4 habits I take advantage of to extend my iPhone’s battery health

Often, this sort of guide is about specific settings to change or unusual tricks you can pull. While there are iOS settings you can change that will impact the longevity of your iPhone, when it comes to battery health, personal habits matter equally, if not more. It’s the same as with an electric car or PEV — it’s just that people are more willing to drive a phone into the ground, since it doesn’t cost as much to replace the battery in one as it does, say, in a Nissan Leaf or Veteran Patton.

To make sure we’re on the same page here, battery health is distinct from battery life, at least in the way most people use the terms. Whereas life refers to how long a device can keep running on a single charge, health is about the ebb of that capacity over the years. Some level of degradation is inevitable. But if you treat your iPhone right, you’ll be able to replace it when you want to, not because it stops making it to the end of the workday.

1

Never letting my iPhone drain near zero

Don’t abuse your battery

Something I’m perpetually amazed by is the number of people who let their battery dwindle below 20 or even 10% before they consider plugging in. If nothing else, your smartphone is a lifeline, so running on fumes is taking a serious risk. You never know when you’re going to encounter a power outage, a natural disaster, or a medical emergency. At best you’ll have to find time to charge on the go, or cross your fingers that someone else has a charger or power pack handy.

As far as battery health is concerned, the issue is strain. Regularly draining a lithium-ion battery below 20% can accelerate the degradation process. In fact your iPhone is designed to shut down before it ever reaches true zero, since that would affect not just the battery, but components that demand a minimum voltage to function. Without that minimum power, there’s a risk of permanent damage that could turn your phone into a brick.

Yes, it is alright to let your phone dip below 20% every once in a while. But as a rule, it’s best to charge before that point, switching on Low Power Mode if you need to make things last.

2

Avoiding charges to 100% (except overnight)

Working around a necessary evil

Apple

Just as you shouldn’t let your iPhone dip below 20% to avoid strain, it’s also best to avoid charging over 80%. Apple is aware of this. If you go to Settings > Battery > Charging, you’ll find a slider letting you set a hard limit in five-point increments, from 80 up to 100%.

Practically speaking, however, many people can’t afford to drop down to 80%. Even when power outlets are convenient, time may not be, and Apple has yet to put a two-day battery in any iPhone model. The situation becomes worse if you actually exploit the performance of your device, say by playing a game, streaming music during a workout, or driving with wireless CarPlay.

Apple has an answer for this, too. Another option you’ll find under Settings > Battery > Charging is Optimized Battery Charging, which learns your overnight charging patterns, then holds them at 80% until shortly before you’re expected to wake up. This reduces the amount of time your phone spends at 100%, which is better than nothing.

3

Keeping temperature under control

Think twice about that car mount in the summer

Heat is one of the worst threats to your battery. Specifically, Apple warns that degradation can occur when ambient temperatures rise over 95 degrees Fahrenheit, or 35 Celsius. Charging under those conditions only exacerbates the problem, so iOS is set to cap at 80% once an iPhone starts to get too hot. In extreme scenarios, your iPhone may automatically shut down to protect both electronics and the battery.

The ideal temperature range for an iPhone, when not powered off, is between 62 and 72F (16 and 22C). Most of the time, this isn’t hard to achieve. You’re naturally going to turn on a fan or air conditioner when it starts to rise much above 72, and iPhones are built with heat dissipation in mind. That said, it’s important to keep your iPhone out of direct sunlight when it isn’t necessary, and away from artificial heat sources such as radiators and campfires. Car mounts can be hazardous, in this sense — it’s a bad idea to mount an iPhone on your windshield during a hot Texas summer.

What about cold temperatures, you ask? The good news is that while battery life temporarily shrinks, it bounces back as the weather returns to comfortable levels. Your iPhone will be fine if you go camping in the winter — all you need is a way of recharging it and keeping yourself warm.

4

Powering off during long downtimes

Drain the battery a bit first

This is exceedingly rare, but if I need to stretch battery life to the max or store an inactive iPhone for a while, I’ll power it down completely. This virtually eliminates strain, and sharply slows power loss, though not forever. I guarantee you that the iPhone that’s been sitting in your drawer since 2014 has long since run out of juice.

There are some other caveats. Apple recommends charging (or discharging) an iPhone to around 50% before putting it in storage, as leaving it at 100% may reduce capacity, and draining it to zero could prevent it from ever turning on again if it enters a deep discharge state. Also, an iPhone is best stored in a dry environment with temperatures between -4 and 113F (-20 and 45C). Avoid sticking one in a damp basement or the same closet as your furnace.

If you’re planning to store an iPhone for a very long time, you’ll need to charge it back to 50% every six months or so, preferably earlier rather than later. If it doesn’t spring to life when you power it back on, don’t panic — you may need as much as 20 minutes of charging before a near-zero iPhone is ready to roll.