battery life

By MacRumors Staff
Jump to How Tos Articles

'battery life' How Tos

How to Save Battery Life in iOS 9 With Low Power Mode

Monday September 21, 2015 12:35 pm PDT by Lory Gil
One frequent complaint of smartphone users is the limited amount of battery life our tech devices have. With the constant trend toward making devices thinner and lighter, battery life is a key tradeoff to be considered, and some users find their devices not lasting as long as they'd prefer. For those pushing their devices to the limit, Apple has added a new feature to iOS 9 that is designed to help you conserve those last few drops of juice when you wont be able to charge your iPhone anytime soon. The new feature is known as Low Power Mode, and it can increase your battery life up to three hours but at the expense of some functions of your device. It is only available on iPhone devices running iOS 9. Enabling Low Power Mode only takes a few steps. Open the Settings app on your iPhone. Select Battery from the menu list. Toggle Low Power Mode to the On position. The battery icon will turn yellow to indicate that you are using Low Power Mode. Low Power Mode reduces your iPhone's performance and cuts out some background activities. For example, mail must be fetched manually, background app refresh is disabled, and motion and brightness are reduced. Benchmarks have shown the iPhone's CPU performance with Low Power Mode on is significantly reduced in an effort to save on power consumption, so while simple tasks may continue to work just fine on an iPhone in Low Power Mode, more demanding ones may become sluggish. You don't have to keep Low Power Mode on all of the time; you can manually shut it off whenever you want. However, the general impression of
Read Full Article 43 comments

'battery life' Articles

Apple on iPhone Battery Locking Issue: We Want to Make Sure Battery Replacement is Done Properly

Wednesday August 14, 2019 10:30 am PDT by Juli Clover
Last week, iPhone repair site iFixit highlighted a new iPhone feature described as a "dormant software lock" designed to prevent customers who get unauthorized battery repairs from seeing the battery health of their devices. On an iPhone XS, XS Max, or iPhone XR, getting a repair from a non-Apple authorized source results in a message that says "Unable to verify this iPhone has a genuine battery," with the iPhone refusing to display battery health information. Apple today provided a statement on the issue to iMore, confirming that it did indeed introduce "a new feature" last year that brings up the aforementioned message when a non-authorized battery repair is made, with the aim of protecting customers from "damaged, poor quality, or used batteries."We take the safety of our customers very seriously and want to make sure any battery replacement is done properly. There are now over 1,800 Apple authorized service providers across the United States so our customers have even more convenient access to quality repairs. Last year we introduced a new feature to notify customers if we were unable to verify that a new, genuine battery was installed by a certified technician following Apple repair processes. This information is there to help protect our customers from damaged, poor quality, or used batteries which can lead to safety or performance issues. This notification does not impact the customer's ability to use the phone after an unauthorized repair.On an ‌iPhone XR‌, XS, or XS Max that has a battery replaced outside of an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service
Read Full Article • 435 comments

Apple Promotes iPhone XR's Battery Life in New Ad: 'You'll Lose Power Before It Will'

Monday May 13, 2019 5:37 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple has shared a new ad titled "Up Late" on its YouTube channel that promotes the iPhone XR having the "longest battery life in an iPhone ever." The 30-second spot shows various people falling asleep while using an iPhone, including a parking attendant streaming an Inter Milan game, a woman laying on a couch and playing a game, and a man sitting on the end of a bed and watching a baby monitor, setting up the tagline "you'll lose power before it will." "‌iPhone XR‌ has the longest battery life in an iPhone ever," the video description reads. "So whether you're streaming video, watching live sports or playing a game, you'll lose power before your ‌iPhone XR‌ will." The ad is set to the soundtrack "Stay Awake" by Julie Andrews from the classic musical fantasy film "Mary Poppins." Despite being cheaper than the iPhone XS and ‌iPhone XS‌ Max, the iPhone XR does in fact have the longest battery life of any iPhone ever thanks to its large 6.1-inch size and more power efficient LCD versus the OLED displays in the latter two
Read Full Article • 83 comments

