iPhone Battery Health 80 Percent (Good or Bad?)

As an iPhone owner, I have been frustrated with the seemingly short battery life of my device. I decided to do some research and testing to see if there was anything I could do to improve it. After digging deep, I discovered a feature on iPhones called Battery Health, which states that 80 percent is a good battery health score. I wanted to find out if this was actually true, so here I am to share my findings and other solutions I discovered. So, is an iPhone Battery Health score of 80 percent good or bad? Let’s find out.

An 80% battery health is perfectly okay if you’ve been using your iPhone for over two years. In fact, Apple considers that in the optimal range.

Factor	Description
What is Battery Health	Refers to the capability of the battery based on when it was new and after it has been used for a while
How to Check Battery Health	Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health
Current Performance	Displayed on the Battery Health screen; optimal performance shows “Average Peak Performance”
80% Battery Health Considered Good?	Yes, Apple claims any battery capacity of 80% or above is optimal and covered under warranty for one year
When Should Battery Capacity Reach 80%?	Typically after two years or 300-400 charge cycles
What Causes Battery Health to Deteriorate	Age (natural process), extreme temperatures, draining battery to 0%, and overcharging the battery

Table of Contents

What Does Battery Health Mean?

Most people would assume that battery health is simply the battery percentage displayed in the top right corner of the screen. In actuality, battery health refers to the capability of the battery based on when it was new and after you’ve used it for a while.

Think of it like this: you buy a car that holds 10 gallons of gasoline. However, after a few years of use, you find that it’s become only capable of holding eight gallons.

This is exactly what happens to batteries; they age over time. This is why starting from IOS 11.3, Apple released a new ‘Battery Health’ feature that’ll give you a percentage of the remaining battery capacity based on how much it degraded.

How Can I Know My iPhone Battery Health?

To know your battery health percentage, all you have to do is go to settings > Battery > Battery Health. You should find your battery health percentage there.

The current performance of your battery is also displayed on the Battery Health screen. For example, if your battery is performing optimally to support all of your apps, you’ll see that your phone is operating at ‘average peak performance.

If your battery capacity is at 70% or below, you might see a warning. Don’t worry; your phone will continue to operate normally, but the duration between charge cycles will shorten.

Is 80% Battery Health Considered Good?

Typically, new phones come with a maximum battery capacity of 100%, which seems like the optimal percentage, right? Well, not necessarily.

In fact, Apple itself claims that any battery capacity of 80% or above should be considered optimal. As a result, their one-year warranty covers any iPhone with a battery capacity of 80% or more.

When Should My iPhone Battery Capacity Reach 80%?

The simple answer is two years or 300–400 charge cycles. Apple claims that all iPhone battery capacities range between 90% to 100% in the first year. Within the second year, it’s expected to drop down to 80%.

What Causes iPhone Battery Health to Deteriorate?

iPhones use lithium-ion batteries. Just like any other battery, lithium-ion will chemically age over time. The more they age, the more their health will deteriorate. This, of course, has an impact on their performance, charge capacity, and power output.

Overall, this is a natural process and isn’t a cause for concern. However, other factors may contribute to the battery’s health degrading. These factors include:

Exposing Your iPhone to Extreme Temperatures

Exposing your iPhone to extremely hot or extremely cold conditions is one of the most harmful things you can do to its battery. Therefore, iPhones should ideally be in temperatures ranging from -4º to 113ºF.

Although iPhones have a built-in protection function that disables them at severe temperatures, it’s advisable to avoid reaching this stage altogether.

Things like placing your phone screen-side up in the sun or charging it in a scorching hot car will undoubtedly harm the health of your battery and cause it to degrade rapidly.

Draining Your iPhone Down to 0% Percent

This is something many people aren’t aware of. I mean, it’s relatively normal for your battery to die and then be recharged. No big deal, right? Some people even claim that draining your battery to 0% before fully recharging it is beneficial.

In reality, allowing your phone to drop to 0% is extremely harmful to your battery and can certainly shorten its lifespan and cause it to degrade quickly.

For this reason, it’s best to charge your iPhone a couple of times a day to avoid running it down to 0%.

Overcharging Your iPhone

I mean, haven’t we all left our phones charging overnight so that we “wake up to a charged phone”? Personally guilty! As much as we hate waking up to a dead phone, the amount of damage overcharging can do to your battery and its lifespan just isn’t worth it.

Technically, you’re not “overcharging” your phone because, well, you can’t. What you’re actually doing is forcing too much electricity into an already fully charged battery. As much as you might think overcharging is harmless, it really isn’t.

Conclusion

Apple introduced a new feature that displays battery health as well as a warning if the battery needs to be replaced. If your battery health percentage is 80%, and you’re wondering if that’s good or bad, you’ve come to the right place!

If you’ve been using your iPhone for two years, then an 80% battery health percentage is considered optimal.