Reducing an iPhone Battery Charge Cycle Count Over Time

Note: The first time I heard about this practice and expression was during an episode of Security Now Podcast with Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson, however I could not retrieve the original episode. I do link below to a show note Steve mentions Battery University as a good resource to learn more about this topic.

As iPhone 15 users, we can control the charge level of the battery through the 'Charge Limit' configuration. Extending the life of an iPhone battery can be done by reducing the charge cycle count it accumulates over the years.

By setting the 'Charge Limit' configuration lower than 100% (for example 90%) we set a limit of how high the iPhone battery gets charged. This practice is known as 'Battery Babying' an iPhone. It is the practice of repeatedly and continuously keeping an eye on the battery charge level and reducing the count of charge cycles.

An enthusiast can, for example, set the charge limit to 90% and keep charging his iPhone as soon as possible after it goes down and its practically possible. Over time this reduces the times the iPhone's battery charge reaches 0% and then requires a full-charge.

In the long-term, this can reduce the battery's charge cycles and could result in an iPhone that last longer without requiring a replacement.

As an analogy, we can talk about how car enthusiasts aspire to not strain a car and conserve it functional for an extended period of time. The same can be done with an iPhone by aspiring to keep its battery health high and also avoid physical damage.

Links

• Security Now - Show Notes #324

• BU-808: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - BatteryUniversity.com

• I’m Babying the Car - Reddit

• Define Babying - Google Search