There’s good news for iPhone 15 owners: your battery will last longer than previously thought. According to Apple, anyway.
In a recently updated support document (as spotted by 9to5Mac), the company states that “the batteries in iPhone 15 models are designed to retain 80% of their original capacity at 1,000 full charge cycles under ideal conditions. But this has changed from the original figure of 500 cycles, which Apple still gives for the iPhone 14 and earlier versions. By “iPhone 15 models,” Apple means the four handsets released last fall: the 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max.
The change is the result of new tests. Apple says it conducted tests in which the phones’ batteries were fully charged and discharged 1,000 times “under specific circumstances representing common use cases.” This led it to update the estimated lifespan to reflect improvements in the latest generation of iPhone’s power management systems.
For now, this translates to a support document that makes the newer phones particularly attractive and could thus encourage some holdouts to upgrade their current handsets. But Apple admitted that it might still update the numbers on older iPhones, which after all benefit from many of the same power management systems introduced in iOS updates. He’s currently “studying” the iPhone 14 and earlier to see if their numbers need to change.
It’s well known that rechargeable batteries in iPhones and other electronic devices degrade over time and will eventually need to be replaced, but it is possible to slow down this process by taking care of your device and not using up the battery unnecessarily. The 80% charge limit feature is a good place to start.
