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iOS 11.3 Beta 2 Introduces New 'Battery Health' Feature

Tuesday February 6, 2018 9:43 am PST by Juli Clover
The iOS 11.3 beta 2 update, seeded to developers this morning, introduces a new "Battery Health" feature that's designed to provide iOS users with more information about their batteries.

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Located in the Battery section of the Settings app, the new Battery Health feature tells you the maximum capacity of your battery and whether or not it is operating at peak capacity.

What you'll see if your device is operating normally
On devices that are operating at full battery capacity, such as the newly released iPhone X, there is no toggle to turn off the throttling feature that causes iPhones with degraded batteries to run more slowly. An updated support document that outlines the feature says that on a device with a battery that needs to be replaced, power management can be toggled off.

What you'll see if your device has a degraded battery
Power management will be disabled on all devices when the iOS 11.3 beta is installed, but if an iPhone experiences an unexpected shutdown, power management will automatically be turned on.
Additionally, users can see if the performance management feature that dynamically manages maximum performance to prevent unexpected shutdowns is on and can choose to turn it off. This feature is enabled only after an unexpected shutdown first occurs on a device with a battery that has diminished ability to deliver maximum instantaneous power. This feature applies to iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus.
Apple says that if power management is manually disabled after being enabled due to a shutdown, it won't be able to be turned back on. It will, however, turn on once again automatically if another unexpected shutdown occurs, so it sounds like users may need to turn the feature off more than once on a device that is experiencing issues.

Apple's Battery Health feature is listed as being a "Beta" feature, and Apple will likely continue to refine and update its Battery Health feature over the course of the beta testing period.
[ 152 comments ]


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MhzDoesMatter
9 months ago

So hardcore Apple defenders (in other words not true fans), please let us know right now why this wasn't always a feature?

I'm waiting.....


Hi. Level 13 Hardcore Apple Defender here.

Because Apple didn't want it to be.

You're welcome.
Rating: 25 Votes
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gretafour
9 months ago
Should have been in there from the beginning, but better late than never!
Rating: 23 Votes
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skillwill
9 months ago
Why do people have such unrealistic expectations? You buy a phone knowing (or should know, not anyone else's fault if you don't) what happens to batteries. They get older, they wear out... that's what happens! Then the one company that actually attempts to mitigate these problems by putting a crash-prevention feature into the phone are now the ones having to pay for a problem affecting the whole industry. People who never in a million years would have noticed a difference in speed and power in their phone - other than it naturally slowing down through running older hardware with new software - are now complaining that they've been royally screwed! You haven't been!
Rating: 15 Votes
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srsub3
9 months ago
hahahahahah don't worry the switch will be out maybe in september after iPhone X-s! or maybe with another extremely helpful feature!
Rating: 13 Votes
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RealAppleFan
9 months ago
So hardcore Apple defenders (in other words not true fans), please let us know right now why this wasn't always a feature?

I'm waiting.....
Rating: 10 Votes
Avatar
richie510
9 months ago

So hardcore Apple defenders (in other words not true fans), please let us know right now why this wasn't always a feature?

I'm waiting.....


LOL. This is just too ridiculous to actually respond to. I feel like this person isn't even trolling, they are just demanding a response.
Rating: 9 Votes
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MacInTO
9 months ago
This is an exciting feature *geek out*!

It will be good to have this rather than having to download a random app for this.
Rating: 8 Votes
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PastaPrimav
9 months ago

So hardcore Apple defenders (in other words not true fans), please let us know right now why this wasn't always a feature?

I'm waiting.....

It still shouldn't be a feature. Users should not be allowed anywhere near this. I'm sure Apple engineers are absolutely livid at the management-level decisions that have resulted in this.
Rating: 8 Votes
Avatar
NightFox
9 months ago

So hardcore Apple defenders (in other words not true fans), please let us know right now why this wasn't always a feature?

I'm waiting.....


In some people's eyes, asking a deliberately confrontational question which you know nobody on here actually knows the answer to might be considered A-grade trolling.
Rating: 8 Votes
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HacKage
9 months ago
I had commented this previously as a guess, but it looks like throttling will NOT be in place on the iPhone X due to it having a battery capacity more in line with what every other manufacturer in the world uses.

The iPhone 8 had 60% the battery capacity of the Samsung S8. The iPhone X has 90% of the capacity of the S8. That means that as the battery dies like Apple say is going to happen, the capacity will more than likely still be higher than that of the iPhone 8 when new. It will still be able to cope with these voltage spikes as it deteriorates that should have been handled by the earlier phones in the first place had they put in a battery with sufficient capacity.
Rating: 7 Votes

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