Over the past year, a lot of advice has been published about charging your smartphone. For example, some claim that charging to 100% is super bad and that 80% is the golden number. Although this is a bit more nuanced, Apple has still changed tack. The iPhone 15 series has an optional limit built in.
Thanks to the limit, the iPhone battery will never charge beyond 80%. If desired, the user can choose to charge the battery to 80%, after which charging will be stopped via the software. But is charging your iPhone, iPad, AirPods, MacBook or Apple Watch up to 100% bad for the battery? We are trying to find an answer to that question.
Charge iPhone battery to 100% or 80%?
You may charge your iPhone and Apple Watch to 100% every night and have optimized charging enabled to extend battery life. Yet there are more and more users who do not charge the battery beyond 80%, why do they do that?
Charging an iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch to 80% instead of 100% is about optimizing battery life and reducing wear and tear. While it’s generally fine to charge your device to 100%, there are a few reasons why some people prefer charging to 80%.
Lithium-ion batteries have optimal lifespan when used and charged in the middle of their charge range (approximately 20-80%). By not fully charging the battery or just letting it drain, you reduce the stress and degradation that occurs when the battery is charged to 100%.
For example, the last twenty percent require extra power and this can lead to a slight increase in the temperature within the battery. By limiting the charge to 80%, heat development is minimized, which is beneficial for the life of the battery.
In addition, it is extra bad to leave a device that is charged to 100% on the charger. This can lead to an overcharged condition. Which can damage the battery and shorten its lifespan. That is why it is better to charge for short periods several times a day, rather than one whole night.
What is the profit?
Is it worth keeping the battery of your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch between 20 and 80%? The answer is yes, but it is more nuanced. The capacity of a battery decreases over the years; with normal use, the battery will last about 3 to 4 years before it falls below 80% capacity. Then you can still use the device, but it will be empty more quickly.
By limiting heat development, charging time and peaks during charging, the battery will experience less ‘stress’ and therefore have a slightly better battery capacity after 3-4 years and less wear. But what is the profit? Can you use the iPhone battery for years, months, weeks or days? The benefit may be a few weeks before you replace the battery. So it’s a trade-off.
If you really want to extend the life of a lithium-ion battery, you should ideally keep the percentage between 65 and 75%. There is also a profit to be made between 45 and 75%, but everything in between and above is worth it limited effect. It all sounds great in theory, but there are so many factors that determine the lifespan of the battery: use, ambient temperature, how you charge it, etc.
Enable optimized charging
Do you want to keep the battery of your iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods or Apple Watch in good condition and always charge it to 100%? Then it is best to enable optimized charging. The advantage of this is that the device does not keep charging all night long.
Once the device has reached 80%, it will stop charging and only continue charging just before you start using it. This is thanks to artificial intelligence and patterns that the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch or Mac recognizes. You can read more information and how to enable this in the linked tips below.
- Enable optimized charging for iPhone or iPad
- Enable optimized charging for Apple Watch
- Enable optimized charging for MacBook
- Enable optimized charging for AirPods
Set charging limit for iPhone
The iPhone 15 (Plus) and iPhone 15 Pro (Max) have a function that ensures that you cannot charge the battery beyond 80%. If you choose to set the limit, the iPhone will stop charging when 80% is reached. This means that the battery is never charged to 100%, which is slightly better for the battery. You can read how to set this up in the highlighted article below.