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You can irreparably damage the battery of your iPhone. Here are some daily actions to avoid to prolong your battery health.
Nestled in each iPhoneBeneath a litany of silicon, capacitors and tiny solder points is a battery. This battery is a source of consumption and will eventually run out and will need to be replaced to maintain acceptable battery life on your phone.
Ideally, you’ll have quite some time before it’s necessary to replace your battery. To make sure you get the longest life possible, here are some common actions to avoid that will harm your battery.
It’s starting to get hot in here
One action that can lead to lower battery health is high heat. Heat is the enemy of a battery. Cold isn’t a friend of batteries either, resulting in shorter run time, but that’s only temporary until your battery warms up again.
Apple says your iPhone can safely operate in temperatures up to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Furthermore, irreparable damage to the battery can occur.
Watch when you use your iPhone in the sun for too long
You can unintentionally overheat your iPhone in countless ways. Placing the screen face up in the sun, charging it while it’s in the sun, or clipping it in front of a heating grid in your car while navigating are all common actions. Your iPhone has built-in security systems to temporarily disable your iPhone in these situations to prevent further damage, but it’s best not to go into that in the first place.
Stay away from zero
Another action that users fall prey to is lowering their phone’s battery level too far. Years ago, it made sense to occasionally drain a device’s battery and then fully charge it to calibrate the internal sensor so that the percentage displayed was accurate. This is no longer the case with modern batteries.
Dropping your iPhone to 0% battery is very damaging to your battery and will shorten its overall life.
Recharge regularly, don’t wait for zero
For the best battery health, charge your iPhone regularly throughout the day so that you never run out of battery.
Long term storage
When storing your phone for a long time, do not leave the battery at 100%. Maybe you keep an old iPhone to use as a backup or to give to someone later.
Before storing the iPhone, discharge the battery to between 50% and 80%. Check it regularly and make sure that the battery is not too discharged either.
Keeping the phone fully charged also damages the battery. When you start using the device again, you may notice that the battery can no longer be charged as it used to.
It’s not rocket science
Batteries are complicated. If you want to learn more about how a battery works and why the above can damage your battery, check out our full explanation on the subject† While the intricacies of battery chemistry may send you on a loop, you don’t have to.
As long as you avoid these basics, you can keep your battery healthy for longer. Many things will also affect the health of your battery, but in such a small way that they won’t make a noticeable difference in the long run.
With care, your battery will have solid use for 18 months to 24 months before it drains below 80%. Fortunately, when it comes time to replace your battery, Apple offers an affordable replacement service.