To prolong iPhone battery life, keep your charge between 20 and 80 percent, enable Optimized Battery Charging in iOS settings, avoid heat, and turn off high-drain features like 5G, Background App Refresh, and always-on location services. iPhones use lithium-ion batteries that degrade over time with charge cycles. Most retain about 80 percent capacity for roughly 500 cycles. When battery health drops below 80 percent, performance suffers, and replacement is worth considering.
If your iPhone feels like it dies too fast, you are not imagining it. iPhone batteries lose a small amount of capacity with every charge cycle, and most of that decline comes down to everyday habits you can actually control.
Living in Albuquerque adds another layer to this. Summer heat here is one of the fastest ways to kill a lithium-ion battery, and most people do not realize it until the damage is already done.
In this post, we cover what damages your battery, which iOS settings to change today, and how to know when replacement is the right move. If you would rather skip straight to getting it checked, our iPhone repair team in Albuquerque offers free battery diagnostics.
How Your iPhone Battery Actually Works
Your iPhone uses a lithium-ion battery that degrades over time through charge cycles. One full charge cycle equals 100 percent of your battery used, which does not have to happen in one session. Apple engineers iPhone batteries to hold at least 80 percent of their original capacity after about 500 complete charge cycles under normal use.
You can check your current battery health right now. Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health and Charging. That percentage is how much capacity your battery still has compared to the day you bought your phone.
Habits That Damage Your iPhone Battery Health
Charging to 100 Percent and Draining to Zero
This is one of the most common things we see in Albuquerque customers who come in with heavily degraded batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are healthiest when they stay partially charged. Repeatedly running your phone to zero and charging all the way to 100 percent puts real stress on the battery cells. Staying between 20 and 80 percent day to day extends battery life considerably.
Leaving Your Phone in a Hot Car
Heat is the single biggest threat to your iPhone battery. Albuquerque summers push well past 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and the inside of a parked car can reach temperatures that cause permanent damage to battery cells in a matter of minutes. Apple recommends keeping your iPhone in environments between 32 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit. If your phone lives in your car during the summer, that habit alone could be why your battery health is declining faster than normal.
Using Fast Chargers for Every Single Charge
Fast chargers are useful when you are in a hurry, but they generate more heat during the charging process. Using a high-wattage charger for every routine charge adds unnecessary wear over time. For overnight or everyday charging, a standard 12W charger is much easier on the battery.
iOS Settings Worth Changing Today
1. Turn On Optimized Battery Charging
Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health and Charging and enable this. iOS will learn your daily routine and hold your charge at 80 percent overnight, finishing the rest just before you wake up. This reduces the amount of time your battery sits at 100 percent, which is one of the biggest contributors to long-term wear. It costs nothing and takes ten seconds to turn on.
2. Lower Your Screen Brightness
Your display is the biggest power draw on your iPhone. Turn on Auto-Brightness under Settings > Accessibility > Display and Text Size, and manually lower your brightness in Control Center. Even a small reduction adds up over the course of a day.
3. Switch from 5G to LTE
5G uses significantly more battery than LTE. If you are mostly on Wi-Fi or in areas where 5G coverage is weak, your iPhone is burning through battery looking for a signal it can barely hold. Switch to LTE under Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Voice and Data, and you will notice the difference.
4. Turn Off Background App Refresh
Most apps do not need to refresh content while you are not using them. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and turn it off globally. Your apps will update when you open them.
5. Tighten Location Services
A lot of apps default to tracking your location all the time. Go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Location Services and switch apps from Always to While Using, or turn location off entirely for apps that have no real reason to track you.
6. Use Low Power Mode When You Are Running Low
When your battery hits 20 percent, iOS will offer to turn on Low Power Mode. You can also switch it on yourself under Settings > Battery at any point. It pulls back on background activity and saves you meaningful runtime without doing any harm to the battery.
Charging Myths Worth Clearing Up
Myth: You Should Drain to Zero Before Charging
This came from older nickel-cadmium batteries and does not apply to lithium-ion at all. Fully draining your iPhone regularly actually speeds up battery wear. Partial charges are healthier.
Myth: You Need to Unplug at Exactly 80 Percent
You do not need to sit and watch your phone charge. That is what Optimized Battery Charging is for. It handles the 80 percent hold automatically based on your schedule.
Myth: Third-Party Chargers Always Damage Batteries
Cheap, uncertified cables can damage your battery through inconsistent voltage and excess heat. MFi-certified third-party chargers are tested to Apple’s own standards and are completely safe to use. The issue is certification, not price or brand.
Quick Reference: Should You Optimize or Replace?
Use this table to figure out whether changing your habits will help, or whether your battery has already degraded to the point where replacement is the right move.
Battery Optimization Tips | Signs You Need Replacement |
Charge between 20 and 80 percent daily | Battery health below 80 percent |
Enable Optimized Battery Charging | iPhone shuts off unexpectedly |
Keep iPhone away from heat | The battery drains in 2 to 3 hours |
Switch to LTE when on Wi-Fi | Phone will not hold charge overnight |
Reduce screen brightness | Device runs unusually hot |
Disable Background App Refresh | Apps crash frequently |
Use Low Power Mode when battery is low | Performance slow despite updates |
How to Know When Your iPhone Battery Needs Replacing
The clearest sign is battery health below 80 percent in Settings. At that point, iOS may begin limiting your processor speed to prevent unexpected shutdowns, which is why older phones start feeling slower even after software updates. You should also think about replacement if your phone shuts off unexpectedly at 20 to 30 percent, drains fully in 2 to 3 hours under light use, or gets warm during basic tasks like texting or browsing.
What Happens During a Battery Replacement
A technician removes the old battery, installs a new one built to the original specifications, and runs a diagnostic to confirm everything is working correctly before handing your phone back. At ABQ Phone Repair & Accessories, our iPhone battery replacement service is completed the same day for most models, usually within an hour.
Should You DIY?
Battery replacement kits are sold online, but mistakes during disassembly can damage flex cables, crack the screen, or break waterproofing seals. Any of those issues can cost more than the battery replacement itself. If your screen gets damaged during a DIY attempt, that becomes a separate screen repair on top of the battery job. For a phone you depend on every day, professional repair is the safer call.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I check my iPhone battery health?
Open Settings, tap Battery, then tap Battery Health and Charging. The maximum capacity percentage shown is your current battery health. If it is below 80 percent, you will likely feel it in your day-to-day battery life.
Is charging overnight bad for my battery?
With Optimized Battery Charging turned on, no. iOS holds the charge at 80 percent overnight and tops off the rest just before you wake up. Without it, charging to 100 percent every night does add wear over time.
What percentage should I charge my iPhone to?
Between 20 and 80 percent is the healthiest range for daily use. Charging to 100 percent occasionally is fine. Doing it every single day adds more stress to the battery cells than necessary.
What is the biggest threat to iPhone battery health?
Heat. It causes permanent damage inside the battery cells that cannot be reversed. After heat, the biggest culprits are consistently charging to 100 percent, fully draining to zero, and using uncertified chargers.
How long does a battery replacement take?
At ABQ Phone Repair & Accessories in Albuquerque, most iPhone battery replacements are done the same day, typically within an hour.
Does Low Power Mode hurt the battery?
Not at all. It just reduces how hard the processor and background processes are working. It is safe to use anytime you need to stretch your remaining charge.
Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational purposes only. Battery performance varies by iPhone model, usage habits, and environmental conditions. For a device-specific assessment, speak with a certified repair technician.