Apple Says Apple Watch Series 3 Lasts Up to 7 Hours When Streaming Apple Music Over LTE

Wednesday November 1, 2017 6:29 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Following yesterday's release of watchOS 4.1, which enables Apple Music and Beats 1 streaming over LTE on cellular-enabled Apple Watch Series 3 models, Apple has outlined how much impact the functionality has on battery life. While all Apple Watch Series 3 models are rated for up to 10 hours of battery life when playing music from the watch's built-in storage, Apple says the device gets up to seven hours of battery life when streaming Apple Music with LTE. Apple also says the Apple Watch Series 3 has up to five hours of battery life when streaming live radio with LTE. watchOS 4.1 features a new Radio app with access to Beats 1 and other Apple Music radio stations. For outdoor sessions with the Workout app, the Apple Watch Series 3 is rated for up to three hours of battery life with streaming audio, GPS, and LTE. That's one hour less than an outdoor workout without streaming audio. Apple says battery life varies by use, configuration, cellular network, signal strength, streaming quality settings, and many other
Read Full Article • 101 comments

iPhone 8 With Longer Battery Life Said to Entice Those With Older iPhones to Upgrade

Thursday February 23, 2017 9:26 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple's rumored iPhone with an edge-to-edge OLED display will have longer battery life, which will drive customers with older iPhone models to upgrade at an accelerated rate, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty. Huberty also expects the high-end iPhone to have a significant form factor change with wireless charging, 3D sensors, and more advanced AI software capabilities, which are all features that have been previously rumored. An excerpt from Huberty's research note obtained by MacRumors:In addition to more modest updates to current iPhone SKUs, we expect Apple to launch a higher priced device with AMOLED display that allows for a curved form factor and longer battery life, wireless charging technology, 3D sensors, and more advanced AI software capabilities. While we see accelerated upgrades for Apple's highest end users in all regions, our work suggests China users are especially sensitive to new technology and form factor changes.Her research note said a larger base of customers that own at least a two year old iPhone, particularly in China, has resulted in "pent-up demand" for the significantly redesigned "iPhone 8," and this "supercycle" will help drive sales growth alongside modestly updated 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models. Morgan Stanley raised its Apple stock price target to $154 accordingly. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the "iPhone 8" will have a stacked logic board design that provides room for a larger 2,700 mAh L-shaped battery. As such, while the "iPhone 8" is expected to have a 4.7-inch form factor, Kuo said it will have
Read Full Article • 202 comments

Apple Warns You When Your Display is Using Significant Energy in Latest macOS Beta

Monday January 16, 2017 8:58 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple advertises that the latest MacBook Pro models provide up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge for web browsing and iTunes movie playback, but a user's mileage may vary based upon factors such as display brightness, which apps are running, and external devices connected. For this reason, Apple lists apps using a significant amount of energy under the battery menu in the macOS menu bar. The feature enables users to monitor which apps are drawing a lot of power and impacting battery life, whether it be the built-in Spotlight tool or a power-hungry web browser with several tabs open. Now, Apple has gone one step further and expanded the feature to include display brightness. On the latest macOS Sierra beta, when a Mac's display is set above 75% brightness—or at least 13 out of 16 notches—a new item called "Display Brightness" is listed under the battery menu. Clicking on "Display Brightness" lowers the Mac's brightness to 75%. Likewise, when we updated a new MacBook Pro to the fourth beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.3, the display's brightness was automatically lowered to 75%. This is the same brightness level as Apple used during its latest MacBook Pro battery tests. New: "Display Brightness" is now listed and "Apps" has been dropped from the title Battery life on the latest MacBook Pro models has been a controversial topic since the notebooks launched in October. A subset of users have reported getting as little as three to six hours of battery life on a single charge, sometimes even with only basic web browsing and other non-intensive tasks.
Read Full Article • 134 comments

