What Is Optimized Battery Charging on iPhone? (2024)

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Make an iPhone battery last longer

By

Saikat Basu

What Is Optimized Battery Charging on iPhone? (1)

Saikat Basu

Writer

  • University of Pune (India)

Saikat has been a technology writer for 12+ years. His writing has appeared at MakeUseOf, OnlineTechTips, GoSkills, and many others.

Updated on March 25, 2022

Reviewed by

Jerrick Leger

What Is Optimized Battery Charging on iPhone? (2)

Reviewed byJerrick Leger

Jerrick Leger is a CompTIA-certified IT Specialist with more than 10 years' experience in technical support and IT fields. He is also a systems administrator for an IT firm in Texas serving small businesses.

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Wondering why your iPhone stops charging beyond 80% at night when it's plugged into a power outlet? Apple's Optimized Battery Charging is at work. Let's learn more about it and how it protects the iPhone's battery by learning more about your charging habits.

How Does Optimized Battery Charging Work on an iPhone?

The lithium-ion battery on our mobile devices is the critical failure point. They have a finite amount of life, and a rapidly depleting battery can significantly cause dissatisfaction on an expensive iPhone. Optimized Battery Charging is a default feature on all iPhones running iOS 13 and later.

Optimized Battery Charging helps to improve battery health with these steps:

  • The iPhone monitors your everyday phone usage and tracks when you connect it to a charger for an extended period. For instance, when you go to sleep at night.
  • iPhone's Optimized Battery Charging charges the battery to 80% when it's plugged in and not used.
  • It predicts when you will take it off the charger and delays charging to 100% until then.

Optimized Battery Charging stops the electrical current making the chemicals react inside the lithium-ion battery. Then, it uses an algorithm to estimate when to recharge the battery entirely to 100% when it needs to. Optimizing the chemical behavior of the battery helps to slow the natural aging of the battery.

To enable or disable Optimized Battery Charging, select Settings > Battery > Battery Health > Optimized Battery Charging.

What Is Optimized Battery Charging on iPhone? (3)

Is Optimized Battery Charging Good?

Keeping the battery at 100% charge while plugged into a power outlet for a long time is an unnecessary strain on the battery. An Apple article about Lithium-ion batteries explains an Apple lithium-ion battery charges fast for convenience and slow for longevity.

The Optimized Battery Charging feature on iOS 13 improves how Apple batteries behave. It stops charging the phone beyond 80% even with trickle charge as it has learned you may not need a fully charged phone right now. Instead, the charge is activated just before you take it off the charger.

The feature works well overnight if you have regular sleeping habits. It will activate just before your usual wake-up time to give you a fully charged phone.

Does Optimized Battery Charging Charge Slower?

Optimized Battery Charging stops charging at 80%. It will only charge the remaining 20% at a predetermined time, depending on when you wake up. So, this method is much slower than fast charging, which can charge your phone in minutes but at the cost of long-term battery health.

When you want to charge your phone to 100% immediately, disable Optimized Battery Charging from iPhone's Settings and let it finish charging.

To make Optimized Battery Charging work, allow iOS to learn daily behavior and especially your sleeping habits over time. As this data is at the core of the technology, Optimized Battery Charging can fail if you have irregular sleeping hours. It also won't work if you don't keep it connected to a charger for an extended period when asleep.

Apple also says optimized charging is triggered only in locations where you spend the most time, like your home and office. You must enable location services for optimized charging to work correctly.

How to Fix it When Optimized Battery Charging is Not Working on iPhone 13

FAQ

  • What is optimized battery charging on AirPods Pro?

    Like the optimized battery-charging feature in iOS 13, newer AirPods (Pro and third-generation) feature optimized charging to help maintain battery health. This feature is enabled by default, but if you want to turn it off or turn it back on if it was disabled, open Settings on your paired iOS device and tap Bluetooth > More Information (i). Then, toggle Optimized Battery Charging on or off.

  • What happens if I turn off optimized battery charging?

    If you turn off optimized battery charging on your iPhone, the device will charge to 100 percent without stopping at an 80 percent charge. However, if you disable and enable this feature frequently, the iPhone won’t have a chance to learn your daily charging habits. For best results, keep optimized battery charging on to improve the feature and maintain battery health.

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What Is Optimized Battery Charging on iPhone? (2024)

FAQs

Is optimized battery charging good for iPhone? ›

With iOS 13 and later, Optimized Battery Charging is designed to reduce the wear on your battery and improve its lifespan by reducing the time your iPhone spends fully charged. When the feature is enabled, your iPhone will delay charging past 80% in certain situations.

