Following iOS 16's public release, Apple has confirmed that users of older generation iPhone models will miss out on the ability to show their iPhone's battery percentage directly in the status bar.
In an updated support document, Apple says that the new battery percentage display is not available on the iPhone XR, iPhone 11, the iPhone 12 mini, and the iPhone 13 mini. Apple provides no additional information about why these devices will miss out on the new feature.
Apple added the battery percentage display icon in an iOS 16 beta over the summer. The new toggle, which can be found within Settings and Battery, lets users always see their battery percentage directly in the status bar without having to swipe down into Control Center.
Ever since the iPhone X with the notch, users have asked Apple to make it easier to see their iPhone's battery level directly in the status bar. Still, Apple's recent implementation has proven to be controversial.
The new icon includes the battery percentage within the icon rather than to the left of it. The white battery icon remains completely filled in until the battery reaches 20% or lower, at which point a fifth of the icon turns red and the rest of the icon becomes translucent.
Apple today announced the "iPhone Duo," a new kind of iPhone featuring two screens and a foldable inner display.
The two halves of the iPhone Duo connect into a single continuous frame with the same aspect ratio across both displays, and Apple said the transition between open and closed is designed to feel fluid. When fully open, Apple says it is the thinnest iPhone ever made, with an...
Wednesday September 9, 2026 9:10 am PDT by Jordan Golson
Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event kicks off today at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, where we're expecting to see the foldable iPhone Duo, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 models, new AirPods 5 earphones, and perhaps some other announcements.
Apple is providing a live video stream on its website, on YouTube, and in the company's TV app across various platforms. We...
Wednesday September 9, 2026 10:46 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
At its event today unveiling the iPhone 18 Pro, AirPods 5, Apple Watch Series 12, and more, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released later this month.
iOS 27 has already been available as a developer beta since June and as a public beta since July, and Apple today said that the update will be released for all users with a compatible iPhone model on Monday, September 14.
iOS 27 is...
Those models specifically have low DPI displays, so rendering something as small as that might make it look weird or illegible.
My iPhone 4 could display that. And I could read it without thinking: Hum, this looks weird?!
It’s a shame those small UI updates are now exclusively for newer models too. Feels like Apple is running out of ideas on how to motivate people to upgrade their phones. So they come up with the most ridiculous ways to cripple the OS/UI.
"users of older generation iPhone models will miss out on the ability" - my iPhone mini 13 was still the latest model until a week ago with a better 476 ppi screen than the normal size iphone 13. Hmmm
Suspect it's text legibility. The Xr / 11 screens don't have the pixel resolution to effectively display the numbers, and the mini's are probably either too tight on space, or the text would be too small.
