iPhone 15 has new battery health controls to prevent charging past 80%

iPhone 15

users looking to prolong their battery health a little further have a new option -- an 80% charging hard limit.

People concerned over iPhone battery health attempt to control every aspect of their device experience to eke out moments of additional usage. While AppleInsider recommends users just let the battery power management system handle things, Apple is adding a new toggle.

New information obtained by MacRumors' Joe Rossignol during a Verge Q&A session confirm the entire iPhone 15 lineup has a new battery health setting. Users can choose to stop the iPhone from charging past 80% rather than reaching 100%.

This isn't the usual Optimized Battery Charging setting that stops the iPhone from charging once it hits 80%, then resumes charging to 100% to finish just before the user wakes up. Instead, the iPhone will never charge past 80%.

Charging a battery is relatively efficient and uniform from 0% to 80%, but that last 20% generally takes more energy and produces more heat. This leads some users to consciously try to float their battery between 40% and 80% at all times to prolong battery health.

Now, users no longer need to monitor charging and can have it stop at 80% automatically. However, AppleInsider continues to recommend users stick with Optimized Battery Charging and avoid this new setting.

There is very little to gain from stopping an iPhone from charging past 80%. Instead, the user will suffer from not having access to the full potential of the battery capacity while only salvaging a few more weeks of battery health.

Instead, users should continue to use their devices with fully automatic settings and charge whenever necessary. There's no stopping physics, and all batteries will need to be replaced eventually.