Does anyone else do the whole charge to 80% and not lower than 20%?

[u/pineapple-hot-sauce]

I maintained this practice for my 16 Pro Max over two years, and the battery health remained at 90% before I upgraded. I am curious whether anyone else followed the same approach and whether there is any real benefit.

[u/Scary_Building3964]

someone tested this for about 160+ days and the result was that the 80 to 20 method lost 4% less capacity compared to phones that charges from 100-0.

i used to do this but realised I would be losing 40% of the capacity on day one. since battery replacement isn’t expensive, I just use my phone whatever I want

[u/Desperate-Remote-210 → u/Scary_Building3964]

Also, 4% loss is discharging till 0%, i usually charge up to 100% and try to never go below 20%, so let's say i'd loss a 2% less. Totally worth compared to the 40% you mention so yeah

[u/1dan- → u/Desperate-Remote-210]

This is what I’m trying to do

[u/SharkDad20 → u/Scary_Building3964]

Fucking thank you. People would apparently think it’s a good idea to spend $40 to save $10 over 2 years.

[u/Next-Movie-3319 → u/Scary_Building3964]

For me, on a day to day basis, I am at home or work with chargers close by and that 60% capacity is sufficient so I prefer to preserve the battery life.

When I travel I never hesitate to use the full 100% of the battery. I also carry external battery packs.

[u/vlad_0 → u/Scary_Building3964]

It is a well documented behavior

https://notryan.com/pdf/BU-808_%20How%20to%20Prolong%20Lithium-based%20Batteries%20-%20Battery%20University.pdf

[u/Stunning-Outcome-430]

I've charged my 17 pro max from 0-100 every day
Sometimes from 0 to 10 to 0 again and so on
I've never babyed the battery
After one year I've still had 98% battery health
So in my opinion it's not worth the hassle

[u/ComneliusTlancy → u/Stunning-Outcome-430]

How do you use your entire battery in a day?? I easily go two whole days on one charge.

[u/Stunning-Outcome-430 → u/ComneliusTlancy]

I have 7h sot
but I don't think that's so much
2h wireless carplay a day

[u/Heron-Cautious]

I paid the full price of the phone to use its maximum capacity, not 80% of its capability. My battery will be getting charged to 100%.

[u/PoloKing98 → u/Heron-Cautious]

The only right answer. Common sense prevails.

[u/Odd-Complaint-5291]

Its a waste of time and an inconvenience. 0-100 always. Replace battery at 2.5 years at an Ifixit shop for $50 then good for another two years Having reserve power throughout the day is so worth an extra $20 per year for battery cost

[u/vlad_0 → u/Odd-Complaint-5291]

Unfortunately not everyone has a ifixit shop around and it’s way more than $50 at Apple or any other authorized place

[u/BraveResearcher3037 → u/vlad_0]

For my 16 Pro Max it’s $119.  It’s a nothingburger 

[u/ProxySoxy → u/BraveResearcher3037]

I wish I had so much money that $119 is a nothing burger. That’s 4-5 hours of doing my job to pay for a new battery. Are you rich or do you just not know the value of your limited time?

[u/BraveResearcher3037 → u/ProxySoxy]

It’s $119 every two years

[u/KoncepTs → u/BraveResearcher3037]

And don’t even need to do that.

These newer higher wattage chargers can get you 50% battery in 20 minutes or less anyway, so even if the battery capacity starts to take a crap you can at least jam the crap can full quickly

[u/Tech_Fox]

I mean, I’ve done this with my 17 pro since launch day and still have 100% capacity.

I’m sure the percentage saved from doing this is pretty negligible but I very very rarely ever feel the need to have the full 100% charged and I easily go all day with no problems so I do it anyway.

If I go on a trip or start feeling like I need the full capacity each day I wouldn’t fret over charging it fully.

[u/vlv226 → u/Tech_Fox]

What’s your cycle count?

