Does iPhone continue to charge after 100%?
iPhone battery is designed to hold up to 80% of its original capacity after you’ve charged it fully and depleted it about 500 times only.
Even when the Optimized Battery Charging feature is activated on an iPhone, it continues to charge during the night. But why? Well, even when the iPhone is just resting on your nightstand, it’s still utilizing battery power, and the system ensures it remains at that 80% mark by periodically topping it up. You can actually track this charging and discharging pattern in the iOS chart by navigating to Settings > Battery. If you leave your iPhone off charge overnight, it will inevitably lose charge. With Optimized Battery Charging enabled, it quickly charges to 80% and then remains at that level until the final charge is applied. The gradual top-up process is what allows it to stay at 80%.
It’s essential to note that the iPhone doesn’t solely rely on the power supplied through the cord, which is why the battery needs to charge a bit before it can start up when it’s completely depleted.
If you happen to have a USB power meter on hand, you can observe the iPhone drawing charge intermittently to maintain the battery’s level.
Now, it’s worth addressing the misconception that the charging method doesn’t matter as long as Optimized Battery Charging is active. Let’s refer to Apple’s own explanation of this feature:
“With iOS 13 and later, Optimized Battery Charging is designed to reduce the wear on your battery and improve its lifespan by reducing the time your iPhone spends fully charged. When the feature is enabled, your iPhone will delay charging past 80% in certain situations.”
While it’s indeed a beneficial mechanism, manually managing your charging habits allows you to have greater control over preventing your battery from reaching a fully charged state unnecessarily.
You may be interested in: Why you should not charge your phone overnight
Also, I’ve noticed that there’s quite a bit of confusion regarding how many times you can recharge your iPhone battery before it’s considered worn out.
Well, let me clear that up for you. Contrary to what some might think like 1000 or 2000 cycles, Apple actually rates your iPhone battery as good for about 500 complete charge cycles.
A normal battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles when operating under normal conditions. — apple support
So, in plain English, what that means is that a regular iPhone battery is designed to hold up to 80% of its original capacity after you’ve charged it fully and depleted it about 500 times under normal everyday conditions.
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