With each successive year, another iPhone hits the market and consumers ask the burning question on every smartphone users’ lips: how’s the battery life? While in general battery health depreciates over time, losing upwards of 20% of its capabilities over 2 years, you now don’t necessarily need an expensive new device to get an improvement on your old battery life. Apple’s upcoming update is about to add a unique new feature to help prolong your battery life and improve battery health.
Battery Health
iPhone developers have admitted that their technology’s battery holds only 80% as much as it did upon opening after just 2 years of use. Part of the reason for this is overcharging. For optimal battery health, the iPhone (and other smartphones for that matter) should not be left charging for prolonged periods of time. Charging your phone to 100% is actually poor for your battery health in the long run. That means that the commonplace process of charging overnight as we sleep is detrimental to an iPhone battery’s health. For optimal battery health, we’d actually have to start waking up in the middle of the night to unplug our phones. This seems unreasonable but now a new update has an answer.
The iOS 13 Update
The upcoming iOS September update has a great new optional feature: “Optimised Battery Charging”. This is available for all devices from iPhone SE up. According to the update, this new option will help slow the battery’s rate of ageing by reducing the time spent charging. With this new feature, the iPhone will use machine learning to understand each user’s daily charging routine, waiting to charge past 80% until it is really needed.
Essentially, your iPhone will intelligently charge based on your schedule. Say, like most people, you charge overnight and unplug your iPhone at around 7 am. Your iPhone will charge quickly to 80% and stop overnight, trickle-charging the last 20% just before you wake up. This does mean that your phone will not be fully charged if you happen to wake up earlier than usual in the middle of the night or very early morning.
Intuitively Improving Battery Health
This new update is a crucial step in prolonging your battery life, reducing the need to purchase that new expensive iPhone or getting a battery replacement. Currently, battery replacements cost upwards of £79, so it’s well worth taking care of your battery health. Of course, you still have to wait until September for this update. Aside from following your own battery health routine (like avoiding overcharging), some users can get an early test version of the new update.
Beta Test
If you cannot wait until September, iOS 13 is available for beta testing. To try the new update out, visit the Apple Beta site and register your device and ID. You’ll then have to enrol, download and install a configuration profile. Remember, this is a beta version of the update, so don’t expect a completely smooth experience. However, your feedback on the update will greatly help Apple make the improvements necessary to prolong their batteries.
Of course, for those wanting to upgrade their phones, you needn’t wait for the new battery update; you can sell older models online and take advantage of future battery updates on a newer, quicker device. When you sell old models online, you can contribute significantly to a new device just in time for the iOS 13 update this September. As we become increasingly reliant on smartphone technology for both work and in our social lives, battery updates like this become all the more crucial.