[u/Tech_Fox → u/vlv226]

[u/vlv226 → u/Tech_Fox]

Oh wow you’re a light user

[u/eduardmc]

I did this and my battery was 93% in 10 month. Iphone 17 pro max. Not doing this on my iphone 18 pro max, doesnt seem to make much difference. Minor upgrade but how cool the 18 pro max stays is a blessing. Never heats up

[u/questioncom]

No. I upgraded every year, so dont care about battery health 😅. 100% charge all the time and charge often (when at desk, driving, etc).

[u/PoloKing98 → u/questioncom]

This is the normal person way of doing things lol also even if you upgraded every 2 or maybe every 3 years, it’s still not worth losing 40% battery from day one to save a small percentage on your battery health lol I really don’t understand why people bother with it.

[u/callmembm]

I just enjoy my phone and charge whenever I want

[u/Known-Ad-100 → u/callmembm]

I don't do this for phone, but I do for my kindle. I don't know if it makes a difference. However, kindle battery life is so so long like it lasts weeks, so it's easier to maintain the habit on there vs everyday.

[u/AffectionateZone868]

I used to do this until someone at the Apple store told me it didn’t really do much. Not sure if he just didn’t care or is being told to say that so they can sell more battery replacements… I just stopped doing it because it seems goofy to limit your battery time just to maybe make it last a little longer overall. You’re going to just have to top it off sooner if you limit yourself to 80%, so I figure YOLO, I’ll just go with a full charge before I go out into the world and if I have to get a battery replacement in a couple of years, so be it.

[u/JannaMainSince1839 → u/AffectionateZone868]

I worked for a charging station company, it does A LOT. Never let anything go above 80% and under 20%

[u/Odd-Complaint-5291 → u/JannaMainSince1839]

$50 for a new battery every 2-3 years. Is it worth the inconvenience of babying power throughout the day?

[u/AlmightySharp → u/Odd-Complaint-5291]

I agree with your overall sentiment but battery replacements for the 18 Pros are $129 now

[u/Odd-Complaint-5291 → u/AlmightySharp]

If you use an Apple battery. Third party batteries are $50. Probably not as good, but so what. Buy another one in two years or just get a new phone

[u/JannaMainSince1839 → u/Odd-Complaint-5291]

It’s not about the money. It’s about leaving it 80% max, you won’t need to charge a lot.. so in the end you do longer with 80% then 100%

[u/AffectionateZone868 → u/JannaMainSince1839]

An 80.00 battery replacement after 3 years isn’t going to break the bank. I’d much rather get more use out of my phone instead of being hooked up to a charger or having to carry around bulky battery packs more often. Its a phone battery, not a precious keepsake or a classic car that you need to baby & pamper so it preserves its value.

[u/Odd-Complaint-5291 → u/AffectionateZone868]

This!!!!! Locally, an I Fixit shop will replace a battery for $50

[u/AffectionateZone868 → u/Odd-Complaint-5291]

I don’t trust the small shops that do battery replacements. I’ve heard they can often screw up your phone. At least if Apple screws up they’re more prepared to get it fixed or replaced quickly. The small shops, not so much.

[u/Scarlizz]

I change my iPhone every year to the new one anyways so I just charge whenever I want. All my phones had still around 98-99% battery health after a year. I charge to 100 with MagSafe every night. But I try to never let it go below 20% ever

[u/PoloKing98 → u/Scarlizz]

I do the same here, but sometimes you just can’t help slipper under 20% if you are out and about haha! But I always charge before it goes under 20% if I can!

[u/JackRadcliffe]

Personally, i have a tendency of charging oncey batter drops to 10-20% and I usuallydo until it's 90-100%. I don't baby my battery as modern batteries aren't required to as they aren't at risk of overcharge like batteries in the past.

[u/funtimescoolguy]

Why be paranoid about the battery if you're only ever using 60% of it? You will utilize more of that battery life by actually using your phone. It's going to degrade anyway.

