In a few days we will attend a important update for iPhone. And iOS 17.4 brings many new features, especially highlighting the new possibility of installing application stores other than the App Store for users in the European Union. However, there is another somewhat particular novelty regarding the degradation of the iPhone battery.
In this version what we find is new information on the iPhone 15 battery finally allowing us to understand how deterioration works, providing greater context. Added to this is a recent study from Apple which provides good news regarding this wear.
How to Check Battery Health on an iPhone with iOS 17.4
The process of knowing the degradation state of the battery is known as battery health on iOS. There is an identical way to see it in all models since iOS 12, although the information obtained in newer models changes slightly.
On iPhone 14 and earlier models
Since this is a feature introduced years ago, all iPhones compatible with iOS 12 have it as standard. So on any model from iPhone 5s onwards it can be viewed the same way (including iPhone SE).
- Open Settings.
- Enter the section Battery.
- Click on Battery health and charging.
Once done, you will see information such as maximum capacity which refers to the health of the battery. This is shown with a percentage that starts at 100% and decreases as it deteriorates. What is considered normal is that it is between 80% and 100%, while if it is 79% or less it means that the battery has already deteriorated significantly and a replacement is recommended.
Likewise, in some models we can also find what is called optimized loading and it is the “culprit” that, very often, the iPhone only charges to 80%. Based on numerous studies, Apple and other manufacturers have established that the greatest deterioration of lithium batteries occurs during the last charging phase, which ranges from 80% to 100%.
Therefore, activating this optimized charging function reduces the impact by allowing the iPhone, automatically based on our charging habits, to know when we will need the mobile phone and delay this part of the charging. For example, if we charge it at night, it can reach 80% at 4 a.m. and stop it until 6:30 a.m. so that at 7:00 a.m. when the alarm goes off it is already at 100%.
Unlike what we will see for the iPhone 15, for these there is no information on battery cycles. However, there is a way to check the charging cycles of any iPhone using a simple trick which we discuss in depth in the linked article.
On the iPhone 15
On newer iPhone models This doesn’t change the process, but the information we get. The steps to follow on an iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are therefore identical:
What previously appeared in this section and what appears now
- Open Settings.
- Enter the section Battery.
- Click on Battery health.
Now though, The information we find is different from other iPhones and also from iPhone 15 with iOS 17.3.1 and earlier. Firstly, we observe that as soon as we enter the section of Battery We can find a legend that tells us if the battery status is normal or not. Already upon entering we find different information.
Until iOS 17.3.1, checking the charge cycles of an iPhone 15 was done in Settings > General > Information
In addition to checking again if the status is normal or the battery health percentage (which also implies that 80% to 100% is normal), we find the data of the number of charge cycles of the iPhone. That is, how many times a recharge was done from 0 to 100%. This is not really new, since it could already be seen before iOS 17.4, only then you had to go to Settings > General > Information.
Likewise, we see that this panel also offers other data that was previously found elsewhere. It’s about date of manufacture and first use of the iPhone. It’s not that this is extremely relevant data in a normal way, but it is for analyzing a possible factory defect of the battery.
The central idea is in any case that of give more context to battery information, providing not only the charge cycles present, but also the dates in order to better understand if the health percentage presented is normal or not. Likewise, a “More information” link has also been added to be consulted on the Apple site.
Apple also noticed that the iPhone 15 battery degrades more slowly
As we already know, batteries degrade whether we like it or not. This degradation is caused by different elements such as the temperatures to which the device is exposed, but especially the number of recharges (cycles) that have been consumed. Looking ahead to iOS 17.4, Apple revealed a study that indicates less degradation of the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max.
It’s not that they magically have better batteries or that they won’t degrade. Until now, Apple claimed that all of its recent iPhones had a battery capable of withstanding 500 cycles with a capacity of at least 80%. However, new studies carried out recently have shown that iPhone 15 lasts twice as many cycles as previous models: 1,000 cycles. We insist that this was already the case when it was launched, but there was no trace of this.
So while for example with an iPhone 14 you can reach 500 charge cycles and the battery health is around 80%, it is assumed that the iPhone 15 with 500 cycles will hold up much better. They would only reach that 80% health after about 1,000 cycles. It is at this point (when it drops below 80%) that Apple recommends replacing the battery.
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