Lithium-ion batteries used in most modern smartphones, including Apple gadgets, do not last forever and are designed to last a certain number of charge-discharge cycles. And although experts from Cupertino use a lot of algorithms to increase the battery life of their smartphones, after one or two years of active use of the iPhone, the battery begins to degrade. This is manifested by strong heating and a significant decrease in operating time. Sometimes it is 2-4 hours, and the device has to be kept on recharging almost all the time, which only exacerbates the problem.
How do you know if it’s time to change the battery without resorting to the help of service center specialists? Today you will get acquainted with all available ways to determine the degree of battery wear of your favorite “apple” gadget.
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IPhone battery life
The average Li-Ion battery life of a modern smartphone is about 2 years. If you use the iPhone intensively enough, a noticeable loss of capacity will occur within a year. It is estimated that after 500 full charges of the phone, the battery capacity decreases by 20-25% (it is assumed that a full charge is when the device is completely discharged, after which it was charged to 100%). Considering that we usually put the phone on recharge once a day, it turns out that after a year and a half, problems will begin due to the battery that has lost its former capacity.
How can this be manifested? In the deterioration of the iPhone at low temperatures – it can start to turn off even with slight frost. If you see that the phone turns off when the battery is 15-25% charged, this is also evidence of a significant loss of the original capacity.
It is believed that the limit for the number of recharge cycles is around 1000, and this is about 2-3 years of smartphone operation. The loss of capacity by 50% becomes critical – the battery is barely enough for several hours of operation. It should be borne in mind that using an aging battery is unsafe, so you need to worry about taking adequate measures in advance.
When it comes to checking iPhone battery status
A new phone is a new battery. As a rule, there is no need to monitor his condition for at least one year. Buying a used device is another matter. Here you run the risk of getting a smartphone, the battery of which is practically dead. If there is an opportunity to test the iPhone for at least a day, be sure to use it, but usually it is absent. But this does not prevent you from performing a quick assessment of the condition of the battery. How – we will tell below.
In the meantime, consider the factors indicating the need to perform such actions. We have already mentioned some of them – this is, first of all, turning off the smartphone with a sufficiently high charge level. A noticeable decrease in operating time is also considered a sign of aging of the battery. But there is one caveat here: the short period between recharge cycles may be due to the low nominal capacity of the power source. It is clear that budget models are equipped with less powerful batteries, so first you should carefully read the technical characteristics of your iPhone, and draw far-reaching conclusions based on this.
Finally, consider in which mode you are using your smartphone: gentle, medium or intensive. If you talk for an hour or more a day, and even in a vehicle moving at high speed, if you spend at least an hour a day playing games or otherwise loading the processor, then the battery will drain much faster.
By itself, this fact is not a cause of concern, but if you notice that under the same operating conditions of the iPhone, the battery charge scale drops much more intensively – then you need to check the current state of the battery. We will now tell you how this is done.
How to check iPhone battery status
There are several ways to find out the current battery capacity of an “apple” smartphone. The easiest is to use the built-in iOS tools (the method has limitations, which we will discuss), the alternative is to use a third-party application, and also with certain restrictions. Finally, the same actions can be performed using the utilities installed on a computer running Mac OS. Moreover, there are similar programs for Windows.
Simple check on iPhone with built-in iOS tools
If you have an iPhone with iOS 12, then you can quickly and easily check the battery wear: go to the main settings and select the “Battery” menu item. True, you should not completely trust the indicator of the percentage of wear, but you can use it as a guideline. If you have a smartphone with an older version of the operating system, then this method will be unavailable.
Current versions of iOS simply display a message to service the battery if it is in a critical situation, but you will find out about the problems much earlier.
Checking Battery Status on iPhone Using the App
In cases where it is impossible to use the built-in tool, you can go the other way. In particular, you can see the battery status on the iPhone 5s, which is very common in Russia, using the free Battery Life utility distributed in the AppStore. Download the application, install and run it, then tap on the “Battery” tab.