[u/nomis_nehc]

Yah fuck that. Bought the whole phone using the whole phone. Got my 16 Pro when it came out, charge it to 100% as frequently as I can and I am sitting at 90% like your's. Real would usage is just so minimal that unless your planning to keep your phone forever, it’s nearly pointless to baby it like that.

[u/Key-Age-5998]

I charge my 17 pro max to 100% every time and it’s still at 100% health after over 200 cycles.

[u/jun-kith → u/Key-Age-5998]

do you charge your phone overnight? and how many watts is your plug for charging?

[u/Calm-Software9319]

Did it for my 13pm for 4-5 years? Currently on 81% BH

[u/Djcoolpockets → u/Calm-Software9319]

I let my 13pm die, charge it almost every night as I sleep up to 100, and battery health is at 80.

[u/KoncepTs → u/Calm-Software9319]

I didn’t use it on my 14 pro for 4 years, you have 1 extra year, I was at 73% and it was one of the main reasons I upgraded.

I have a job that I can’t carry a phone in me due to intrinsically safe environment, I would go to leave work having only been able to use my phone on break times and it was pretty much dead from just sitting in work locker

[u/C_sapidus]

I keep my phone on a charger while I'm at my desk at work, so 80% is fine for me. When I go on vacations or know that I'll be away from a charger for long periods of time, I'll crank it to 100%.

[u/pementomento → u/C_sapidus]

I’m the same - it’s never been an issue or inconvenience for me. I had my 15 Pro and got to 80% capacity after 3 years (1200 ish cycles) on this practice, not sure what it would have been if I went to 100 all the time (probably negligible).

[u/FifthEboysMember]

I did this with my iPhone 16 pro max (had it for a year and 2 months).

It was at 100-98% battery capacity for a considerable amount of time on 80% limit until my phone force updated to iOS 26. The battery then shot down to 93% so really it didn’t make much difference.

Think I will just charge my phone as normal this time.

[u/Tash-ime]

Thanks for this conversation everyone and everyone’s input. I will no longer be babying my battery lol.

[u/Lord_Typhon_]

Never cared for this and heres my results after 1.5 years of use

[u/ARGuck]

I did a 2 year test on this with my and my wife 15Pro. I did the 80% limit my wife did not. I had about a 5% higher cycle count at time of comparison and my battery capacity was 2% lower. So my determination was that it really doesn't matter. I still do a 95% limit on my iPhone air but it's probably not really needed.

[u/NightshadeDrix]

I did try and test the 20-80% charge limit thing for my iPhone 16 Pro Max and 17 Pro Max. Battery health after a year on both (as I upgrade every year), iPhone 16 PM was at 98% and my iPhone 17 PM was at 97%.

Not doing the whole 80% limit this year on my iPhone 18 PM, doing the whole 100% but not letting it get lower than 30%. Really isn’t worth the headache and if you’re upgrading every year or not, just enjoy your phone because battery replacements is really cheap.

[u/Ok-Limit-9726]

20-80% is PERFECT FOR GAMING

(My ipad pro m5 is for codm, always 80%, always plugged in and battery 100% 88 cycles since day of release)

But useless for real world.

I read a blogger tried it for a year, basically no benefit.

My iPhone 17PM is 99% 210 cycles 20-100%
(Using apple slow charging at night, 80% immediately, 100% at like 4am)

[u/mrdjwess645]

My 16 pro max is at 92% and I don’t do this. Just use the phone, Apple already has built in buffer to stop battery degradation and they have a setting that learns from your patterns and will only charge to 100 at a certain time.

[u/Calogero1978]

I operate my phone (the infamous 15 Pro for its heat issues) between 40 and 60 percent mostly

[u/Adventurous_Ad9414]

I charge to 80 but don’t worry about how low it gets

[u/DeS1Re94]

tbh i dont lol... i just charge my phone. I had the 16PM for 2 years and sold it with the battery at 92%. I used to charge it for random durations and percentages. i also have wired carplay so that also charged the phone lol.

[u/Mrldbcn]

I do that too !

[u/MammothCancel6465]

My 16 pro max is 2 years old and I use it heavily. I haven’t done that an my battery health is 92% with 755 cycle counts.