New MacBook Pro Users Report Improved Battery Life on macOS 10.12.2

Wednesday December 14, 2016 12:33 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released macOS 10.12.2 yesterday with stability improvements and fixes for several key bugs, including major graphics issues plaguing some late 2016 model MacBook Pro users. What the changelog did not mention is that Apple also removed the "time remaining" battery life indicator following an increasing number of battery life complaints, likewise among new MacBook Pro users. A new MacBook Pro on macOS 10.12.2 with a 99% charge and an estimated 9 hours and 21 minutes of battery life remaining What it may have also failed to mention is that macOS 10.12.2 appears to have led to battery life improvements for some users. A growing number of MacRumors forum members using the new MacBook Pro claim to be experiencing longer battery life after updating to macOS 10.12.2, despite experiencing less-than-desirable battery life while running macOS 10.2.1 just days earlier. Many of the users using battery apps like coconutBattery have noticed their new MacBook Pro's battery is discharging with lower wattage, and if accurate, the lower power consumption would certainly lead to longer battery life. MacRumors forum member lobo1978 — edited slightly for clarity:Ok it is official. macOS Sierra 10.12.2 fixed my battery. I am up back to 9-10 hours of regular use. Before updating, idle power consumption was not going lower than 6 watts. On macOS Sierra 10.12.2, it is now 10 hours with 70-75% brightness with the
Read Full Article • 248 comments

MacBook Pro Users Express Concerns About Limited Battery Life

Saturday December 3, 2016 8:00 am PST by Joe Rossignol
A subset of users who purchased a new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar claim to be experiencing shorter than expected battery life. In particular, some users claim to be getting as little as 3 to 6 hours of battery life on a single charge, or between 30% and 60% of the up to 10 hours advertised. MacRumors forum member SRTM said:Currently I'm powering a 1080p external monitor and casually browsing with Chrome. At full charge, I'm getting an estimate of 3 hours battery life. With gaming it's even less.MacRumors forum member Aioriya said:I bought a maxed out 13-inch Touch Bar model and I've been using it for about a week. With light use, I've been consistently getting around 5-6.5 hours when mainly browsing. Apple claims 10 hours wireless web but my battery has never lasted this long.Reddit user Azr-79 yesterday claimed his new base model 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar received only 3 hours and 45 minutes of battery life on a single charge, despite what he described as "normal usage" in the form of web browsing, watching YouTube videos, and software development. MacRumors forum member Scott claimed he experienced a 5 percentage point drop in battery life, from 10% to 5%, in just 12 minutes. Google Chrome, a known battery hog, was listed as the only app drawing significant power. The discussion topic he posted in and others are littered with similar claims of sizeable percentage drops in mere minutes. Other claims on Reddit include anywhere from 3 hours to 5 hours to 6 hours — sometimes more, and sometimes less. Conversely, some users report battery life
Read Full Article • 1154 comments

'iPhone 6c' Said to Have Slightly Larger Battery Than iPhone 5s and 2GB of RAM

Tuesday December 29, 2015 9:19 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple's so-called "iPhone 6c" will have a 1,642 mAh battery, slightly larger than the iPhone 5s battery's 1,570 mAh capacity, according to Chinese website MyDrivers [Google Translate] (via Gadgetz Arena). The report, citing "insider Foxconn employees," also corroborates multiple rumors claiming the 4-inch iPhone will feature an A9 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB base storage, Touch ID and the same 2.5d curved glass used on the iPhone 6 and later. Apple's suppliers will reportedly begin mass production of the much-rumored smartphone in January ahead of a possible March announcement and subsequent April release. At least five sources have now predicted the "iPhone 6c" will launch in early 2016 since rumors about the device began circulating this year. In November, often-reliable Japanese blog Mac Otakara reported that Apple has developed a new 4-inch iPhone that is essentially an iPhone 5s with sixth-generation iPod touch features, including an A8 chip, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1 and an improved FaceTime HD camera with ƒ/2.2 aperture. The "iPhone 6c" may also come in at least three colors and lack 3D Touch
Read Full Article • 205 comments

