How to calibrate iPhone battery

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

All you need is a charger and a little patience.

Why is it needed

Unlike the outdated nickel-cadmium and nickel-magnesium batteries, lithium-polymer batteries do not suffer from the memory effect, and you can charge them as you like. However, periodically such batteries can and even need to be calibrated.

To a greater extent, this applies to old devices with a worn out battery. Calibration will help the smartphone to correctly display the charge level, as well as slightly increase the maximum capacity and extend the battery life.

How much is a separate question, which we will answer at the end of the article. To be honest, I was rather skeptical, but, looking ahead, I would say that in vain.

How to prepare your iPhone

Before proceeding with the calibration process, you will need to disable some functions and settings. This is necessary to reduce power consumption and completely drain the battery. Otherwise, there is a high probability that the iPhone will simply turn off at 20-30% of its charge.

Do not worry. After calibration, everything can be turned back on.

1. Disable geolocation

Open “Settings” → “Privacy” → “Location services” and turn off the toggle switch of the same name.

2. Disable background content refresh

Go to “Settings” → “General” → “Content Update” and check the box next to “Off”.

3. Disable automatic downloads

Go to Settings → iTunes & App Store and turn off all toggle switches under Automatic Downloads.

4. Decrease the brightness of the display

Swipe away the Control Center shade and lower the screen brightness to the minimum level.

How to calibrate the battery

Now you can start calibration. Please be patient as you will need to do two full discharge-charge cycles, which can take several hours or even an entire day.

Step 1. Discharge iPhone

The first step is to completely discharge the battery so that the smartphone turns off. There are two options: just use it normally, or speed up the process by running some long 4K YouTube video and turning the sound on at full volume.

Step 2. We wait three hours

By default, the iPhone turns off when there is still a few percent of charge remaining. This is done in order to save application data and conduct a correct shutdown. However, the battery is still not completely discharged.

The only way to use up the remaining charge is to wait. At least three hours, but the longer the better. If you have time, leave your smartphone for a few hours, and ideally overnight.

Step 3. Charge iPhone

Now it's time to charge the battery. For maximum efficiency, it is best to use a quality AC adapter for this rather than a USB port on your computer. After reaching 100% charge, keep the iPhone on charge for a couple of hours before unplugging it.

Step 4. Discharge iPhone again

Once again we completely discharge the battery. If you want, you can use it normally or start a video, game or music to speed up the process.

Step 5. We wait three hours

As in the previous cycle, in order for the battery to be completely discharged, it is necessary to let the smartphone rest. The longer the better. Well, you already know.

Step 6. Charge iPhone again

To complete the calibration procedure, fully charge the smartphone from the AC adapter, waiting another couple of hours after the charge level reaches 100%. That's it.

Finally, you can turn on geolocation, background updates and automatic downloads, which we turned off at the very beginning, and increase the brightness to a comfortable level.

results

To test the described technique, I tried to calibrate my own iPhone 6s, which is almost two years old. The battery does not even have 300 cycles yet, but the capacity has already dropped below 70% of the factory one. The CoconutBattery utility showed that the current capacity is 1,170 mAh, while the new one had 1,715 mAh.

After the calibration procedure, I checked the battery readings in CoconutBattery again. To my surprise, the maximum capacity increased to 1,394 mAh, which is more than 200 mAh. In comparison with the factory capacity, this is already 81%, and not 68%. It turns out that there is still an effect. And quite tangible.

It is also noticeable during normal use. Earlier, even in power saving mode, my iPhone could hardly hold out until the evening. After calibration, the smartphone works quietly until the end of the day without being forced to turn on the power saving mode.

At the same time, charge percentages do not jump like crazy and are displayed more accurately. What's even more pleasant, in cold weather, the iPhone turns off only when the charge level is low, and not at 70-80%, as before.