Seriously 'underrated' iOS feature can help maximize your iPhone’s battery performance
It's the war of the operating systems, and while Apple is putting up a valiant fight, Android currently dominates the global smartphone market with a healthy 71.42% share.
Still, Apple's $3.07 trillion worth sees it far ahead of Google.
We could sit here all day and argue about whether Android or Apple is superior, but by that point, there would probably be a new iPhone out.
The tech giant has grown from a tiny acorn run out of Steve Jobs' garage, meaning it's hard to believe we're approaching the iPhone 17 after the first one was only released in 2007.
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While Apple continues to innovate with new iOS, and the upcoming iOS 26 promises to be the start of a new era, there are still the same complaints we hear over and over again.
As well as grumbles about the durability of iPhone screens, disgruntled users continue to call out a somewhat disappointing battery life.
One ex-Apple employee has explained why iPhones tend to struggle with battery life in the aftermath of an update, although things are supposed to even out after a couple of days.
Even though the days of having a brick-like Nokia that could last a week on a single charge are long behind us, you've got to admit that modern smartphones are doing a lot more. We effectively have a PC in the palm of our hands.
Still, there are plenty of supposed hacks to extend your battery life. Another underrated battery feature is Charge Limit, which was introduced alongside the iPhone 15 in 2023.
The idea is that you'll limit your iPhone to charge up to a certain point, like 80% or 90%. Simply, the iPhone's lithium-ion battery will last longer if it's not being overcharged, while limiting it to something like 80% cuts down on heat generation and stops the chemicals within from having to move around as much.
Following a MacRumors article about trying Charge Limit for a year, other users on Reddit shared their results with mixed responses.
One happy iPhone fan wrote: "This is exactly why I set up my parents with 80% limit charging. Even with 80% limited, they only charge their iPhones every 3-4 days (it hits 30% by then)
After a whole year, my mom's iPhone is at 100% battery health and 70 cycles LOL. Their battery is going to last a decade."
Another added: "With a simple toggle, you can get your un-degraded battery back when you need it. I rarely ever use more than 50% charge in a day, so 80% limit isn’t an issue for me. When I need the extra capacity (e.g travelling), I can remove the 80% limit and have 100% capacity again. I still have 100% BH after a year."
Not everyone was convinced, with a third writing: "It isn't worth it ever. Fussing over your battery capacity is dumb in the long scheme of things. In 3 years you'll either upgrade or just swap it out for a fresh one.
"A 6% degradation rate per year will STILL equate near to the same 80% cap you've been using to extend your battery's life span all this time for 4 years. At that point the feature nulls itself. If I paid $900+ for a device just to gimp it myself out of necessity something is wrong."
A fourth concluded: "I abuse the everloving f**k out of my battery. My phone is 2 1/2 years old now and the battery is at 85% capacity. In another 6 months, I'll probably replace the phone when the next SE comes out."
While not everyone is sold on the idea of Charge Limit, the simple fact is that no one is forcing you to use it.