Apple's 3D Touch Video Confirms 1715 mAh iPhone 6s Battery

Wednesday September 9, 2015 8:28 pm PDT by Husain Sumra
Last month, rumors and photos of a battery that looked very similar to an iPhone battery suggested that the iPhone 6s' battery capacity would be lower than the iPhone 6's. Today at Apple's "Hey Siri" event, a video that showed off 3D Touch revealed the iPhone 6's battery capacity. In the video the iPhone 6s is dismantled and viewers can see that the battery is marked "1715 mAh". This confirms previous rumors, which have said that the iPhone 6s' battery capacity would be down to 1715 mAh from the iPhone 6's 1810 mAh. Rumors also indicated that the iPhone 6s Plus would see its capacity drop down to 2750 mAh from the iPhone 6 Plus' 2910 mAh. While the iPhone 6s Plus' true battery capacity is currently unconfirmed, confirmation of a lower capacity will likely come in the next few weeks as the device is subject to teardowns and technical breakdowns. It's likely the smaller battery size is due to multiple factors. Despite the smaller battery capacity, Apple’s stated battery life for the iPhone 6s remains the same as for the iPhone 6, indicating battery efficiency has been improved in the new model. Additionally, the new Taptic Engine takes up a significant amount of space that had previously been devoted to battery, meaning the Cupertino company had to cut down the battery size to compensate. Thanks Brandon!
Read Full Article • 98 comments

AppleCare+ for iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple Watch Now Covers Batteries That Retain Less Than 80% of Original Capacity

Friday June 26, 2015 5:56 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple has updated the terms of its AppleCare+ Protection Plan for iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple Watch to cover batteries that retain less than 80% of their original capacity within the extended warranty period, whereas it previously covered batteries that retained less than 50% of their original capacity. The change applies to AppleCare+ purchased for iPhone, iPad, iPod and all Apple Watch models on April 10, 2015 or later. Apple will replace defective batteries that do not live up to the 80% specification free of charge as long as the device is within its AppleCare+ coverage period. Otherwise, the iPhone maker charges $79 for out-of-warranty battery service for all Apple Watch batteries that retain less than 80% of their original capacity per Apple's diagnostic testing, plus a $6.95 shipping charge if required. The new battery terms of AppleCare+ for iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple Watch:"If during the Plan Term, you submit a valid claim by notifying Apple that (i) a defect in materials and workmanship has arisen in the Covered Equipment, or (ii) the capacity of the Covered Equipment’s battery to hold an electrical charge is less than eighty percent (80%) of its original specifications, Apple will either (A) repair the defect at no charge, using new parts or parts that are equivalent to new in performance and reliability, or (B) exchange the Covered Equipment, with a replacement product that is new or equivalent to new in performance and reliability."AppleCare+ for iPhone, iPad and iPod AppleCare+ for iPhone extends the smartphone's warranty coverage to two years
Read Full Article • 87 comments

Apple Watch Fulfills Promise of All-Day Battery Life in Early Reviews

Wednesday April 8, 2015 9:24 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple lifted the embargo for large websites to publish their Apple Watch reviews this morning, providing us with detailed insight about various functions of the device. Battery life in particular has been one area of interest for several prospective Apple Watch buyers, and most early reviews found the Apple Watch to fulfill its promise of all-day battery life on a single charge. Well-known tech journalist Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal offers one of the better looks at the Apple Watch's battery life in her video of using the device in day-to-day life. The video keeps track of how much battery life the Apple Watch uses while Stern goes about her daily routine in New York, with the device fully charged at 7:30 AM and having five percent remaining at just past midnight. Apple confirmed last month that the Apple Watch will have up to 18 hours of battery life with mixed usage, and last up to 72 hours in Power Reserve mode. Early reviews find the Apple Watch generally on par with, or falling slightly short of, those numbers based on articles published by Daring Fireball, The Verge, The Wall Street Journal, Techpinions and Re/code. We've compiled those findings in the roundup below. John Gruber, Daring Fireball:"After more than a week of daily use, Apple Watch has more than alleviated any concerns I had about getting through a day on a single charge. I noted the remaining charge when I went to bed each night. It was usually still in the 30s or 40s. Once it was still over 50 percent charged. Once, it was down to 27. And one day — last Thursday — it was all
Read Full Article • 220 comments