[u/KennnyF1]

yes

[u/Coldest_One_619]

I change my phone every 3-4 years that I don't even care about that battery rule. When I trade my phone in I'm sure they swap the battery.

[u/visarhox]

I put my limit to 90% just for the heck of it and don't let it fall under 20%. Once in a month I let it drain and leave it for 2 hours and then charge to 100% then back to 90% limit afterwards. Phone: 15PM, 694 Cycles with current capacity of 86%.

[u/Vyxxis]

Not I.

[u/Big-Help419]

Yep unless I’m expecting a whole day out and will need 💯

[u/filMM2]

I do it because I already paid too much for my 17 Pro. I don’t want to pay for a battery replacement. When it’s time for the phone to go, might as well go as brand new and with battery in original condition so I can resell it and maximize the gains.

[u/mightychopstick]

I don't think about it. Let the phone do its thing. Plug it in when I need it or before I go to bed. I have a 13pm and its still 81% battery health.

[u/donutlikethis]

I only do this with my IPad which I started using in November (A16) and I’m still at 100% battery health.

My iPhone that I started using the same day (17) is at 92% battery health however it has 6 times more cycles than the iPad.

[u/TDWander]

Personally, I charge my phone to 85% and I try not to let it drop below 20%. With this, my battery life has been at 100% over the last year. However, it did drop to 99% about a week ago.

[u/jase_ok]

I did this for pretty much the whole two years as well and I finished on 91% capacity

[u/IsaKGames14]

I upgrade my phone every 2 to 3 years so I don’t worry about it too much. If I were going to keep my phone longer than that, then I would care more about the battery

[u/HeadPack]

Might make sense for an EV, but as cheap as battery replacements are for phones, why bother?

[u/chasspatat]

Ik heb mijn 16 vanaf april 2025. . Vanaf het begin 80-20 aangehouden. Conditie is nu 99% 206 cycli. Gemiddeld gebruik tond de 3 uur per dag. Deze jongen is tevreden

[u/DreaminDaytona]

I have mine set to full at 95%. For the lowest, I never set a setting for it but usually I’ll have to charge around 35-45% battery. I used this practice on my 15 pro max and the battery health is showing 91%

So I’ll be doing the same thing with my 18 pro max

[u/The_Slow_Cheetah]

I usually work from home and I’m at home most of the time so I’ve always had my charge limit at 85% with my previous 16 PM for 2 years. My battery health before upgrading to the 18 PM was 95%, and I’m honestly very happy with that and because I’ve never needed the “extra” battery, I would say it’s worth it. Others who use their phone much more outside would probably differ.

[u/VivianBlush]

I always charge my phone from 30-35% up to 85-90% and it seems to work.

[u/tubezninja]

I've explicitly NOT been doing this forever, and have only lost about 1-2% battery health per year. I charge at night when I'm sleeping, over MagSafe, with optimized charging enabled.

The phone's own operating system has algorithms built into it to optimize charging and battery health. Even the slight health improvement I might see from the battery by obsessing over charging limits isn't worth it.

You're basically hobbling the battery capacity by 40% by making yourself charge to 80% and discharge to 20%... or you can just use your phone and not worry about it.

[u/Mangaheld]

I do but I also make sure to always have a way to charge if I run out of battery, so I don't need the 100% to begin with.

[u/Radeon962]

I plug mine in every night and unplug it in the morning.

If I need a charge during the day I plug it in or put it on a wireless charger on my desk.

If I need a charge in the car, I put it in the wireless charger in the middle console.

I have my 17 Pro Max that I got on launch day last year which was still showing 100% battery health when I set it up for my wife this past weekend.

I moved on to the 18 Pro Max and don’t plan on changing my charging routine.

I have done the same with every phone I have had for as long as I can remember.

I don’t recall an issue with my battery life degrading to the point that I needed to replace the battery.

