For those who like to obsess over their batteries…which will do you think it better, setting limit to 90% and having it hold at 90 all night or using optimized charging? Best of both worlds would have been using optimized charging in conjunction with the new limit feature but of course Apple denies us of this! Also interested to hear what others are planning to use.
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Optimized charging
- Thread starter TimDeRosa
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I am actually very curious about this. I have an 14PM, so I dont have the option for the charging limit, but I ran my launch 14PM with optimized charging for an entire year and was down to 96% when iOS 17 was released. If 90% charge limit can help on my 16 pro, I might try it. Haven't heard if anyone saw great gains from using the charging limit on the 15 pros from the last year.
I've left mine at 80% limit since I got mine in December and I still have 100% battery health so I see no need to change it. The only time I'll turn it off and force the iPhone to charge to 100% on purpose is when I know I'm going to be away from a charger for an extended amount of time.
Yes exactly, the question comes down to wondering if whether holding it at 90% for the entire night versus holding at 80% for most of the night and then charging right to 100 (optimized charging) before you wake up is better. If it were my world, I would want to hold a 80% for most of the night and then charge right to 90% before I wake up. Unfortunately Apple doesn’t let you combine the two features.
You have the iPhone 15 Pro correct? You had no issues getting through the day with the 80% limit?
Another big question is, have you downloaded iOS 18 on your device yet?
Why not hold at 90% all night? That's not full charge so it shouldn't hurt the battery health I wouldn't think. I want the charge limit for the pure fact of being able to charge all night again. I used optimized charging on my 14PM, and it never worked correctly. I get up at different times on different days, so it never figured out when it was suppose to charge to 100%.
With a simple plist edit and zapping the PRAM, you can set the charge limit to 120% and the phone lasts even longer.
With my Charge Limit set to 80%:
I still have 100% battery health on my 15 Pro Max, after a heavy year of use!
This never would have happened on a previous phone of mine.
I still have 100% battery health on my 15 Pro Max, after a heavy year of use!
This never would have happened on a previous phone of mine.
Awesome! That is when the phone usually tiggers the change in battery health is a major OS update.
Would you think 90% limit would do something similar in a year?
Without being an engineer, I would say no - because not as many battery electrons would be exercised at 90%, when compared to an 80% limit.
But in real-world longevity, the difference would probably be negligible.
But what do the rest of you think?
Holding it at 90% all night would in theory hold the battery at a slightly higher voltage than holding it all night at 80% and would slightly increase the wear over time. This article below describes it well, see the included graph of charge percentage to battery voltage.
How iPhone batteries work, and how Apple manages performance over time | AppleInsider
Lithium-ion batteries such as those found in nearly every smartphone and tablet are not little, indestructable homogenous power reactors. AppleInsider delves briefly into the construction and chemistry of them, and discusses how an old battery works against not only device manufacturers, but the...
appleinsider.com
As a side note, I have the 15 Pro Max and I’ve been limiting it to 80% all year, and only just now after a year of use dropped to 99%. That said I do tend to run out right at the very end of my day, which is why I am considering keeping it at 90% going forward. (And by ”run out” mean go down to 20% which is generally the lower accepted limit.)
Nice article, Tim.
I have kept my 15 Pro Max Battery Limit at 80% all year, and rarely do I ever let it get below 40%.
But still my OCD is going to expect mine to fall below 100% at any time, after your post 😄
I have kept my 15 Pro Max Battery Limit at 80% all year, and rarely do I ever let it get below 40%.
But still my OCD is going to expect mine to fall below 100% at any time, after your post 😄
Thanks for the article! Great read. I only am only thinking I will use the 90% limit because I have been using the 14PM and I am going to a 16 Pro, so I am worried if I go with the 80% limit I will never make it through the day. Well not without almost completely running the battery down.Holding it at 90% all night would in theory hold the battery at a slightly higher voltage than holding it all night at 80% and would slightly increase the wear over time. This article below describes it well, see the included graph of charge percentage to battery voltage.
How iPhone batteries work, and how Apple manages performance over time | AppleInsider
Lithium-ion batteries such as those found in nearly every smartphone and tablet are not little, indestructable homogenous power reactors. AppleInsider delves briefly into the construction and chemistry of them, and discusses how an old battery works against not only device manufacturers, but the...
As a side note, I have the 15 Pro Max and I’ve been limiting it to 80% all year, and only just now after a year of use dropped to 99%. That said I do tend to run out right at the very end of my day, which is why I am considering keeping it at 90% going forward. (And by ”run out” mean go down to 20% which is generally the lower accepted limit.)
From what I understand, anything below 30% is bad for the battery, which might explain the slight decline in your health to 99% in a year. Getting only slightly below the 30% threshold.
I usually have to top off the battery at least once a day when I have the charging limit set to 80% but one of the perks of working remotely, I have a charger within arm's length at all times. And yes, I do have iOS 18 installed and so far, I haven't had a big hit on my battery.
Awesome, good to hear. I ran the betas on my 14PM and the RC really took a hit on my battery. Hoping it settles a bit before my 16P gets here on Friday.
I am thinking 90% limit is where I will live. Has to be better than what I am doing now on the battery, so if I can at least be 100% after a year or 99%, I would be happy.
I got my 16 pro and I am going to try and baby it battery wise. Thinking keeping it at 90% limit will be the trick for me, and hoping this helps keep the battery health up.
That said, what do you guys use for charging? Do you refrain from using 20w bricks and wireless charging? I know wireless charging can create heat, which is bad for the battery so just curious what your guys habits are. Want the best health I can.
That said, what do you guys use for charging? Do you refrain from using 20w bricks and wireless charging? I know wireless charging can create heat, which is bad for the battery so just curious what your guys habits are. Want the best health I can.
Guys I set my Charge limit to 80% on my 16PM, plugged it in and fell asleep and woke up to it at 100%?!!! How I thought it would hard limit it at 80% but it fully charged for some reason it’s literally my first ever charge on this phone
I'm having a struggle with this topic on my new 16PM. Upgraded from a 14PM that had 84% battery capacity. I understand the reasoning behind limiting to 80%. But isn't capping the charge to 80% from day one giving me the same results of a battery that eventually loses 20% of its capacity? I'm having a hard time seeing the benefit.
"I don't want my phone to only charge to 80%, so I'm only going to charge it to 80%."
"I don't want my phone to only charge to 80%, so I'm only going to charge it to 80%."
I was down to 97% with the 80% set since launch day on an iPhone 15. With 232 cycles.
It Will periodically charge to 100% to calibrate the battery. If you never charged to 100% yet on a new phone, it’s definitely going to charge to 100 the first time and then should happen once every month or so. Normally it will stop at the 80% limit you have at.