing over battery life and charging. It's literally just a phone, and an expensive one at that. If you can't afford a battery replacement every 3-5 years, perhaps you should look at less expensive brands with removable batteries. This is like buying a Ferrari and not being able to afford (or complaining about the cost of) routine maintenance. Just drive the car or use the phone and enjoy it, or be realistic and buy one you can afford! Life is too short to sweat the small stuff.
Well yes, sort of. Many posts many many posts about this. I get what you're saying.

But still I also get that the OP is asking for advice on developing healthy charging habits rather than micro managing, some tongue-in-cheek about avoiding one's house exploding too, and that's ok also.

I myself had an SE battery replaced after 5 years use and things were as they were when it was new. Until an incremental iOS 15.7.x update shortened its rejuvenation noticeably.

Actually on the subject I haven't had my Mini 13 long and found a (purely subjective) small drop from 15.7.3 to 16.0. Having an expensive phone (EU) with a small battery, I did also ask an Apple employee (he said he owned one?) what he's been noticing with this/my model. His advice "charge as little as possible". It makes sense and I'm good to charge it in this manner, it doesn't impact my use in any way. I do plan to get the battery changed in perhaps 2 years, we'll see what it does at this stage.

I think also even if one does their best to try preserve the battery health, the thing that'll break this plan mostly is the next major iOS update anyways.
 
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FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,088
Until we get to a point where it's economically sound to keep hardware more than 4 years, the battery won't be an issue.

I would love to not have to trade in phones, and it would be nice to just fix them. I keep my computers 10 years, generally. Those batteries matter, where applicable.

Personally, if you are going to keep your phone more than 3, then anticipate you'll want to change the battery once in its life. When you do, resale isn't high, and if it goes wrong you're not out much. Then forget about the rest; the software will probably work better than your human habits, etc.
I always keep devices, family members use them afterwards. I haven’t sold a single iOS device. We are talking about iPhones here, so I’ll mention iPhones:

I know that this is a fringe case because frankly (and unfortunately) nobody does this, but so far I haven’t seen any noticeable degradation in battery life as long as I keep the iOS version that comes with the phone.

I’m not a heavy user, so my batteries don’t degrade quickly. I’ve used an iPhone 5s (on iOS 8). It’s still there, but I’m not giving it a shot because I broke its screen. Last I know, battery life is still flawless 8 years after I purchased it. I used a 6s on iOS 9, gave it to a family member, forced into iOS 13 by Apple, so any test is now useless. And now I have this 3.5-year-old iPhone Xʀ on iOS 12. Battery life is perfect. I’ve monitored it throughout its entire lifespan and it is perfect. Just like day 1. It’s at 93% health, so not the best example.

I use an iPhone 6s on iOS 10 with 63% health. Battery life is like-new. Yes, it is far worse than my Xʀ, but it is decently usable as a main phone, just like it was back in 2015 for light to moderate user, 6.5 years later.

By this I mean. I don’t know if I’ll ever actually see a significant degradation solely due to battery health. Maybe that day will come, but especially now that batteries are larger, iPhones are perfectly usable for years if kept on their original iOS version, with the original battery. I don’t know what the limit is. I haven’t found it. I know that a 1400-cycle, 63% health 6s on iOS 10 is perfectly usable. I know that there has been no degradation with my 3.5-year old Xʀ on iOS 12 with 93% health.

I tested a 4-year-old iPhone 8 on iOS 14 and battery life was great. Battery health stood at 83% IIRC. I haven’t tested it on iOS 11, but it matched my 6s, so it was fine.

I tested a 9-year-old iPhone 5c and it still retained great battery life.

The impact of updates is larger, but batteries are really long-lasting in terms of the only important factor (screen-on time) if the device’s iOS version is left untouched. Perhaps I’ll find that limit, perhaps I won’t, but so far, so good.

