If the battery percentage of your iPhone or iPad is not correct, it is time to calibrate the battery. This tip explains how to do that.
Calibrating your battery
It may happen that the battery of your iPhone or iPad runs out faster than usual. It also sometimes happens that the battery shows other strange behavior: for example, the percentage lingers at 24%, while you know that the battery is completely full. It has also happened regularly in the past that iPhones and iPads suddenly switch off at a certain percentage, for example 18%. With all these problems, the display of the battery meter is not good. You can fix this by calibrating the battery of the iPhone or iPad and in this tip we explain how that works. If you want to know how to calibrate the MacBook battery, we have a separate tip for that.
- Calibration: this is how it works
- How does it work?
Calibrate battery from iPhone or iPad
While you think that there is still 18% battery charge, the battery is actually almost empty. This can happen if the battery status display is not correct. To make the battery status more accurate, take the following steps:
- Connect the iPhone or iPad to the wall socket with the original USB charger (preferably no unofficial cables).
-
Hard reset (see below) until the Apple logo appears. The battery is now calibrated.
- Charge the battery to 100%. Charging is much slower at the last percentages.
- When the battery is at 100%, leave the iPhone or iPad on the charger for another 60 to 90 minutes.
You will see that the battery display of the iPhone or iPad has now become much more accurate.
A hard reset works like this on an iPhone 8 or later:
- Briefly press the volume up button.
- Then quickly press the volume down button quickly.
- Then press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears.
If you have an iPhone 7 or earlier, here are the instructions for resetting your iPhone:
How does battery calibration work?
The iPhone’s battery has an internal chip that calculates how much energy is left. You have to recalibrate this from time to time, otherwise the battery will make an incorrect estimate. Calibrating the battery will keep the battery operating as efficiently as possible. In addition, the percentage in the menu bar is better. The tip below explains how to make the battery percentage visible in the menu bar.
Each battery has a limited life. Initially you can still charge up to 100%, the maximum capacity. As the battery ages, it will no longer be able to charge fully and the voltage will not hold for as long.
Nowadays it is no longer necessary to drain your battery periodically, as was previously recommended. The lithium-ion batteries that you find in today’s iPhones and iPads are of better quality and work in a different way. You keep these batteries in good condition by charging them to about 80% and charging them at about 20%. Fast charging and charging with a lot of heat development is bad for the battery.
Apple expects the iPhone battery to still have 80% of its original capacity after 500 charging cycles. The iPad involves 1000 charging cycles.
If you’re still having issues with a fast draining battery then your iPhone or iPad battery may be quite old. After charging about a thousand times, the health of your battery continues to deteriorate.
More tips about the iPhone battery:
- View battery percentage on iPhone and iPad: this is how you can make it visible
- 30 tips to extend your iPhone battery life
- How often is the battery of your iPhone or iPad charged?
- With the battery graph on the iPhone you get more insight into your battery life
- iPhone battery replacement: These are the options if the battery gets worse
- With optimized charging, your iPhone battery is better protected
- Measure battery usage per app on your iPhone and iPad
.