7 iPhone Battery Charging Tips for Prolonged Lifespan
Last updated on December 13th, 2014 at 11:22 am
Posted in TILs by Tyrone on March 3, 2014
iPhone 5 charging.
My point is that an iPhone user must first learn how to properly charge his device before learning how to lengthen its discharge. Both processes are strongly connected. We need to take in consideration that in order to lengthen the lifetme of an iPhone battery we need to ensure that a charge cycle is performed properly and that it lasts as long as possible. We need to maintain your battery strength close to 100% of its factory value (400 cycles), for as long as possible. Else, things could spiral out of control and you could end up charging your phone twice a day.
As we know, the iPhone’s battery is not user-replaceable, it must be officially replaced by Apple Authorized Service Provider or the warranty is void. Your iPhone has one year limited warranty that covers replacement of a defective battery. After that you can either send it off for expensive and inconvenient service, or replace the phone. Let’s try to avoid this though. Here are our 7 charging tips!
1. Safe Voltage Limit
Don’t drop the battery charge to low. Battery cell has its own safe-voltage-limit (~ 3 V). iPhone battery is vulnerable to damage if the low voltage limit is crossed. This means that you should avoid getting the “Low Battery” warning to frequently. iPhones are set to issue this warning when battery percentage reaches 20%!
2. Charge to Power Outlet
I always recommend to charge your iPhone to a power outlet instead of charging it via USB using your computer or notebook. Using an outlet ensures faster and healthier charging!
If you don’t have a choice and need to use your notebook or computer take in consideration that charging is stopped whenever your device enters sleep mode. Laptops also run out of battery fast if they are not plugged-in to a power source while loading your iPhone. More, charging times via USB is around 20% slower.
3. Avoid Termal Shocks
Elevated temperatures can hasten permanent capacity loss for iPhone battery. Keep your phone at room temperature, that’s around 72° F or 22° C. Any ambient temperature situated between 59 – 86° F or 15 – 30° C is OK.
– If you notice your iPhone getting excessively warm during charging and you are using an iPhone case, remove the case to let the phone cool itself!
– Never leave your cell phone in your car and protect it as much as possible from overheating or freezing! Temperature warnings will prompt you immediately when your iPhone is out of its comfort zone.
– If you play resource intensive games or run apps that heavily solicit your device and cause overheating, pause until normal temperature is restored!
4. High Battery Percentage
Avoid frequent full discharges. Charge your iPhone more often as the Lithium-ion battery works best if you recharge it whenever convenient.
It’s always preferable to charge from 50% to 100% compared to charging from 10% to 60%. do care to maintain your battery percentage in the higher numbers! To learn how to activate battery percentage display on your iPhone please read here.
5. Battery Charging Time
It’s recommended to know how much it takes to charge your Apple device. This way you can manage the battery percentage better and decide when to charge your phone in order to ensure maximum battery percentage while living home.
Our tests show that an active iPhone (switched on, with Data and Wi-Fi connections enabled) charges in exactly 1h and 55 minutes from 20% to 100% if the device stays locked during this time frame.
6. Unplug iPhone at 100%
I would recommend you to unplug your iPhone when battery reaches 100%. Don’t take this to the extreme and check your device every 5 minutes, but you should disconnect the charger when you notice that process is completed. Leaving your device connected to the power outlet for hours after reaching 100% could cause repeated small charges that can effect your battery in a negative way.
7. Regular Usage Needed
Use and charge your iPhone regularly to ensure optimal battery life. However, if you do need to store your device for a longer period of time , never do it with the battery fully discharged. Apply some charge before storage, and then charge fully before use.
I wanted to thank you for helping me learn more about maintaining the battery life on your iPhone. One thing that I liked was that you talked about charging it using an outlet rather than using a USB with your computer because it ensures faster and healthier charging. I have been thinking about getting a new iPhone, and so I want to be able to preserve the battery as best I can! Thanks for the help!
What do you think about the recent announcements by Apple about discounted battery replacements?
https://www.apple.com/iphone-battery-and-performance/
They introduced updates in iOS 11 that slowed down iPhone 6 devices with older batteries. People suspected the slowdowns for a year, but only now they addressed it directly.
If you research Lithium Ion batteries, you should ideally maintain your battery percentage between 75% and 25%. The most effective is 75% and 65%, but 75-25 is more realistic. The extremes above and below those limits cause stresses within the battery that decrease the overall capacity or to make it convenient, 80/20 because that is when your phone will turn on and off Low-Power mode.
This is totally WRONG that 50%-100% is better than 10%-60%. Fully charged Lithium ion batteries aging faster than in low batteries. Low batteries only get aging if it is in extreme (e.g. 0%-5%) for a prolong period (e.g. over 1 day without recharge).
DO RESEARCH PLEASE!
The advice to keep your batteries at a high percentage is a bad one. Following this advice will shorten the life of your battery. Lithium batteries degrade faster at a higher percentage. Lithium batteries are typically shipped with 60% charge level. Why would manufacturers do that?
So unplugging if your battery is at 80% is better than letting it charge to full.