I mentioned this on a different thread: I tested a nearly 9-year-old, heavily used Bluetooth speaker and battery life remained like-new. No battery care at all, used extremely heavily. No software that receives updates. It just works as if I had just pulled it out of its box.

I’m not really noticing this li-ion degradation in any device, to be honest. They’re pretty long-lasting in my experience.
 

iosholic

macrumors newbie
Jan 30, 2023
7
8
I charge my 13 PRO whenever I need during day time, mostly just once at work, and the battery lasts till the next day and I will charge it again. But never charging overnight. I assume my battery is pretty long-last.
 
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mebehere

macrumors 65816
Sep 21, 2012
1,104
1,120
I charge my 14 Pro every night with an Apple 5W charger. It’s convenient. It’s low power. I’ll never change the routine. Never MagSafe. Never 20W. Just slow and steady and low-to-no heat.

Case? Just the Apple silicone. It juts out just enough to protect the lenses when you put it down on a flat surface.
 
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Matsamoto

macrumors 6502a
Oct 31, 2018
951
8,300
Halmstad, Sweden
Currently using a 12 PM and it’s 2 years old this month.
I have been using Apple Original 5w charger and charged over night for 2 years.
I have used quickcharge (iPad 20w) 2 times under these years, and I now have 87% in battery health.
If 87% battery health is good or not, it’s up to the person who’s using it to decide🙂

I also turned off optimized battery charging, because it was quite often failing.
I have not cared about this so called golden rule to charge the phone 20-80%. I have better things to do in my life😂
 

Vespi

macrumors regular
Sep 10, 2021
144
287
Ive charges my iphone 11 every night while sleeping for more than 3 years now, 80% battery health and my battery has never been replaced
 
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ZhenyaF

macrumors 6502
Mar 28, 2008
490
69
Brooklyn, NY
My launch day iphone 12pro is wirelessly charged every night, sometimes fast charged during the evening, or wirelessly charged at work. Currently (according to ios) it's at 84% battery life.
 

Lounge vibes 05

macrumors 68040
May 30, 2016
3,774
10,882
A lot of the aging of batteries depends on the heat, so… That’s a big factor as well.
If you’re trying to be as careful as you can with charging your phone battery… But it spends most of its time in the boiling hot sun, it’s probably not going to matter.
If your phone spends most of its time in indoor air conditioned environments, then being more precise with your charging might actually cause it to last longer.
But i’ve heard of people who stick to the 5W brick, never let the phone go over 80% and had to have their battery replaced in two years.
I’ve also heard of people who just don’t care and had batteries last them 6 to 7 years while not even thinking about how they charge their phone.
every battery is truly different
 
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Pakaku

macrumors 68040
Aug 29, 2009
3,242
4,701
I tried being proactive about charging, but lost interest in a week, and for the most part my old batteries still carry enough hours of charge that I don't feel like I've been missing out on much
 

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,088
A lot of the aging of batteries depends on the heat, so… That’s a big factor as well.
If you’re trying to be as careful as you can with charging your phone battery… But it spends most of its time in the boiling hot sun, it’s probably not going to matter.
If your phone spends most of its time in indoor air conditioned environments, then being more precise with your charging might actually cause it to last longer.
But i’ve heard of people who stick to the 5W brick, never let the phone go over 80% and had to have their battery replaced in two years.
I’ve also heard of people who just don’t care and had batteries last them 6 to 7 years while not even thinking about how they charge their phone.
every battery is truly different
I agree completely, I’ve seen people adhere to the supposed gold standard of charging and they’ve had to replace the battery quickly. I threw the battery care manual away and I’ve never replaced a battery. It depends on way too many factors.
 

Jackbequickly

macrumors 68030
Aug 6, 2022
2,953
3,007
With my battery at 70% at the end of the day, optimized charging does not even start till about 90 minutes before I wake up. I use an old 5 watt Apple charger and plug in lightning
 
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I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
34,858
24,860
Gotta be in it to win it
I always keep devices, family members use them afterwards. I haven’t sold a single iOS device. We are talking about iPhones here, so I’ll mention iPhones:

I know that this is a fringe case because frankly (and unfortunately) nobody does this, but so far I haven’t seen any noticeable degradation in battery life as long as I keep the iOS version that comes with the phone.

