For the past year I’ve been carrying out an experiment. I’ve been charging my iPhone in what I believe to be the most optimal way to maximize battery life.
I’m a heavy iPhone user. The thing barely leaves my side, and I put hours of usage on it almost every day.
A couple of years ago I wrote about how I wore out the battery in my iPhone 8 Plus in less than 18 months.
I’ve been buying the “Plus” and “Pro Max” iPhones to get the bigger battery and longer battery life.
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In a few days, my iPhone 11 Pro Max will be a year old. And it’s had a hard life. It’s had bumps and scrapes, and been everywhere from air-conditioned offices to the muddy wildernesses of the UK.
But, I’ve been charging it in a particular way.
Before I get to that, how’s my battery doing after almost a year?
According to the excellent coconutbattery app (I highly recommend this, and recommend you pay the few dollars to get the Pro version and support the developer), my iPhone 11 Pro Max has undergone 269 charge cycles, and the battery is capable of holding 92.7 percent of its original capacity.
coconutBattery data on my iPhone 11 Pro Max
Not bad for a battery that’s more than halfway through its rated 500 recharge cycles.
I’m pleased with that.
And remember, I’m a heavy use. I’ve previously estimated that a more usual heavy user might take more than three years to hit the 500 recharge cycle mark.
So, how have I been charging my iPhone?
- Overnight charging: First, it gets a full charge overnight, using the cable and the stock Apple charger. No wireless charging, no fast charging.
- Optimized Battery Charging: Keeping the charging time regular means I get the benefit of iOS’s Optimized Battery Charging feature.
- If I need a recharge during the day, I don’t recharge beyond 60 percent.
- If I’m not going to be using my iPhone for a few days (I’ve done a few days of “tech detox”), then I make sure the battery is about 50 percent charged.
I believe that this has given me the best possible battery life with little or nothing in the way of compromise.
