On iPhone 15 models, iOS 18 will recommend that users set a particular charging limit for their device based on their recent usage habits, with the aim of potentially improving their iPhone battery's lifespan by reducing the time that the battery is fully charged.
All four iPhone 15 models feature a setting that prevents the devices from charging beyond 80% while toggled on, and iOS 18 expands the feature by adding new 85%, 90%, and 95% charging limit options. With the new limit options, iOS 18 now takes a proactive approach to improving battery longevity by recommending a specific charging limit to users via a notification.
The recommendation also appears in the Settings app under Battery → Charging. The charging limit feature remains exclusive to the iPhone 15 lineup on the first iOS 18 beta, with the option not found on the iPhone 14 Pro or older.
In a related change, anecdotal reports suggest that iOS 18 could be recalibrating some devices' maximum battery capacity percentage. In Settings ➝ Battery ➝ Battery Health, "Maximum Capacity" is a measure of battery capacity relative to when the device was new. Lower capacity can result in fewer hours of usage between charges.
The first iOS 18 beta is available for Apple Developer Program members, and a public beta will follow in July. After beta testing is complete, the update should be widely released to all users with an iPhone XS or newer in September.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects Apple to release new AirPods Pro this year, and he said the earbuds will have a key new feature: heart rate monitoring.
From his Power On newsletter today, with emphasis added:As for Apple's other devices, there's a lot in the fall pipeline — though many of the new products are only incremental upgrades.
There will be Apple Watch updates, faster Vision...
Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max should be unveiled in a few more weeks, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman corroborated a rumor that iPhone 17 Pro models will be "available in an orange color."
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are...
Wednesday August 20, 2025 6:44 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
We're only weeks away from Apple's annual iPhone event – rumored to take place on September 9 – and along with the new iPhone 17 series, we're going to get a new version of the Apple Watch Ultra for the first time since 2023.
By the time the Ultra 3 is unveiled, it will have been two years since the previous model arrived. The intervening period has left plenty of room for enhancements,...
Sunday August 24, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple has "considered" releasing a bumper case for the upcoming iPhone 17 Air, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Similar to the bumper case that Apple introduced for the iPhone 4 in 2010, Gurman said the iPhone 17 Air version of the case would cover the edges of the device, but not the back of it. Those bumper cases were made of rubber.
Given that the iPhone 17 Air is expected to have ...
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through what to expect from the Apple Watch SE 3, Series 11, and Ultra 3, and whether it's worth holding off on an upgrade until next year.
Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos
The third-generation Apple Watch SE is rumored to feature a larger display (perhaps like the Apple Watch Series 7), the S11 chip, and...
Wednesday August 20, 2025 5:00 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone 17 series is expected to debut in September 2025. This release follows Apple's recent trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall.
To unveil the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, Apple is expected to hold its annual iPhone announcement event during the week of September 8, 2025, with September 9 or 10 emerging as the most likely...
They’re getting to a point where people can hold onto their iPhones for 10 years. If I’m a shareholder, I’m asking what Tim is doing to replace the lost revenue from iPhone users who aren’t upgrading?
I charge my phone overnight, to 100%, every day ... don't care about battery health/lifespan. Its a consumable, when it doesn't meet my needs anymore it gets replaced
You're reducing the accumulation/creation of dendrites.
Dendrites are crystal-like formations in the cell that grow through the electrolyte, little by little, with each charge and discharge cycle. They cause short-circuit in a cell when they grow all the way through. This is the main way a li-ion cell dies.
Dendrites are formed primarily during deep charging and deep discharging. E.g., when you discharge the battery down to 0%, and when you charge the battery up to 100%. If you stay within the 20%-80% charge range all the time, a modern lithium ion cell can last probably 10x as many cycles compared to a battery that is cycled between 0% and 100%. But staying in that narrow range sacrifices 40% of the battery capacity, so it's pretty undesirable. Indeed, everything about battery design is balancing competing interests and picking 2 of 3 options.
Most battery controllers don't let you go to 0% anyway. When your phone is reporting 0%, it likely really means the battery has 1-3% left but for self-preservation it's not going to let the device turn on in that state. And most folks don't discharge their phone all the way daily anyway - it's a rare occurrence to be plugging in a totally dead phone. But most battery controllers let the battery charge to 100%. So dendrites slowly form.
By limiting the charging to 80%, you're greatly reducing/slowing the formation of dendrites.
But 80% is a bit aggressive in my opinion. Dendrite formation becomes a real problem at the extremes. 90-95% charge limit would be fine I think.
This is looking more and more like something in the hardware of the iPhone 15 models that allows the charging limits as well as this new feature. Maybe something controlling the USB C port or the battery controller itself?
All existing devices since iPhone 6S can do Optimized Battery Charging, which delays charging past 80%. All iPhones can pause charging when high temps are experienced. So we already know existing hardware is capable. This is confirmed by the fact jailbreaking can re-enable this artificially locked feature on iPhone 14 and older. This is a case of pure feature rationing.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