I’m not a heavy user, so my batteries don’t degrade quickly. I’ve used an iPhone 5s (on iOS 8). It’s still there, but I’m not giving it a shot because I broke its screen. Last I know, battery life is still flawless 8 years after I purchased it. I used a 6s on iOS 9, gave it to a family member, forced into iOS 13 by Apple, so any test is now useless. And now I have this 3.5-year-old iPhone Xʀ on iOS 12. Battery life is perfect. I’ve monitored it throughout its entire lifespan and it is perfect. Just like day 1. It’s at 93% health, so not the best example.
A lot of battery life depends on limitations of the ios version you are on. For example; I can watch streaming services I subscribe to in PIP. So yeah battery life is going to be better not doing PIP than engaging in PIP.
I use an iPhone 6s on iOS 10 with 63% health. Battery life is like-new. Yes, it is far worse than my Xʀ, but it is decently usable as a main phone, just like it was back in 2015 for light to moderate user, 6.5 years later.
An experience circa 2016. 63% is not like new but may not be that bad for a 6+ year old phone.
By this I mean. I don’t know if I’ll ever actually see a significant degradation solely due to battery health. Maybe that day will come, but especially now that batteries are larger, iPhones are perfectly usable for years if kept on their original iOS version, with the original battery. I don’t know what the limit is. I haven’t found it. I know that a 1400-cycle, 63% health 6s on iOS 10 is perfectly usable. I know that there has been no degradation with my 3.5-year old Xʀ on iOS 12 with 93% health.
Batteries that aren't used do degrade. But when batteries that aren't used aren't subject to the same environmental concerns as batteries that are used, they will last longer.
I tested a 4-year-old iPhone 8 on iOS 14 and battery life was great. Battery health stood at 83% IIRC. I haven’t tested it on iOS 11, but it matched my 6s, so it was fine.

I tested a 9-year-old iPhone 5c and it still retained great battery life.
Again, great battery life compared to modern ios versions because of the limitations of ios for those versions.
The impact of updates is larger, but batteries are really long-lasting in terms of the only important factor (screen-on time) if the device’s iOS version is left untouched. Perhaps I’ll find that limit, perhaps I won’t, but so far, so good.
Modern ios versions allow more concurrency that would cause older hardware and older batteries to lose charge quicker. That is the main issue, imo.
I mentioned this on a different thread: I tested a nearly 9-year-old, heavily used Bluetooth speaker and battery life remained like-new. No battery care at all, used extremely heavily. No software that receives updates. It just works as if I had just pulled it out of its box.
Your bluetooth speak is probably not subject to the same environmental swings as your cell phone and unless you objectively measured battery life you really can't tell regarding the degradation. Plus the batteries may be LIPO and not LI-Ion. I have a cordless drill set with 9 year old batteries that can't hold a charge. Everybody's use case is different.
I’m not really noticing this li-ion degradation in any device, to be honest. They’re pretty long-lasting in my experience.
Yes, if by long lasting can hold a charge for years, yes they can. But what is the battery health and are these devices li-ion or li-po?
 

Kottu

macrumors 6502a
Sep 21, 2014
746
848
I charge my 12PM whenever I need except while I sleep. Even if the charge is below 10% when I go to bed, I don't charge it. I just put it in battery save mode (actually, I use automation for it after 21.00) It's enough I charge it when I get up or I can charge it in my car or at work. 862 cycles and health is around 90%. I was careful about charging between 20-80% during the first year and just after 280 cycles, battery health went down to 91%. So afterwards I don't care about it. If it goes below 80% I will change the battery.
 

