How long to charge I Phone

February 20, 2021, 04:24 PM

I had an I Phone 5 since about 2014. It was starting to act up, so Mrs. Ironworker said to get a new one. So I got an I Phone SE. It was the least expensive and does way more stuff then I will ever use. I usually plug the phone in over night to charge it. I do not use the phone very much, so I may only charge it once or twice a week. The phone salesman said it was a bad idea to leave the phone charging over night, it might mess up the battery. So I hope someone here can help me out.
How low should I let the battery go before charging? Does it hurt to charge it when it is at about 50 or 60% charged?
Does it hurt to charge it over night or plug it in and leave it charging for several days?
I have had conflicting answers to these question and I think Sig Forum is about the best place to get a straight answer. Thanks for any help.

February 20, 2021, 04:50 PM

sjtill

Do you have the latest update of iOS?
I have an iPhone 12 Pro; it's a different phone, but I got a message when I started using it that the phone would not allow over-charging, so you didn't need to worry about that any more. This system was a new feature in iOS 13, presumably carried over to the current iOS 14.

Here's an explanation:

quote:
Recent iOS updates include a battery health feature the let you check on your battery capacity, and see a history of your battery usage. The feature is a useful way to know if you’ve stuck to the 40-80 rule.

But Apple knows you don’t want to start the day around 80%. If you travel a lot or otherwise find yourself frequently out of reach from an outlet, that extra 20% can easily be the difference in whether your iPhone makes it to the end of the day. Staying at 80% risks losing a valuable asset, your phone. That’s why the company wants to meet you in the middle.

In iOS 13, a new charging algorithm will keep your iPhone at 80% when charging overnight. That algorithm will determine when you typically wake up and start the day, and restart the charging sequence to give you fully charged battery when you wake up.

That means your iPhone won’t spend the entire night taking a charge it doesn’t need (and risk overheating), but when you start your day, you should have 100% battery charge. It’s the best of both worlds to give you as long as battery life as possible, both in retaining the full capacity of the battery and making it through the day.

And here's the link with the complete explanation:
Link

In sort, your iPhone is smarter than you are, and definitely smarter than the phone salesman.

February 20, 2021, 04:52 PM

P220 Smudge

quote:
Originally posted by sjtill:
In sort, your iPhone is [...] definitely smarter than the phone salesman.

Nailed it.

February 20, 2021, 07:01 PM

220-9er

I've had several Iphones for 10+ years and always leave them charging overnight.

The salesman is full of it.

February 20, 2021, 07:55 PM

PR64

I listen to Audio books at night when I go to bed. I set the sleep timer and leave it plugged in to my IHome system every night.

I've done this with all my iPhones and never had a battery problem.

February 20, 2021, 08:00 PM

V-Tail

quote:
definitely smarter than the phone salesman.

No big challenge there.

Well, one of our members used to do that (sell phones), but he was probably an exception to the general population of phone salesmen.

February 20, 2021, 09:07 PM

NavyGuy

I've read that over charging can be an issue, as well as running the phone to "empty". As I recall from the article, it's best to charge at the same time each day, when the battery shows from 40 to 80%, and then take it off once it
s fully charged. That said my wife and I got iPhone 11's at the same time and she charges overnight no matter what the charge level is and I do the aforementioned procedure. Her phone shows no sign of battery degradation in use or when checked with the battery checker app. So if your procedure works, there is no need to alter it at this point.

February 20, 2021, 11:02 PM

Orguss

I've had iPhones since the 3G and have charged my phones overnight, every night since then. I've never had an issue with battery life. Of course, the longest I've gone before buying a new iPhone was 3 years, so I don't know what extended usage would actually do to battery longevity.

February 21, 2021, 12:37 AM

cparktd

All night, every night.
Regardless of the remaining charge... When my pants come off at night I drop the phone on the charger on the bedside table and it stays there until I put my pants back on the next day.
Wife and I have both been doing that for about ten years with never any battery issues at all.

February 21, 2021, 05:44 AM

henryaz

It is interesting to note that when one goes to use Apple's trade in program, one of the questions about the device you are trading in asks if there is any swelling (usually caused by batteries swelling). My 2015 MBP suffered battery swelling because I kept it plugged in all the time (the swelling started in the 2nd year after purchase. The battery was replaced under Apple Care, and the new battery is swelling though I've been very careful about not leaving it plugged in. It seems to me that Apple has a more general battery problem. I believe this is partly due to the move towards "thin" in their designs, leaving very little room for the battery to dissipate heat. This is most likely why they introduced the "optimized battery charging" feature.

February 21, 2021, 07:39 AM

rbert0005

I charge mine while I am sitting around watching tv, or whatever and unplug it when I go to bed.
Works for me.

