BRITS basking in this week’s sunny weather need to watch out for a costly iPhone mistake.
UK temperatures are set to rise as high as 29C on Thursday, and millions will head outdoors – but there’s a hidden danger you’ll want to avoid.
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Heat is one of the worst things for any gadget with a battery inside – your iPhone included.
In fact, too much heat can cause permanent damage to your iPhone.
It means that your iPhone can stop working properly, slow down, and ultimately deliver less battery life per charge.
“Low- or high-temperature conditions might cause your device to change its behaviour to regulate its temperature,” Apple explained
“Using an iOS or iPadOS device in very hot conditions can permanently shorten battery life.”
Temperatures don’t need to rise particularly high to damage your phone either.
It turns out that a hot summer day is enough to cause major problems.
“It’s especially important to avoid exposing your device to ambient temperatures higher than 35° C (95° F), which can permanently damage battery capacity,” Apple warned.
“That is, your battery won’t power your device as long on a given charge.
“Charging the device in high ambient temperatures can damage it further.”
The tech giant added: “Even storing a battery in a hot environment can damage it irreversibly.”
Even if the outside air temperature isn’t as high as 35C, that doesn’t mean that you’re safe.
Temperatures of gadgets can rise very quickly.
For instance, Apple warns that leaving your iPhone in the car is a major problem – because temperatures can then rise above the recommended 45C maximum storage cut-off.
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“Don’t leave your device in your car because temperatures in parked cars can exceed this range,” Apple said.
Using your iPhone out in direct sunlight, charging it up in the heat, or doing heavy tasks like gaming or streaming without Wi-Fi can all cause temperatures to soar.
And once your iPhone starts to feel very hot, that’s bad news for the battery.
CHECK YOURSELF
You can check how healthy your battery is at any time.
WHAT NOT TO DO!
Apple says avoid these activities…
- Leaving your device in a car on a hot day
- Leaving your device in direct sunlight for an extended period of time
- Using certain features in hot conditions or direct sunlight for an extended period of time, such as GPS tracking or navigation in a car, playing a graphics-intensive game or using augmented-reality apps
If your iPhone is getting hot, Apple says you might notice these changes…
- Charging, including wireless charging, slows or stops
- The display dims or goes black
- Mobile radios enter a low-power state; the signal might weaken during this time
- The camera flash or other camera features might be temporarily disabled
- In some apps or features, performance is reduced with lower frame rates or increased processing times
Picture Credit:
Just unlock your iPhone then head into Settings > Battery > Battery Health.
You can see your Battery Health read-out, which shows how it’s performing.
And then you can look at Maximum Capacity, which lists a percentage read-out.
This shows how much charge your iPhone battery can hold compared to when it was new.
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The Maximum Capacity will drop over time as you charge up (and then discharge) your iPhone battery through normal use.
You’d normally expect about 80% capacity after 500 full charge cycles (look at Cycle Count), which typically takes about two years.
But letting your iPhone get hot too often will make it degrade faster.
BAD BILL
An unhealthy battery means you’ll need to charge more often.
And it can also reduce the overall performance of your iPhone too.
Once your battery gets very bad, you’ll start to struggle to get a day’s use out of it.
That means you’ll likely want to fork out for an upgraded model, which is expensive.
However, there’s a cheaper way – although it still lands you with a bill.
IPHONE BATTERY SWAP – HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
Here’s how much you’ll pay for iPhone battery replacements in the UK
iPhone 5 Series
iPhone SE Series
- iPhone SE (1st gen) – £N/A
- iPhone SE (2nd gen) – £65
- iPhone SE (3rd gen) – £65
iPhone 6 Series
- iPhone 6 – £N/A
- iPhone 6s – £N/A
- iPhone 6s Plus – £N/A
iPhone 7 Series
- iPhone 7 – £65
- iPhone 7 Plus – £65
iPhone 8 Series
- iPhone 8 – £65
- iPhone 8 Plus – £65
iPhone X Series
iPhone XR/XS Series
- iPhone XR – £85
- iPhone XS – £85
- iPhone XS Max – £85
iPhone 11 Series
- iPhone 11 – £85
- iPhone 11 Pro – £85
- iPhone 11 Pro Max – £85
iPhone 12 Series
- iPhone 12 mini – £85
- iPhone 12 – £85
- iPhone 12 Pro – £85
- iPhone 12 Pro Max – £85
iPhone 13 Series
- iPhone 13 mini – £85
- iPhone 13 – £85
- iPhone 13 Pro – £85
- iPhone 13 Pro Max – £85
iPhone 14 Series
- iPhone 14 – £95
- iPhone 14 Plus – £95
- iPhone 14 Pro – £95
- iPhone 14 Pro Max – £95
iPhone 15 Series
- iPhone 15 – £95
- iPhone 15 Plus – £95
- iPhone 15 Pro – £95
- iPhone 15 Pro Max – £95
iPhone 16 Series
- iPhone 16 – £95
- iPhone 16 Plus – £95
- iPhone 16 Pro – £109
- iPhone 16 Pro Max – £109
Picture Credit: Apple
You can purchase a battery replacement at the Apple Store, which usually costs less than £100.
This will give you like-new battery life, and can even boost iPhone performance too.
It’s a far cheaper option than upgrading to a new model, and will let you squeeze more life out of your iPhone.
So to save yourself some money (by avoiding upgrades or battery replacements), keep your iPhone nice and cool.
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