One of our favorite new features of the iPhone 15 is the ability to limit charging to just 80 percent. For years now, some Apple products have had an optimized battery charging feature that takes into account your typical daily charging and usage routine and will only charge your iPhone or Mac up to 80% when it has determined you’re unlikely to need more.
But the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro introduce a third option: force charging to stop at 80 percent. It’s a great option for those concerned about the long-term health of their iPhone batteries, as keeping a battery fully charged causes it to degrade faster, and limiting to 80 percent will help the battery retain its full capacity for a lot longer.
It’s unclear why the 80 percent limit isn’t available on older iPhones or other Apple hardware, as it seems like a relatively simple software change, but those who buy a new 2024 iPad (the M2 iPad Air or M4 iPad Pro) will be happy to see it as an option there, too. Since Apple hasn’t brought it to older iPhones over the past five iOS 17 updates, it’s unlikely to make an appearance until iOS 18, if ever.
Dutch site iCulture was the first to notice the option. As before, there’s no “optimized battery charging” option on iPads, so it’s a little strange to see the charge limit feature appear. Earlier iPads also don’t have the Battery Health display feature in Settings, which is now available in the new 2024 iPads so you can see stats for maximum capacity and cycle count, as well as the battery’s manufacture date and first use.
Hopefully, the 80 percent charge limit will be an option on all future Apple hardware. For those who don’t need that extra 20 percent to get through a day, it really will help keep their batteries healthy for years.
Author: Jason Cross, Senior Editor, Macworld
Jason has written about technology for more than 25 years - first in the gaming press, then focusing on enthusiast PCs and general technology. He enjoys learning how complicated technology works and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.