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 that
02:06I have 100% battery capacity. That's because I'm doing this demo on the iPhone 17 Pro, and at the
02:11time of this review, it's practically brand new. The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are the
02:18best iPhones for battery life ever. We got into the benchmarks in our videos for the iPhone Air
02:23battery life and on our iPhone 17 Pro review. So go check those out if you haven't done so yet on our
02:28channel. Basically, the Cliff Notes version is that this phone offers several more hours of battery life
02:33than the previous one due to a number of improvements. But primarily, it's the A19 Pro chipset and larger
02:39batteries. So your alternative to replacing the battery on your older iPhone is upgrading to a
02:44new one. That's obviously a personal decision. But if you're interested, I'll link some of the best
02:48deals down below. Getting back to our iPhone battery life tips, this one is simple but useful.
02:53Turn on the actual battery percentage to help you keep track of how much battery you have left
02:58throughout the day. Go to settings, battery, toggle on battery percentage. This way, you'll always know
03:04exactly what's left instead of guessing from that little icon. Your iPhone's display is one of the
03:10biggest battery life drains. But here's also the biggest change you can do to make your battery life
03:15last longer. First, turn off auto brightness by going to settings, accessibility, display and text size
03:22and toggle the auto brightness option off. There is a disclaimer here, but it primarily applies to how bad
03:30it is if you leave your iPhone display at 100% brightness all of the time. Instead, why this is
03:36good, if you can keep your iPhone display brightness low and even as ambient lighting conditions change,
03:42your iPhone won't force the brightness back up. So if you're going to use this trick, just make sure
03:46to do so responsibly. Next, switch on dark mode to be your default appearance. On these OLED displays,
03:53black pixels use less power. Go to settings, display and brightness, turn off automatic and toggle on dark.
04:06Finally, 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.
04:19When your iPhone battery life drops to 20%, you probably get prompted to enable low power mode.
04:27Low 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. It's
04:37perfect when you're trying to squeeze extra life out of your phone, but it's not really meant to be
04:41used on the regular. It's mostly to keep your iPhone with enough juice for the essential needs until you
04:47get to a charger. Speaking of charging, all iPhones now include a setting called optimized battery
04:56charging. This slows charging past 80% until you actually need it based on your routine. Why?
05:03Because lithium ion batteries like to live in that 20 to 80% capacity range. Charging all the way to
05:09100% or leaving your iPhone plugged in overnight puts stress on the battery over time. So to enable
05:16this, go to battery settings, charging, optimize battery charging. I've seen some people suggest
05:25bypassing this and just setting the charge limit to 80% or even 85%, but personally, I think the
05:31built-in setting does what's best. But feel free to try other methods if you want. If anything, I'd say
05:38it's more important to avoid charging in extreme heat or cold. Don't leave your phone in the sun or a hot
05:44car. Heat is one of the fastest ways to damage your battery health. Similarly, you can use your iPhone
05:50while charging, but if it's getting really hot, that's your cue to give it a break. Now, another
05:55thing to keep in mind, portable power banks. They're super handy, but not all of them treat your iPhone's
06:00battery kindly. If you want the safest option, stick to Apple's own charging accessories. For third-party
06:06gear, look for certified MagSafe power banks. Brands like Belkin and Moffy are solid, and you'll even find
06:13them in Apple stores. I know a lot of people love Anker, myself included, but just be aware they've
06:18had a few overheating recalls. That doesn't mean every product is bad, but it is worth being cautious.
06:25I'd suggest sticking to the ones that, again, are sold through Apple. And hey, if you want me to do
06:29a full breakdown of the best iPhone power banks, just let me know in the comments. Going back to
06:34making your iPhone battery life last longer, here's another sneaky drain. Background app refresh.
06:39If you don't need apps constantly updating the background, turn it off or set it to Wi-Fi only.
06:45This cuts down on both battery usage and data. Speaking of data, your iPhone uses a lot more
06:52energy on cellular connections than Wi-Fi. If you're someone with a strong Wi-Fi connection,
06:58use that instead. Your battery will thank you.
07:00So 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
07:20and more importantly, long-term. If you found this helpful, hit like, subscribe for more setup
07:24essentials, and let me know in the comments what's your go-to trick for saving iPhone battery.
07:28Until the next one, I'll catch you later.
07:58.
08:01.
08:03.
08:08.
08:14.
08:16.
08:18.
08:19.
Comments