Optimized Battery Charging Not Working On iPhone? (iOS 14)
iOS 14 Optimized Battery Charging bug?
Is optimized batter charging not working on your iPhone after updating to iOS 14? You’re not the only one! We’ve recently received inquiries from at least three users that claim that the feature isn’t triggered anymore after they updated their devices to the latest iOS generation.
All three cases have one thing in common, the model: iPhone SE 2, Apple’s new low-end terminal released in April 2020. Optimized battery charging works as expected on iPhone 11, 11 Pro, XS, XR and even older models like the iPhone 7. However, it seems that the most recent smartphone released by Apple, the iPhone SE 2nd gen is affected by this iOS 14 glitch.
How To Check If Optimized Battery Charging Works
If you’re not sure if this feature works on your device you can check the Battery Level graph available in Settings -> Battery.
The graph highlights the time when your iPhone is connected to the charger with the help of a green lightning theme. Each bar represents an hour. If you see that charging is paused at 80%, before it goes for the full 100% it means that the feature works. If your iPhone charges directly to 100% it means that optimized battery charging isn’t working.
Fact: Optimized battery charging is configured to work during nighttime. It usually doesn’t kick-in if you charge your iPhone during daytime because it assumes that you need your device to juice up as fast as possible.
How To Fix Optimized Battery Charging
The following tips have been provided by Apple support staff to one of our readers that reported the problem:
1. Disable & Re-Enable Feature
- 1. Open Settings.
- 2. Scroll for Battery.
- 3. Tap on Battery Health
- 4. Disable Optimized Battery Charging.
- 5. Charge your iPhone during the night.
- 6. Enable the feature back in the morning and the feature should work in the upcoming full-charge cycle.
2. Restore Device In DFU Mode
A more extreme fix also recommended by Apple support is to restore your device with the help of DFU Mode. However, this is an extreme solution and hasn’t been confirmed to fix the optimized battery charging problem.
3. Software Update
iOS 14.0.1 hasn’t fixed this problem according to those that have reported it, but we do recommend you to update in case you haven’t already.
Apple has stopped signing iOS 13.7.1 which means that you can’t downgrade from iOS 14 in case you planned to revert to a previous version that does not included the optimized battery charging issue.
If this problem will be fixed in an upcoming update, we’ll update this article as soon as available.
Why Is Optimized Battery Charging Important?
This is a new feature that Apple introduced starting with iOS 13. It has the role to extend the lifetime and performance of your iPhone’s battery, by learning your charging pattern and filling the battery to 100& only close before you’re scheduled wake-up time. This helps prevent premature battery ageing and keeps the Battery Health status at a high level for a prolonged time.
Is optimized battery charging not working on your iPhone too? Let us know, with the help of the comments section available below. Please mention the iPhone model and software version. As soon as we have more confirmations, we’ll send feedback to Apple about this potential iOS 14 bug!
Related: iOS 14 brings optimized battery charging for AirPods!
I am facing this issue on my iPhone SE 2nd Gen.
iphone 6s, iOS 14.0.1. I am having the issue of optimize battery charging not working. will try turning it off and charging overnight and turning it back on tomorrow morning and checking to see if it works during the next charging cycle. Will update my comment/reply after the next charging cycle to let you know if it fixes the issue.
Kurt, thanks for your feedback. Optimized battery charging won’t start immediately after you apply this tip. It will take a few days, but please let us know the outcome.
iphone 6s, iOS 14.0.1. Issue still not fixed. Starting today I will leave optimize battery off for 2 complete charging cycles then I will turn it on for several days to see if this works. My battery health Maximum Capacity is at 88%, Apple Support does not recommend having battery changed unless capacity is below 82%. I have turned off as much of the background operation as I feel possible as well as operating in low power mode to save battery charge, but doesn’t seem to have any effect. I will use the phone, notice the battery percentage is about 62%, set it down, pick it up and the percentage will be at 2%. Even tried to shut down and restart the phone, when shut down percentage at 70% and upon start up it would drain to 1%. Then put on charger and would go to 65% instantly. I may get the battery changed regardless of Apples recommendations. Thanks
Kurt, is your iPhone 6S running on its original battery? Or you’ve already replaced it once? If the device is using an aftermarket replacement battery, it’s common for battery percentage indicator to display erratic readings. You should use genuine parts if your budget allows you. Keep us posted.
Have not replaced the battery yet, and have only had the iphone for 3 years since new. I will only replace it with genuine apple parts if need be. FYI, what I tried now is charged the battery fully with optimize battery feature off, then since 5:25 am yesterday morning used the phone until the phone shut down on its own because of no battery power, this took 24 hours. Yesterday at 6:30 pm it hit 1% power (13 hours) after fully charged. It ran on 1% power using more frequently to try to drain battery until 11:30 pm (5 hours) still at 1%. Then I set it on the counter over night and at 5:20 this morning was able to use the phone foe 5 minutes before the phone shut down on its own and would not restart, at that time I recharged it, so from 5:25 to 9:00 it charged to 100%. I have used it allot in the last 2 hours and it’s still at 100% when in the past it would of been down to 70-75% by now. So for now I think the process for recalibrating the battery is working. Thanks for you help and web site. Think APPLE would of been more helpful! Thanks again!
Kurt, thanks for all the details. Some battery recalibration tips can be found here too: https://www.iphonetricks.org/how-to-recalibrate-the-iphone-battery/
Optimized Battery Charging Is not working on my iPhone 11, my phone always charges until 100%
Do you have a regular charging pattern?
A brand new iphone 12 mini. I checked and it never worked. My iphone now lasts only half a day. At the beginning with extensive use 1.5 days. :(
Did you update the iOS version in the meantime? how long did it take to drop rom 1.5 days to 0.5 days? How old is your device now?