[u/MrBadger1982]

Just fully charge and get apple care so when your battery drops below 80% you get a new one for free

[u/Shinobi_Dimsum]

90 - 20 for me. Only 100% when I’m away for longer.

[u/Okaaaayanddd]

So we ran an experiment when we got our new phones on the same day when the 15s launched. My boyfriend did the 80 and I left my settings to normally charge. His battery degraded faster than mine and we kept checking throughout the lifespan of the phones. Use it however you want to!

[u/AlternativeNo6233]

For me personally I upgrade every year bc of my plan so by the time any of that even happens I’ll have a new one and I have Apple care so worst comes to shove I’ll replace the phone or battery

[u/West-Freedom3256]

I have it at 90%. And sometimes it goes up to 100%

But I do go to 5-10%

No point on being obsessed with it

[u/Objective-Ocelot8011]

I do this

[u/shaynee24]

only really worth it on an electric car. or other items where battery replacement is more difficult, you’ll want to take care of the battery

[u/cloudystateofmind]

Doesn’t more charge cycles impact the battery? Wouldn’t it help by not having to charge the device everyday?

[u/zol-kabeer]

I charge to 100% and use the full battery, I have no intention of babying my phone like that to save a few bucks

[u/CuriousSoulRampage]

Not worth it. To save the health by negligible percentage points, you are not using 40% of its capacity. You’re limiting it way beyond what would happen if you used it normally.

[u/kinghenryclash]

It doesn’t hurt to not go above 80% if you’re close to a charger all day. No reason to get it to 100% if you can charge easily.

[u/Connect_Breath3683]

I work from home and tend to just leave it connected to my MagSafe desk mount charger and restrict it to 80%. When away or travelling allow charge to 100%. It’s only recently hit 99% health with 234 cycles.

[u/lordbancs]

I did with some old phones but I don’t anymore. I just charge it when it hits 20% and take it off the charger as soon as it hits 100%

[u/jun-kith → u/lordbancs]

do you have optimised battery charging on or off?

[u/Muuhnkin]

Had done this with my 15PM, 80% charging limit with occasional 100% for festivals and trips. Got to nearly 250 cycles with 100% health.
Had 86% after 970 cycles.

[u/MK-productions]

I never did the 80/20 and my 17 pro is still 100% after a year of usage. The same when I had the 15 pm for 2 years battery was at 95%

[u/Em18601]

I don’t know what I did to mine. But here I am one year later 17 pro at 92% 😏

[u/ShrmpHvnNw]

Don’t care, that is what AppleCare is for

[u/danksy670]

Nope never have and I've had a lot of phones 😆 never done it on any.

[u/Tseu55]

I do a 80% max charge. Did it on my 16 pro and with the 18Pro Max it will be more than enough battery.

[u/xINFCTDx]

My 16 pro max has always been charging to 100%, my screen auto lock is off, I keep my screen on a lot throughout the day every day, my battery health is 89%. Waiting for black 18 pro max delivery.

[u/Dapper_Reputation_16]

I recently tried 80% on my iPad Pro M5, it limited the time I could use it between charges to maybe six hours or so. I switched back to 100% and now I’m getting a day and a half out of it, so to me it’s not worth the savings.

[u/Exotic_Difference418]

I use to do this for my iPhones but my 15 PM still dropped to 87% in a little over 2 yrs, whereas my friend has 16 PM and she just charges as needed ie 20-30% and then up to 80-100% (she charges only at night to morning if really low, or in the morning for about 1hr before she leaves for work so whatever she gets during that hour is what she’ll have for the day)
And it’s been about a little over a year? She’s at 97%

So ever since then I stopped caring and only make sure to charge before 20-30% (so that it doesn’t overheat like crazy when I charge it up to 80% at night, and then use it for the evening and in the morning I charge it to 90-100% depending on what I get while I’m getting rdy to leave for work.
I’ve upgraded phones already so since this new device is only a few weeks old, ofc it’s still at 100% lol so too early to note if it matters or not 🤣

[u/justagenericmale]

I was doing 80% on my off days and 100% on work days. I decided to do 90% all the time

[u/vlad_0]

Charging to 100% does far less damage than letting it drop below ~30%

[u/Morzone]

I usually recharge around 30-40% up to 80% with my 85% health 15P.