Bob

February 21, 2021, 07:53 AM

Flash-LB

I've let phones of mine charge overnight a few times and then felt the phone and charger in the morning to see if they were warm. In all cases they were room temperature so any charging going on was trickle charge which I seriously doubt would harm anything.

February 21, 2021, 11:02 AM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by henryaz:

It is interesting to note that when one goes to use Apple's trade in program, one of the questions about the device you are trading in asks if there is any swelling (usually caused by batteries swelling). My 2015 MBP suffered battery swelling because I kept it plugged in all the time (the swelling started in the 2nd year after purchase. The battery was replaced under Apple Care, and the new battery is swelling though I've been very careful about not leaving it plugged in. It seems to me that Apple has a more general battery problem. I believe this is partly due to the move towards "thin" in their designs, leaving very little room for the battery to dissipate heat. This is most likely why they introduced the "optimized battery charging" feature.

Between my wife and me, we have had three swollen batteries, one on an iPhone 6 Plus and two on Apple watches. These all occurred after the devices were out of warranty.

A short "discussion" via chat with an Apple support person on the Apple website, and they agreed to replace batteries on their nickel, even out of warranty, as the swelling batteries were a known problem.

Took the phone into the local Apple store (this was way before The Virus), they did not replace the battery, they just gave my wife a shiny new phone, at no cost, other than about 45 minutes hanging around the store.

The two watches, they sent prepaid shipping boxes to send the watches back to an Apple Service Center, and two days later, we received replacement watches. One of the replacements we received was a third generation watch to replace the first generation that I sent to them. Again, all of this was with no cost to us.

To date, Apple support has treated us very well.

February 21, 2021, 11:10 AM

PowerSurge

You can’t “overcharge” an iPhone. Plug it in every night or when it needs charged and forget it.

February 21, 2021, 11:16 AM

V-Tail

Starting with the iPhone 8, iPhones can use magnetic chargers. Really convenient!

I have these. iPhone sits on the round one overnight.

The stand type is on my desk at work. Phone sits at a convenient viewing angle, so I notice reminders and incoming texts or emails popping up on the lock screen, while the phone stays charged.

February 21, 2021, 11:24 AM

ensigmatic

quote:
Originally posted by Ironworker:
... I got an I Phone SE. It was the least expensive and does way more stuff then I will ever use. I usually plug the phone in over night to charge it. I do not use the phone very much, so I may only charge it once or twice a week. The phone salesman said it was a bad idea to leave the phone charging over night, it might mess up the battery.

The phone sales droid knows not of which he or she speaks. Not only will an iPhone not overcharge itself, but, if you charge it on any kind of a regular basis, it will learn your charging habits and adjust the charging rate so it just finishes charging a bit before you can be expected to take it off the charger.

It does this latter thing because slower charge rates mean less heat. Less heat means extended battery lifetime.

As for charging it only once- or twice-a-week: That may be a Bad Idea, depending upon how low you're letting it get. Ideally you want to charge the phone when it gets no lower than about 70-80% of full charge. Less charge time = less heat.

I look at my iPhone and iPad each evening, before hitting the sack. If they're at or below 80% they go on the charger overnight. I take them off the charger as soon as I get up--not due to fear of over-charging, but so they learn by what time is the earliest I'll want them ready.

February 21, 2021, 11:34 AM

Rinehart

From what I have seen (us + having two sons using iphones and other gadgets) the biggest damage you can do to ANY battery is to keep running it until it is flat, dead, kaput. One son had a habit of running iphones until the battery completely died. In his case it required replacement of two of his phone batteries over the years and poor performance after a pattern of this.
I have had similar experiences with basically any type of modern battery- most drop charge by design 1% or so a week(s)/thereabouts. ("Balanced" or smart batteries can be even more sensitive). Also do NOT let them sit for months and go flat. And also don't leave them plugged in sitting in chargers continuously.
Bad things can happen...

February 21, 2021, 02:23 PM

Flash-LB

quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
Starting with the iPhone 8, iPhones can use magnetic chargers. Really convenient!

I have these. iPhone sits on the round one overnight.

The stand type is on my desk at work. Phone sits at a convenient viewing angle, so I notice reminders and incoming texts or emails popping up on the lock screen, while the phone stays charged.

Just informationally, they're not magnetic chargers, they're inductive chargers. I've got two of the vertical ones you have in the picture and that's what I have Mrs. Flash use when she charges her phone.

They work on exactly the same principle as a transformer because that's what you have when you're using one. There's a coil in your phone and another in the charger and the charge couples between the two.

Different manufacturers phones charge at different rates and the iPhone charges at 7.5 watts (1-1/2 amps).