iPhone charging tips

This Side Up · 4 Oct 2015 at 12:13

Hey guys

After some battery charging tips for my iPhone 6 in order for maximum longevity. I have done some googling, but am left with more questions than answers!

I understand li-on batteries are different from other batteries and as such don't have a memory effect, however I have seen conflicting opinions on how to charge it.

Many people say to keep the charge between 40-80% and top up frequently throughout the day, not letting the battery get below 20% and to not charge too often from 0-100%.

I often charge my phone to 100%, after a day of normal usage, I will have between 60-80% left, which I'll charge again to 100%. Rinse-and-repeat.

Question is is this less than optimal charging method? Should I instead aim to keep my battery between 40-80%? Should I do something else?

andy_mk3 · 4 Oct 2015 at 12:18

Just forget about the worry and charge as required. I always charge my phone all night every night, have done for years. It would take a very long time, past the life of the phone generally before you notice any effect on battery life.

Eddie182 · 4 Oct 2015 at 12:30

Charge it when you need/want to charge it, that is all.

KIA · 4 Oct 2015 at 12:37

This Side Up said:
Question is is this less than optimal charging method? Should I instead aim to keep my battery between 40-80%? Should I do something else?

This is fine. Better to keep li-on topped off than drain from 100% to 0% on a regular basis.

Begbie · 4 Oct 2015 at 12:42

Just charge it when it needs changed, the likely hood is your going to change your phone within the next 2 years anyway. The batter will be fine till then.

This Side Up · 4 Oct 2015 at 13:16

Excellent stuff - thanks all

I do, perhaps once every two months or so, run the battery down and charge back to 100% to "re-calibrate" the battery, not sure if I need to bother with this though

Eddie182 · 4 Oct 2015 at 13:36

This Side Up said:
Excellent stuff - thanks all

I do, perhaps once every two months or so, run the battery down and charge back to 100% to "re-calibrate" the battery, not sure if I need to bother with this though

Don't bother. If anything that's only going to wear the battery out faster than charging before it runs down.

Brocky120 · 4 Oct 2015 at 20:36

Eddie182 said:
Don't bother. If anything that's only going to wear the battery out faster than charging before it runs down.

I do this as my battery gets below 30% once a month maybe, however, I let it down to about 5% and do a few hard resets and charge it back up.

D1craig · 4 Oct 2015 at 21:44

My 5s battery was ruined by charging maybe 10-12 times a week. I had a charger case that I used most days as I am a standby in work (sit around waiting for something to happen). I had the phone less than 24 months for it to get this way. Don't know if battery is the same as a 6.

Eddie182 · 4 Oct 2015 at 22:40

The li-ion batteries used by Apple (and pretty much everyone else) have a lifetime of around 1000 charge cycles. How you charge them doesn't really have that much of an impact, 2 half charges is pretty much the same as one full charge.

In your case of 10-12 charges a week, that would indeed wear the battery down in around 2 years. No way around that, rechargeable batteries don't last forever.

Give that li-ion cells really don't like being drained down charging before the device is fully discharged is only going to help prolong the life. Although it must be said that the power management in modern devices doesn't actually let the battery cells discharge too much.

ic1male · 20 May 2016 at 12:17

Sort of based on this topic, I have been also been reading about keeping the battery around 50-80% of charge.

Anyway, does anyone leave their chargers permanently plugged into the wall socket so that you can just plug the lightning end in with no faffing about? It's what I've done for a few years but just now my plug has gone kaput. When I plugged the cable in, the iPad went mad alternating between charging and not-charging (and beeping like mad) until I removed the cable.

When I tried a different plug with the same lightning cable, normal service resumed. So it was clearly the plug part. Having now got a new plug, I don't want the same thing to happen so I was wondering if this was a consequence of leaving it plugged in continuously.