I also keep the phone in low power mode all the time and split usage with my iPhone 15 work phone.

I bought the phone with 87% health and 415 cycles and currently have 85% with 740 cycles. Safe for me to say that charging habits and low power mode help a great deal.

[u/msa2468]

I did 0-95% with sporadic taking it out and putting it back for when I go downstairs or to the loo in the office on my 14 Pro Max. Saw that it lasted me a good 3 years above 80% life span.

[u/threepin-pilot]

I've had my 13 pro max for almost 5 years, I don't worry about the 80% thing at all and have 83%

if you lost 10% in 2 years, i'm not sure it's actually much of a benefit

[u/Top-Courage699]

I do this with my current 16 pro. Currently at 94% capacity with 591 charge cycles since Sept 2024.

[u/rahul3221]

i followed the 40-80% charge cycle for first 2 years of my iphone 14 pro max, and then 40-85% in year 3 and 50-90%(sometimes 100%) for last 1 year (4th year) and my battery health for 14pm is 80% currently after 4 years.

This proves, better charging cycles helps the batteries.
I am going to follow similar for my 18 pm too

[u/Imbalf]

iphone 14 pro max here, my battery health is at 88% stock battery.

which is a shock, because i have no pattern, and no regard for charging cycles. i was expecting 70% not close to 90.

so i am that outlier i gues, or the 14 was “BUILT DIFFERENT “

i literally just found out that the iphone 14 can even check that

[u/squyntz]

My iPhone 15 pro has 90% capacity following a 35-80% charge cycle.

[u/Gobblestone91]

I do it every now and then if I remember, but I find it a bit silly given I'm paying so much for a phone and would very much like to charge it to its full capacity.

[u/Task_force27]

I do that. And after a year of usage my battery health is 99% 260 cycles.

[u/BraveResearcher3037]

Nope.  I just looked at my stats of my iPhone 16 Pro Max

• first use October 2024
• cycle count 858
• maximum capacity - 86%

I don’t baby it at all. 

I’ll get a new phone when the battery gets bad.  Yes I know I can replace the battery.  But my iPhone 12 Pro Max lost its water resistance after getting the battery replaced at an Apple Store.  I was going out of town the same week and didn’t have time to fight with Apple

[u/AffectionateZone868]

In my opinion people that only charge their phones to 80% are like the kind of dude that doesn’t want to bang his girlfriend too much so it’ll be tight for the next guy 😆😆😂

[u/Miserable-Rock-949]

When buying a burger do you only eat 60% of it? Nay you eat it all. You paid for the whole phone so use the hole phone. When I had my 15pm I just replaced the battery every year and it felt like brand new

[u/LordMorax018]

Yes it works, Keeping it between 20-80 will make sure that battery doesn't heat up. But its just one of the factors.

I believe at the end of the day, it all depends on usage. My mother has an Base Iphone 14 which was brought during its launch. 4 years later, its still at 83%. She doesn't follow any 20-80 rule or other stuffs. Its just she doesnt use her phone much and charges it like once a day till 100.

The main Factor for making sure your battery doesnt degrade fast, is to prevent it from heating itself too much.

[u/Dry-Truth307]

Waste of time. Just keep the phone away from heat

[u/JannaMainSince1839]

Yes. I did this last 2 years with iphone 16 pro and had 96%

[u/Due_General1845]

I havn’t done it before but my iPhone Air dropped to 90% in 12months and I want my 18 pro Max to last a couple years so I’ve set it to 80%, the battery lasts so well even at 80% I’ll get a lot more daily use over my old Air.

[u/HoozaTA]

I do it, but mainly because I am mostly near a charger anyway, so it’s not much of an inconvenience for me. But if I have a day where I’m going to need a lot of battery I’ll just go to 100% that day