What is the 80% limit on my iPhone? ›

When you choose 80% Limit, your iPhone will charge up to about 80 percent and then stop charging. If the battery charge level gets down to 75 percent, charging will resume until your battery charge level reaches about 80 percent again.

What is the optimized charge limit? ›

Optimized Charge Limit learns from your daily usage to determine when to charge to an optimized limit and when to allow a full charge. Optimized Charge Limit is on by default when you set up your Apple Watch.

At what percentage should I charge my iPhone? ›

It's best to charge it when it goes below 20%, primarily to avoid the risk of it going to zero when you don't have a charger available, and to prevent unexpected shutdowns when you might need the phone.

What is the disadvantage of optimized battery charging? ›

Cons. Inconvenience:If you have an irregular schedule, or if you often need to charge your phone quickly, Optimized Battery Charging can cause some inconvenience. Because it's designed to finish charging close to when you usually start using your phone, it might not always be fully charged when you need it to be.

Is 80% charging better than optimized charging? ›

I recommend using the optimized option. By limiting my iPhone's battery charge to 80% for two days, I've noticed that not only does my iPhone need to be charged more frequently than before, but the battery life also drops to 99%. Therefore, it's best to stick with the optimized option! "Optimized" means just that.

Is it better to charge iPhone to 80 or 100? ›

For optimal battery health, it's recommended to charge your phone between 20% and 80%. It's best to avoid extremes, such as letting the battery reach 0% or consistently charging it to 100%.

What is the difference between optimized charging and 80 limit? ›

A1: Optimized Battery Charging works by learning your charging habits. It stops charging when it reaches 80%, and then completes the rest 20% before you need it. 80% Limit, on the other hand, is a way to restrict charging to a maximum of 80%.

Is 85% battery health good or bad iPhone? ›

You might think that because your iPhone's maximum capacity begins at 100%, it's the only condition that can be considered optimal. However, that's not quite true. Apple considers any iPhone with a battery capacity of 80% or above to be in optimal condition.

Should I limit charging to 80? ›

It's important to know about the “80 % rule” if you're on a long-distance drive in an EV. When it's time to charge, it's often smarter to stop at 80% and then get back on the road, instead of waiting for the battery to completely fill up. Doing so maximizes your use of time.

What does optimized charging do? ›

Optimised Charging is a feature found on iPhones and Android phones. It is designed to extend the life of the battery by slowing down the rate of charge when the phone is not in use. Battery life and performance is often one of the deciding factors in a smartphone purchase decision.

Should I leave my iPhone charging overnight? ›

You can charge your iPhone every night even if the battery isn't fully depleted. iPhone automatically stops charging when the battery is fully charged, so it's safe to keep your iPhone connected to a charger overnight. Charging resumes automatically if your battery level drops below 95 percent.

What is the best time to charge iPhone? ›

Maintain good battery health

It is always recommended by experts to start charging your iPhone when it hits 25 percent. Similarly, only charging the battery up to 85 percent will help the iPhone's battery to maintain good battery health and deliver extended battery life.

Should you turn off optimized battery charging? ›

If you want to charge your iPhone the old-fashioned way, meaning it will charge up to 100% and continue charging so it stays at 100%, you can just turn off Optimized Battery Charging. I wouldn't recommend turning it off though.

Is it good to keep optimised battery charging on? ›

Why should you use it? Using optimised battery charging means that your phone will have a much longer lifespan. There's nothing worse than having a handset that works great but won't hold a charge for more than a few hours, and this feature should help prevent that from happening.

Should I keep on optimized battery charging or off? ›

Go to the Battery section and then click on Adaptive preferences. On the next screen that appears, enable the Adaptive charging toggle. Google notes that when the feature is enabled, the battery lifespan of your Pixel device may increase as the phone will steadily charge during longer charging periods.

Should I stop charging at 80? ›

There are two reasons: charging performance and battery longevity. Most of the time you should only charge an EV to 80% because charging rates slow down dramatically past the 80% mark. And two, the long-term health of your vehicle's battery pack is improved when kept below 100%.

Should I turn off battery optimization? ›

Android™ devices with the Battery optimization setting (Android 8. x and lower) can enhance battery life by placing apps in Doze mode or App Standby. The optimization setting is enabled by default. Disabling optimization may impact the device's battery life.

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