Apple’s iPhone is a powerful device but, like many electronics, it requires some upkeep to ensure proper functioning. Like a ship that can sail forever, as long as there are people willing to maintain it, your iPhone will keep working as long as you maintain the battery health.

Here’s why maintaining your iPhone battery is key, and how to do it to get more years from your device.

Why It’s Important to Maintain Your iPhone’s Battery Health

While all iPhones will degrade over time, there are certain actions that can be taken to prolong their longevity. One of the most common parts of an iPhone to break first is the battery. If you neglect taking care of the battery, it may stop functioning altogether even when plugged in.

There is no way to guarantee how long an iPhone’s battery will last, as there are many factors that impact its health. However, it helps to be aware of common battery issues and learn how to maintain the iPhone’s overall long-term health.

If you want to use your iPhone for as long as possible, here are some ways to maintain your iPhone’s battery health for the years to come.

1. Avoid Maximizing Your Charge Cycles

According to Apple, after 400 to 500 full charge cycles, iPhones hold significantly less charge compared to their original battery capacity. So, in general, the less you use your iPhone the longer the battery will last.

What’s more, keeping the device at a full charge or completely drained can also reduce the battery health. For this reason, you should try to keep your iPhone between 40% and 80% battery as much as possible.

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2. Don’t Leave Your iPhone Without Charge for Too Long

The battery cells that make up lithium-ion batteries have a limited lifespan, meaning you should take care of them if you want to keep reaping the benefits of your iPhone. One of the biggest killers to a smartphone’s battery is letting it die completely, because when a battery cell gets to absolute zero charge, it may never work again.

Luckily, iPhone batteries still keep some reserve charge even when they power off, to avoid this problem. But if your iPhone dies, you should remember to charge it again as soon as possible. To avoid this, take advantage of the iPhone’s Low Power mode when the battery is at 20% or lower to extend life until you can get to an outlet.

3. Don’t Leave Your iPhone Charged Overnight

Many people charge their phones overnight because it is the most convenient option. However, overcharging an iPhone like this can result in a damaged battery and reduce the life of your phone. Overcharging damages your battery because it forces more current into already full cells than they are designed to hold. It also means your iPhone spends most of the night at 100% charge, which is bad for its health.

Related: Why Charging Your Phone Overnight Is Bad

Luckily, iPhones offer an optimized battery charging feature, which you can enable by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health. If you take your phone off charge at the same time every day, your iPhone will learn this pattern and avoid charging to 100% until right when you need it.

4. Turn Off Unused Features

In an effort to use fewer charge cycles and maintain the health of your iPhone’s battery, you should turn off any features that you don’t absolutely need. These can include power-hungry features like Background App Refresh, Bluetooth, Location Settings, and push notifications, all of which you can find in the Settings.

In addition, you can also reduce your iPhone brightness and enable fewer notifications to avoid them waking up your Lock Screen all the time.

5. Use Only Official Apple Chargers

Many unscrupulous companies produce low-quality iPhone chargers. While they can still charge your device, these chargers are not certified by Apple, which means they don’t maintain the same quality and compatibility with your iPhone battery.

For your safety and your iPhone’s battery health, only use Apple-certified accessories, especially Lightning cables. These help to protect against power surges and short circuits, which could cause injuries or damage the phone’s internal components, including the battery.

6. Avoid Extreme Temperature Changes

Keeping your iPhone safe from temperature extremes may help your device get through its entire lifespan without damage to the battery or other components.

Extreme low temperatures can cause a shortened battery life, affecting the battery’s ability to hold charges, or make it stop working altogether. On the other hand, extreme highs can permanently prevent you from using some of the phone’s features, such as causing cracks in the device itself, which can impact overall battery performance.

7. Invest in an iPhone Case

To keep your battery working for longer, make sure to keep your iPhone out of dusty or dirty environments. This can lead to shorter battery life due to dust and dirt particles accumulating on the battery contacts.

Using a protective case can help protect your iPhone’s ports by trapping the debris before it enters your device. Additionally, a good iPhone case can protect your iPhone from other issues as well, such as broken screens and water damage.

At the same time, make sure your case doesn’t swaddle your iPhone, causing it to overheat and negatively impact the battery health.

8. Update to the Latest Version of iOS

A key way to maintain your iPhone’s battery health is to update the device’s operating system. As time goes on, iPhones receive updates that improve their speed and performance. This keeps the battery in good condition over the long term.

Additionally, these updates often come with new battery-saving features that users can enjoy. For instance, the iOS 12 update introduced Screen Time. This feature tracks how much time users spend on their devices and which apps they use the most. Users can then adjust their daily habits to make sure they are not spending too much unnecessary time on their phone.

Keep Your iPhone Battery Working for Longer

Unfortunately, there is no way to stop iPhone batteries from becoming less effective with time. After all, iPhones still use lithium-ion batteries, which will naturally degrade with use. However, the long-term maintenance of an iPhone battery can still make a difference on its overall performance over time.

Aside from keeping your iPhone on for longer, keeping the battery healthy can eliminate slowdowns, app crashes, and more. Thankfully, there are numerous things that you can do to make sure that your iPhone battery stays healthy for longer, and if all else fails, Apple can always replace it for you.

7 Key Tips to Save Battery Life on Your iPhone Read NextShareTweetShareEmail Related TopicsAbout The AuthorQuina Baterna(245 Articles Published)

Quina is the Junior Editor for Entertainment, resident adrenaline junkie, and lover of all things tech.She is primarily based in Southeast Asia and graduated with a degree in Information Design.

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