Apple Watch Battery Life: 18 Hours Mixed Usage, Up to 72 Hours on Power Reserve

Monday March 9, 2015 12:32 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple has outlined specific information about Apple Watch battery life on its website, claiming that the wrist-worn device gets all-day battery life of 18 hours on a single charge based on mixed usage, and up to 72 hours in Power Reserve mode. The battery testing was conducted in March using a preproduction Apple Watch paired with an iPhone running preproduction software. Apple claims that the Apple Watch has battery life of up to 3 hours for talk time, 6.5 hours for audio playback over Bluetooth, up to 7 hours during a workout session with the heart rate sensor on and up to 48 hours for timekeeping. Apple Watch charging times are listed as about 1.5 hours from 0% to 80% and 2.5 hours from 0% to 100% using the included MagSafe inductive charger. Apple's claim of all-day battery life is based on using the Apple Watch for 90 time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use, and a 30-minute workout with music playback via Bluetooth over the course of 18 hours. Apple used a 38mm Apple Watch for testing and claims that the 42mm will generally experience longer battery life. Additional magnetic chargers are available on Apple's bands and accessories page, costing $29 for a 1-meter cable and $39 for a 2-meter
Read Full Article • 184 comments

iPad Air Continues to Offer 24-Hour Battery Life as LTE Hotspot

Monday November 4, 2013 6:34 am PST by Eric Slivka
For those customers interested in taking advantage of the iPad Air's ability to allow other devices to tap into its LTE data connection, Apple's latest iPad continues to offer a robust 24 hours of battery life as an LTE hotspot, far more than dedicated MiFi hotspot devices, reports AnandTech. While the 24-hour hotspot battery life is not new to the iPad Air, confirmation of the feature is comforting given that Apple has taken advantage of more efficient technologies to reduce battery capacity in the iPad Air by nearly 25% compared to the previous two generations without compromising performance.I set the iPad Air up as a personal hotspot, wirelessly tethering it to a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. I started a constant 100KB/s transfer on the MacBook Pro (2x the transfer rate of my iPad 3 test) and with the iPad Air's display off I measured battery life. Last time I chose 50KB/s as it was the average transfer rate across our old WiFi web browsing battery life test, I doubled the workload to be more reflective of more strenuous demands. In reality I'd expect to see a burstier usage profile, but that's something for me to test down the road. A total of 24.08 hours and over 8GB of transfers later, the iPad Air finally died. Just like last time, you'll likely burn through your monthly data allotment before you run out of power.The iPad Air is of course a much larger hotspot solution than dedicated MiFi devices, but for those who may already be carrying an iPad Air to use on its own, it continues to provide a solid option for delivering cellular data access to
Read Full Article • 73 comments

Revised iPad 2 with 32-nm A5 Offers 15-30% Greater Battery Life

Friday May 4, 2012 6:38 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Last month, it was discovered that Apple quietly tweaked the 16 GB Wi-Fi iPad 2, equipping the device with a smaller 32-nm die shrink of the A5 system-on-a-chip previously used in the line. The tweaked iPad 2 carries an internal identifier of "iPad2,4", which was first spotted in an iOS 5.1 beta back in November, but at the time it was unclear what the model represented. A similar die shrink of the A5 was found in the new Apple TV, and it appears that Apple made the move in order to test out production of next-generation chip processes in lower-volume devices. The A5X used in the third-generation iPad continues to be based on a 45-nm process. Anandtech has now
Read Full Article • 118 comments