JerseyDoug

macrumors 6502
May 10, 2012
286
27
Just updraded to a 14 PM from an 11 Pro. Had the 11 Pro for over 3 years and charged it every night with a Belkin contact charger (usually) and set for optimized charging. Battery is still at 86% of capacity. I am doing the same with my 14 PM, but using a 30W charger. But, since the iPhone controls the charging, not the charger, I'm not sure it makes much difference. I'll see how that works, but I generally don't sweat phone details, too much.
 

sam_dean

Suspended
Sep 9, 2022
1,262
1,091
For overnight charging I'd use a slow 5W charger: ~5hrs

For charging while driving I'd use a fast 30W charger: 0-47% ~30 mins

Source: https://www.chargerlab.com/up-to-27...ity-test-of-apple-iphone-13-pro-max-20w-100w/

2021101802404946-1024x795.png
 

reppans

macrumors 6502
Dec 2, 2006
316
187
I got into batteries/efficiency as a side hobby of UL backpacking, and follow the battery research (eg, Link1 and Link2). I use an automated custom charge optimization (smartplugs + shortcut automation) that’s programmed to 5W charge in the morning. Just plug-in once at night, or during my breakfast/surf/get-ready routine, and forget about it.

I’m not budget constrained, I just find upgrading gear to be painful and procrastinate it. For me, programming a custom charge optimization is also less time/effort/cost than a battery swap, and I live 10miles from 2 Apple stores.

My phone is also an ideal test case for me as a batt hobbyist - nothing sees as much usage/cycling. I’m interested in electric transport (skateboards, bicycles, motos, cars) where batt replacement is a much bigger expense and hassle. I’d like to know what the best li-ion practices are to keep them in top shape for as long as possible.

My XR is doing fine after three years, but keep in mind the 2 different issues: achieving long SOT is about usage and settings efficiency, while keeping that SOT for years is about charge/cycling practices. YMMV of course.

52490779193_377bd31e94_o.jpg
 
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mrfunnypenguin

macrumors regular
Sep 28, 2022
182
653
You could use MagSafe and before you got to bed charge and then when you wake up charge. MagSafe can charge very fast.
 

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,088
A lot of battery life depends on limitations of the ios version you are on. For example; I can watch streaming services I subscribe to in PIP. So yeah battery life is going to be better not doing PIP than engaging in PIP.

An experience circa 2016. 63% is not like new but may not be that bad for a 6+ year old phone.

Batteries that aren't used do degrade. But when batteries that aren't used aren't subject to the same environmental concerns as batteries that are used, they will last longer.

Again, great battery life compared to modern ios versions because of the limitations of ios for those versions.

Modern ios versions allow more concurrency that would cause older hardware and older batteries to lose charge quicker. That is the main issue, imo.

Your bluetooth speak is probably not subject to the same environmental swings as your cell phone and unless you objectively measured battery life you really can't tell regarding the degradation. Plus the batteries may be LIPO and not LI-Ion. I have a cordless drill set with 9 year old batteries that can't hold a charge. Everybody's use case is different.

Yes, if by long lasting can hold a charge for years, yes they can. But what is the battery health and are these devices li-ion or li-po?
-Battery life has always depended on usage, and the iOS version installed doesn’t change that.

-Battery health is irrelevant, the important aspect is battery life (screen-on time primarily). This answers point 3 as well

-Yes, older iOS versions have a milder power requirement. It is my whole point: Apple irreversibly obliterates battery life because iOS updates introduce increased power requirements for the same processor/battery combo and it can’t cope. As users cannot downgrade, the decline is irreversible.

-I can’t tell battery capacity on my speaker (I can on iPhones, even if the measurement isn’t perfect by design), I can only measure runtime.

-iPhone batteries can hold a charge for years, and battery health is irrelevant, like I stated.
 

