When to Charge Your iPhone and iPad – The Rules for Charging
There is a lot of misinformation about when to charge your iPhone or iPad. It seems that iOS and iPadOS device owners have many charging questions, like:
- Should you charge often or only when needed?
- Should you charge to 100 percent?
- Should you charge only when the battery is less than 5 percent?
- Is it bad to charge a few times a day?
- Is it bad to allow the battery to get too low?
These are all good questions. Your iPhone and iPad have a battery life, and knowing when to charge your device will greatly improve the battery life.
iPhone and iPad use lithium-ion batteries. As you use your device, your battery ages. Bad charging habits will diminish your battery life, and this may cause two issues:
- The amount of charge your device can hold may be reduced, resulting in having to charge your iPhone or iPad more frequently.
- You may have to replace your battery earlier than expected. This is not ideal because replacing your battery will cost you around 100 USD.
What are the best practices for charging
- The best practice is to charge your iPhone or iPad overnight. Do this every night. Your device will automatically stop charging when it reaches close to 100 percent.
- It is not bad to charge your iPhone whenever you want to. In fact, do not let your device drain fully, and you do not have to wait for your device to reach 100 percent. For example, you can start charging at 35 percent and unplug it at 75 percent.
- Do not turn off your device while charging.
- You can continue using your device while charging if you want to.
- Turning on Optimized Charging will help you extend your battery life if you are an iPhone user. This feature will postpone charging past 80% if your iPhone decides it is reasonable to do so. Your iPhone will attempt to resume charging to ensure your iPhone is fully charged before it is unplugged. Your iPhone uses AI to predict your charging patterns, and charging your iPhone overnight and every night makes this easy. This feature is enabled by default. Here is how you can make sure it is enabled or turn it off if you prefer:
- iPhone 14 models and earlier: Tap Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging and turn off/on Optimized Battery Charging.
- iPhone 15 models and later: Tap Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging > Charging Optimization and choose one of the options.
- The worst charging habit you should avoid is letting your iPhone reach 0 (zero) percent battery and then not charging it immediately. Your iPhone will turn off automatically when the battery is drained. If your iPhone shuts off due to the battery drain, charge it within hours. If you do not charge it quickly, you may damage the battery.
- If you are not going to use your iPad or iPhone for an extended period of time, like weeks or months, leave your device at around 50% charged.
These tips will help you improve your battery life. You should also know that you can check your battery health on your iPhone by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging.
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