We do almost everything on our smartphones these days; it’s our daily companion. Therefore, the importance of a phone with a long-lasting battery cannot be overstated. A phone that charges fast is even way better. So it’s understandable how frustrated you might be that your iPhone won’t charge past a certain percentage. We explain why that happens and how you can get it fixed.
Why Your iPhone Doesn’t Charge Past 80%
There are two known reasons why this happens.
1. Optimized Battery Charging
The major reason why your battery is not charging beyond the 80% mark is because your phone isn’t letting it. Yes, you read that right. Your iPhone’s battery isn’t faulty; neither is the phone spoilt or anything. But why? The agent responsible for your iPhone not charging past 80% is known as ‘Optimized Battery Charging.’ That was one of the many features that were introduced on iOS 13. The ‘Optimized Battery Charging’ feature delays your phone’s battery charge at 80% for as long as you aren’t using your device. According to Apple, the feature was designed to use machine learning to study your daily usage pattern and charging routine so that it can limit charging at 80% until you need to use your device. For context, say you mostly use your iPhone between 10 AM and 10 PM every day, your device takes note of that. So when you plug your iPhone to charge anytime outside your regular usage period, the charge level may not go beyond 80% charge.
Benefits of Optimized Battery Charging
One of the many mistakes that cripple your iPhone battery life is constantly charging the device to 100%. Research has shown that leaving your phone between 30-80% helps you get the best out of your phone’s power back-up, most especially Lithium-Ion batteries. Constantly charging your iPhone to 100% will wear out the battery over time and reduce its lifespan faster. The iOS 13 ‘Optimized Battery Charging’ prevents this by stopping the charging process on your iPhone when the battery hits 80%. As your regular phone usage hours (determined by the iOS 13 machine learning algorithm) draws near, charging continues slowly till the battery mark hits 100%. That helps to prolong your iPhone and iPad’s battery life and prevent your device’s battery from wearing out too quickly.
2. Battery Temperature
Overcharging your iPhone leads to the generation of excessive heat, which is detrimental to battery health. The heat generated during charging exerts stress on your device battery and greatly reduces its lifespan. Luckily, iOS 13 is smart enough to limit charging at 80% if it detects that your battery temperature has exceeded the recommended level (set by Apple). So, when your iPhone doesn’t charge past 80%, it could be because your battery temperature has exceeded the set limit.
Get Your Phone Charged Past 80%
Need to get your phone charged beyond 80% quickly? Check the methods below.
1. Disable Optimized Battery Charging
The Optimized Battery Charging feature puts the health of your iPhone’s battery above your smartphone needs. And that makes sense. Before you proceed to disable the feature, you should know that Optimized Battery Charging will eventually get your phone charged past 80%, but only when you need to use your phone. If you cannot wait and you need your phone’s battery charged beyond 80% immediately, follow the steps below to disable Optimized Battery Charging on your iPhone. Note: Optimized Battery Charging is enabled by default and is active only when your iPhone predicts that it will be connected to a charger for an extended time. Step 1: Launch your iPhone’s Settings menu. Step 2: Select Battery. Step 3: Tap Battery Health. Step 4: Tap the ‘Optimised Battery Charging’ to toggle it off. Step 5: You can choose to either ‘Turn Off Until Tomorrow’ to temporarily disable the feature till the next day or ‘Turn Off’ to permanently disable the feature until you manually re-enable it. Now your iPhone would charge without occasionally getting stuck at 80%.
2. Change Charging Location
As earlier mentioned, your iPhone battery could get stuck at 80% if it gets too hot during charging. If you have disabled ‘Optimised Battery Charging’ but your iPhone still doesn’t charge past 80%, you want to make sure the charging environment is conducive enough. You should charge your iPhone in a cool, well-ventilated environment. You also want to avoid charging your iPhone near other appliances, electronics, or devices that generate heat.
3. Remove Phone Case
Do you have a phone case hooked to your iPhone? You should remove it if you notice your phone won’t charge past 80%. Smartphones get heated up to some extent when they are being charged, and phone cases (particularly the thick and bulky ones) could prevent heat from being dissipated into the atmosphere, thereby raising your phone and battery temperature.
4. Use Original Charging Accessories
Using fake/unauthorized/third-party charging accessories could also cause your iPhone to stop charging when it reaches a particular percentage. Ensure you charge your device with the charging accessories that shipped with it out-of-the-box or the ones that are Apple MFI certified. Also, ensure you buy and use chargers from an authorized store that sells genuine accessories. Some iPhone users have been able to get their device charged past the 80% mark by simply ditching third-party charging accessories for genuine ones. You should do the same too.
Prolong Your Battery’s Life
The more you charge your phone to 100%, the less amount of power your battery would be able to hold over time. Despite being a very elemental, not too many people know about the Optimised Battery Charging feature. Now that you’re aware, we hope you get accustomed to the feature and stop worrying when your iPhone doesn’t charge past 80% or charges slowly beyond that threshold. Next up: Are you facing battery drain issues on your iPad running iPadOS? Check the article linked below to see the best 9 fixes for the iPad’s battery drain issues.