As a result, information about the number of recharge cycles performed will be displayed, and although this indicator also cannot be called valid for making a decision to replace the battery, monitoring it can be very useful. True, the utility can count the number of cycles only on devices with iOS 7-9, on the top ten this option becomes unavailable. But you can judge the condition of the battery by the percentage of the current capacity in relation to the nominal value taken as 100%. In addition, the utility will give a qualitative assessment of the battery status according to the following gradation:
- Perfect condition is typical for new iPhones;
- A good indicates a slight loss of battery capacity;
- Normal – there are no reasons for concern, the loss of charge is within the permissible range;
- Poor – the condition of the battery indicates a significant loss of capacity;
- Terrible – the battery is about to order a long life;
- Almost died – the operation of such a battery is dangerous, it needs to be changed urgently.
Checking on Mac via Mac OS Console
You can also check battery wear on iPhone through a computer:
- we connect the smartphone to the Mac using a proprietary USB cable;
- looking for and launching the Console app utility on the computer;
- in the console window, type the command “batteryhealth”, in the list that appears on the left, select our phone;
- look at what stands opposite the phrase BatteryHealth – the state of the Good level and above indicates that there is no reason for concern.
If you are not satisfied with the information content of this method, proceed to the next point.
Checking on Mac using a third-party app
Owners of iMac / MacBook have the opportunity to use the free utility coconut Battery, which allows you to assess the health of the smartphone battery in more detail than using built-in tools.
Download the application on the AppStore, and after installing it, a new icon will appear on the computer panel, clicking on which will allow you to view the battery status of your iPhone.
For detailed information, click on the Device details option.
Indicators of the displayed parameters:
- Current charge – the level of the current (at a given time) battery charge;
- Maximum charge – the value of the maximum current battery charge;
- Design capacity – nominal capacity of the power supply (initial);
- Loadcycles – the number of recharge cycles performed.
The most accurate and adequate assessment of the battery condition is obtained by subtracting the value of the Maximum charge field from the Design capacity. As a result, we get a percentage value indicating the degree of loss of charge by the battery during its operation.
Checking on a PC under Windows
If you use an “apple” smartphone, but you have a regular computer running under Windows, this does not mean that you cannot use it to find out the battery wear on the iPhone.
A program called iBackupBot will help you with this, which, by the way, has a version for Mac OS. In fact, this utility is an add-on or application to iTunes. That is, for it to work, you need to have iTunes on your computer. Note also that it is suitable for smartphones with iOS up to version 11 inclusive.
Checking algorithm:
- go to the official website of the utility developer https://www.icopybot.com/itunes-backup-manager.htm;
- scroll down the page to the table and select the desired version, in our case – for Windows;
- after downloading, install the utility on your computer using the installer, launch iBackupBot;
- we connect the iPhone to the computer using a USB cable;
- the smartphone icon should appear in the main window of the program in the lower left corner – click on it;
- in the new window on the right, click on the blue More Information link;
- in the information window that appears, go to the Battery section;
- we see approximately the same characteristics that are available in the coconut Battery program (Cycle Count, Design Capacity, Full Charge Capacity). To find out the state of the iPhone battery, subtract the Full Charge Capacity from the Design Capacity (the factory capacity of the battery), multiply the result by 100% and divide by the nominal capacity.
Is there a way to find out the state of the iPhone with more accuracy
Using the built-in iOS tools allows you to determine how worn out the battery is, very roughly. The situation is slightly better when using full-fledged diagnostic utilities like Coconut Battery or iBackupBot. Using them on an ongoing basis to monitor the status of the battery, you can detect battery problems in time and prepare in advance for replacement in the event of a significant loss of the original charge.
If you want to have more accurate and valuable information, you can’t do without disassembling the iPhone, for this you need to have the appropriate qualifications.
However, there is nothing particularly difficult in this – you need to dismantle the front panel, remove the cover, disconnect all connectors inside the device. You will also have to break the tightness of the smartphone, although if the battery needs to be replaced, the smartphone is clearly no longer under warranty.
In this case, the battery can be replaced on your own, which will save you a decent amount. Recall that this step should be resorted to only after making sure that the degree of battery wear is critical:
- the number of recharge cycles is approaching 1000;
- the drop in battery capacity exceeds 40-50%;
- with a fully charged power source, the multimeter in voltage measurement mode shows a value at the battery terminals well below 3.7 V;
- if the contact block of the battery is highly oxidized;
- if there are defects on the body in the form of concavities or bulges.
Are you still in the dark about the health of your iPhone’s battery? It’s time to use the methods outlined here to monitor battery capacity and wear. Comments, advice and remarks are welcome.