Apple introduced the Charge Limit feature in iOS 17, allowing users to better manage their battery health. Now, with iOS 18, Apple has taken it one step further by letting you customize this charge limit. But what exactly is battery charging limit, how it will improve battery health, and why should you consider using it? In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know to get the most out of this feature.
What is a Charge Limit on iPhone?
iPhones use lithium-ion batteries, which can degrade over time if consistently charged to 100%. This degradation reduces the battery’s ability to hold a charge, resulting in shorter battery life. To maintain battery health, it’s best to avoid charging your device to full capacity or letting it completely drain. Keeping the charge level between 20% and 80% can help prolong the battery’s lifespan. Additionally, batteries with degraded health may struggle to provide enough power to the processor, causing your phone to slow down and become laggy.
To address this, Apple introduced the “Charge Limit” feature in iOS 17, which stops charging once the battery reaches 80%. However, some users found limiting the charge to 80% less appealing, especially when traveling where they need all the battery juice they can.
In iOS 18, Apple has improved this feature allowing users to set their charge limit to 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, and of course, 100% This gives you more flexibility to protect your battery’s health without significantly compromising your daily battery life.
Why Charging to 100% Degrades Battery Health?
Charging your phone to 100% daily puts extra stress on the battery’s chemical structure. Lithium-ion batteries operate by moving ions between two sides during charging and discharging. When you charge the battery to 100%, you’re packing the maximum number of ions into one side, which, if done frequently, can strain the battery and reduce its long-term performance. Over time, this stress leads to faster wear and tear, causing the battery to hold a charge less effectively and drain more quickly.
By keeping the charge level between 80-90%, you can reduce this strain, helping your battery maintain its health and ensuring longer longevity for your iPhone.
So, How to Setup Custom Charge Limit on iPhones?
The ability to set a custom charge limit is exclusive to the iPhone 16 and 15 models. Even if you’re running iOS 18, older models will not have this feature.
To set up a custom charge limit on compatible devices:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Select the Battery option.
- Tap on Charging.
- Under the Charge Limit section, drag the slider to choose your preferred limit. For optimal battery health, we recommend not exceeding 85% or 90%.
If you’re going on a trip and need a full charge, you can temporarily adjust the Charge Limit to 100%. Apple offers a smart option to Allow Until Tomorrow, which will revert to your previous setting the next day. Alternatively, you can choose to Set Limit to 100% and stay that way.
When setting it to 100%, ensure Optimized Battery Charging is enabled. This feature uses machine learning to understand your daily charging habits and delays charging beyond 80% until just before you need it, reducing the time your device spends fully charged.
That’s it! You can enable the charge limit feature once and forget about it. Your battery will last longer, and you’ll enjoy better performance over time. No more worrying about your iPhone slowing down due to charging habits. While it has to be enabled by default, Apple gives you the option to turn it on when needed.
