00:00All right, so a lot of you guys asked for this one, which should offer a little reassurance
00:04that iPhone battery life struggles are not just a you problem. Over time, iPhone battery life will
00:09start to drain more quickly. That's all normal. All rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are
00:13consumables, which means they have a limited lifespan. Eventually, no matter how careful
00:18you are, their capacity and performance will decline. But there's some good news. You can
00:23make your iPhone's battery hold up longer than average. Sure, it's easy to blame iOS updates
00:28when your battery life dips, but the truth is your charging habits, settings, and even
00:32environment all play a role. So in this episode of Setup Essentials, we'll go through the things
00:37you can do that actually make a difference for keeping your iPhone battery healthy, including
00:41how to know when it might be time for a replacement. All right, so the first thing you should do
00:48is figure out your current battery capacity. Get a baseline for how your iPhone's battery
00:53health is holding up, especially if you have an older phone. I'm doing this on iOS 26. First,
01:00go to Settings, Battery, Battery Health. Here you'll see a percentage next to maximum capacity,
01:08and this number tells you how much charge your battery can hold compared to when it was brand
01:12new. So if it says 90%, that means you're getting 90% of the original battery life. Once that percentage
01:19drops, there's no way to increase it again. So if you're looking for how to increase battery health
01:24on iPhone, it's not really possible. You can't restore capacity. You can only maintain what you
01:30have left. And again, some of the tips in this video should help you out. That said, it might be
01:35time to get your iPhone battery replaced. Apple's rule of thumb, when your iPhone battery health hits
01:4080%, start thinking about a replacement. For the average user, this usually takes around two years
01:45of daily charging cycles. You can get a replacement directly from Apple or an authorized repair center,
01:51which is the safest way to go. If you notice sudden shutdowns or way less screen on time,
01:56those are sure signs that you're due for a repair. And honestly, it's a great way to go.
02:01Replaceable batteries mean you can get more years out of your iPhone. But you're probably noticing
02:05that I have 100% battery capacity. That's because I'm doing this demo on the iPhone 17 Pro,
02:11and at the time of this review, it's practically brand new. The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max
02:17are the best iPhones for battery life ever. We got into the benchmarks in our videos for the iPhone
02:22Air battery life and on our iPhone 17 Pro review. So go check those out if you haven't done so yet on
02:28our channel. Basically, the Cliff Notes version is that this phone offers several more hours of battery
02:33life than the previous one due to a number of improvements. But primarily, it's the A19 Pro chipset
02:38and larger batteries. So your alternative to replacing the battery on your older iPhone
02:43is upgrading to a new one. That's obviously a personal decision. But if you're interested,
02:47I'll link some of the best deals down below. Getting back to our iPhone battery life tips,
02:52this one is simple but useful. Turn on the actual battery percentage to help you keep track of how
02:57much battery you have left throughout the day. Go to Settings, Battery, toggle on Battery Percentage.
03:03This way, you'll always know exactly what's left instead of guessing from that little icon.
03:07Your iPhone's display is one of the biggest battery life drains, but here's also the biggest
03:12change you can do to make your battery life last longer. First, turn off auto brightness by going to
03:18Settings, Accessibility, Display and Text Size, and toggle the auto brightness option off.
03:26There is a disclaimer here, but it primarily applies to how bad it is if you leave your iPhone
03:31display at 100% brightness all of the time. Instead, why this is good. If you can keep
03:37your iPhone display brightness low and even as ambient lighting conditions change, your iPhone
03:42won't force the brightness back up. So if you're going to use this trick, just make sure to do so
03:47responsibly. Next, switch on dark mode to be your default appearance. On these OLED displays, black
03:54pixels use less power. Go to Settings, Display and Brightness, turn off Automatic, and toggle on Dark.
04:02Finally, turn off Always On Display if you don't really need it. With each new iPhone, they get more
04:10optimized for the Always On Display, so this might not make a huge difference depending on which
04:15generation iPhone you have, but small changes here do add up over the course of a day.
04:21When your iPhone battery life drops to 20%, you probably get prompted to enable Low Power Mode.
04:26Low Power Mode is Apple's built-in battery saver switch that, when enabled, reduces background
04:31activity like automatic downloads, email fetching, iCloud syncing, and even dims your display.
04:37It's perfect when you're trying to squeeze extra life out of your phone, but it's not really meant
04:41to be used on the regular. It's mostly to keep your iPhone with enough juice for the essential needs
04:46until you get to a charger.
04:47Speaking of charging, all iPhones now include a setting called Optimize Battery Charging that slows
04:58charging past 80% until you actually need it, based on your routine. Why? Because lithium-ion batteries
05:05like to live in that 20% to 80% capacity range. Charging all the way to 100% or leaving your iPhone
05:11plugged in overnight puts stress on the battery over time. So to enable this, go to Battery Settings,
05:17Charging, Optimize Battery Charging. I've seen some people suggest bypassing this and just
05:27setting the charge limit to 80% or even 85%, but personally, I think the built-in setting does
05:32what's best. But feel free to try other methods if you want. If anything, I'd say it's more important
05:39to avoid charging in extreme heat or cold. Don't leave your phone in the sun or a hot car. Heat is one of
05:45the fastest ways to damage your battery health. Similarly, you can use your iPhone while charging,
05:51but if it's getting really hot, that's your cue to give it a break. Now, another thing to keep in
05:56mind, portable power banks. They're super handy, but not all of them treat your iPhone's battery kindly.
06:02If you want the safest option, stick to Apple's own charging accessories. For third-party gear,
06:07look for certified MagSafe power banks. Brands like Belkin and Moffy are solid,
06:12and you'll even find them in Apple stores. I know a lot of people love Anker, myself included,
06:17but just be aware they've had a few overheating recalls. That doesn't mean every product is bad,
06:23but it is worth being cautious. I'd suggest sticking to the ones that, again, are sold through
06:27Apple. And hey, if you want me to do a full breakdown of the best iPhone power banks,
06:32just let me know in the comments. Going back to making your iPhone battery life last longer,
06:36here's another sneaky drain. Background app refresh. If you don't need apps constantly updating the
06:42turn it off or set it to Wi-Fi only. This cuts down on both battery usage and data.
06:49Speaking of data, your iPhone uses a lot more energy on cellular connections than Wi-Fi.
06:55If you're someone with a strong Wi-Fi connection, use that instead. Your battery will thank you.
07:03So that's it. The real ways to check, maintain, and stretch your iPhone battery. Remember,
07:09you can't reverse battery capacity once it drops, but with the right habits and settings,
07:15you can slow that decline and get the most life out of your device, both on a daily basis and more
07:20importantly, long-term. If you found this helpful, hit like, subscribe for more setup essentials,
07:24and let me know in the comments what's your go-to trick for saving iPhone battery. Until the next one,
07:29I'll catch you later.
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