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
34,858
24,860
Gotta be in it to win it
-Battery life has always depended on usage, and the iOS version installed doesn’t change that.
Yes it does. New versions are subject to more concurrency, which is harder on older hardware, imo.
-Battery health is irrelevant, the important aspect is battery life (screen-on time primarily). This answers point 3 as well
Screen on time is heavily dependent on usage and environmental factors. Using your phone in the hot sun with screen at maximum brightness for example, will kill the battery.
-Yes, older iOS versions have a milder power requirement. It is my whole point: Apple irreversibly obliterates battery life because iOS updates introduce increased power requirements for the same processor/battery combo and it can’t cope. As users cannot downgrade, the decline is irreversible.
No they don't obliterate battery life as the above is implied in a criticism. New versions of ios provide for more features and functions which causes more concurrency and is harder on older hardware and batteries.
-I can’t tell battery capacity on my speaker (I can on iPhones, even if the measurement isn’t perfect by design), I can only measure runtime.
That's my point. It's not an exact science since there is no way to measure battery life. But all batteries do degrade with age. B/T batteries may last longer than cell phone batteries as they are not subject, presumably, to the same environmental issues.
-iPhone batteries can hold a charge for years, and battery health is irrelevant, like I stated.
Holding a charge is not the same as holding a useful charge. ios 10 (or whatever version) does less work than ios 16 and it will use less battery. Of course you give up a myriad of third party app updates, ios updates and security updates. Do less with an older battery and it will last longer for a charge than if more is done.
 

sam_dean

Suspended
Sep 9, 2022
1,262
1,091
I got into batteries/efficiency as a side hobby of UL backpacking, and follow the battery research (eg, Link1 and Link2). I use an automated custom charge optimization (smartplugs + shortcut automation) that’s programmed to 5W charge in the morning. Just plug-in once at night, or during my breakfast/surf/get-ready routine, and forget about it.

I’m not budget constrained, I just find upgrading gear to be painful and procrastinate it. For me, programming a custom charge optimization is also less time/effort/cost than a battery swap, and I live 10miles from 2 Apple stores.

My phone is also an ideal test case for me as a batt hobbyist - nothing sees as much usage/cycling. I’m interested in electric transport (skateboards, bicycles, motos, cars) where batt replacement is a much bigger expense and hassle. I’d like to know what the best li-ion practices are to keep them in top shape for as long as possible.

My XR is doing fine after three years, but keep in mind the 2 different issues: achieving long SOT is about usage and settings efficiency, while keeping that SOT for years is about charge/cycling practices. YMMV of course.

52490779193_377bd31e94_o.jpg
You have a very specialized hobby. I admire your persistence. You and my now dead uncle would have gotten along splendidly.
 
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1rottenapple

macrumors 601
Apr 21, 2004
4,723
2,738
What is the general consensus?

I read articles saying don't leave iPhone charging at night as it will xplode your house, but then read that they "smart charge" and cut off input at around 80%?

What is the thinking here?

I would like to adminster good charging practice.

Also while I am here amnd save a nw thread... I can't find a case which protects the lenses... I was in a phone shop and they had one but it was the cheapest nastyiest crap ever. When you slide it it properly scuffd the lenses!

I have seen videos of these 13 pro / 14 pro lenses getting scratched "at level 6" easily... What do you guys who value your glass do to protect them?
Look if phones are burning down houses in large quantities we would see huge recalls and warnings. Remember the note 8. That actually burned in large numbers and it was recalled and planes were issueing warnings about carrying these on board. That’s a real design issue. Come on now. Those are Click bait articles.
As far as your question about charging. Honestly what ever works for you. If it marginally improves battery healthy by 1% over a year and it’s worth it for you go for it. I’d rather pay $69 in 18 months and replace the battery rather than worry about it. There’s other living in developing worlds where buying iPhones represents 2 months pay. And yah $69 is a big expense for them so I would understand these concerns. But if one is in the states or other developed countries perhaps the replacements are affordable. Replace it when needed. Batteries are consumable products.
Now my car has a $20k battery, you bet I’m following charging best practices as outlined by the information system and recommended by the manufacturer which is 70-80% daily charging. 100% only 10 times in 3 years.
 
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