iPhone battery is messed up!

Question

Level 1

6 points

iPhone battery is messed up!

I charged my phone to 100% and kept my phone aside with screen turned off. Then i picked up my phone after an hour to check an email and OMG the charge was 1%.

No app was running on background. The app that most drained the battery today was telegram but it was only used for an hour a few hours BEFORE i charged my phone so i'm sure there's no app draining the battery. Source: settings > battery

The battery is not dead. The maximum capacity is 83%. Source settings > battery > battery health.

It's only been a year and a few months i bought this iPhone SE phone, just a month before it's de-continuation.

Then i charged the phone to 8% but i thought i should just let it die in order to charge again and as it is a step to calibrate battery. So, i kept it aside and after half an hour it's still at 8%. What the... okay... so i turned off the phone and turned it on and it's at about 45%.

What is happening? Although in an hour of idle position it shouldn't be at 45%, maybe at around 90%, but even if it is 'okay' to drop 55% in just an hour of idle state, WHY? WHY SHOWING WRONG BATTERY STATUS. I'M FREAKING OUT. HELP.

iPhone SE, iOS 13

Posted on Feb 4, 2020 4:19 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

kb1951

Level 10

124,943 points

Feb 4, 2020 4:38 PM in response to soumstar

If your battery health is 83%, it is close enough to get a new battery. It is generally recommended to get a new battery when it’s health is 80% or less. I would suggest getting an appointment at an Apple Store for an evaluation.

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Answer 2

Feb 4, 2020 5:16 PM in response to soumstar

Discharging a NiCD or NMH battery to zero periodically prevented it from developing “memory effect”. But Lithium technology is completely different. Early Lithium battery devices needed to have their battery gauge periodically recalibrated. Note that this calibrates the GAUGE, not the battery. And even then you should only do it infrequently, like once every few months. But the newer batteries (past 7 years or so) have the battery gauge in the battery, and it doesn’t need to be calibrated. Batteries should never be deliberately discharged to zero. If it happens by chance occasionally it won’t do them any harm if you charge them immediately. And yes, they can (and should be) charged to 100%, which isn’t really full charge, just like zero isn’t zero. The charger is a circuit built into the phone, which stops charging near full charge, so you can leave the phone plugged in after it reaches 100%. And you should, because using it while plugged in means that mains power is running the phone rather than the battery, allowing the battery to rest. Here is the longer answer—>When to charge your iPhone or iPad - Apple Community

The same thing is true for Apple notebook computers.

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Answer 3

Feb 4, 2020 4:41 PM in response to soumstar

In addition to what kb1951 said, which is correct, please note that it is not advisable to fully deplete a Lithium Ion battery and there is no reason to calibrate one either. LIon batteries do not have memory, like the old types of batteries in vintage cell phones.

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Answer 4

soumstar Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 4, 2020 4:45 PM in response to kb1951

While i was typing this the battery was at 35%. I restarted phone again and now the batter shows 50%. So, i guess i don't need a charger. Restarting a phone charges a phone? Wow what a logic, i know something's wrong with the charging bar which is reading wrong data. If so, how to fix it?

@kb1951 i'm sooooo sad, it's been only an year and a half or so. I thought iPhones can work for a minimum 3 years. Atleast i've seen people use that long. I never dropped my phone and never contacted it near water!

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Answer 5

Feb 4, 2020 4:51 PM in response to soumstar

If you want the technical explanation your battery has developed high internal resistance. When it is under load the charge reads lower; when there is no load it reads higher. Your battery needs to be replaced. There are more things that can go wrong with a battery than just decreased capacity. And as I said a few minutes ago, if you routinely let it go to zero before charging it that is what caused the damage. Lithium chemistry batteries fail prematurely if they are deep discharged even once. To protect the battery the phone will shut off before the battery is fully depleted; that is, zero is not fully discharged. But if you don’t charge it immediately when it reaches zero it will continue discharging, which will shorten its life. If it ever goes completely flat, such as letting it go to zero and not charging it for a few days, it will never recover and may not work at all.

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Answer 6

soumstar Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 4, 2020 5:08 PM in response to kb1951

So the only solution is to get the battery replaced?

Lawrence Finch there are so many false information on the internet. I thought decreasing the batter to zero helps it recalibrate. So, batteries in general should never be dropped to zero? And can they be charged to 100%? Does this apply to my MacBook Air as well?

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Answer 7

Feb 4, 2020 5:10 PM in response to soumstar

Unfortunately, you have likely prematurely aged your battery, which is now clearly in need of replacing. We are ALL saying you should not deplete the battery on your iPhone completely and yes it also applies to your Macbook, which also has the same type of battery.

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Answer 8

soumstar Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 4, 2020 5:28 PM in response to lobsterghost1

Thank you so much guys! I can't find my warranty papers. I don't even know if it's under warranty. I think Apple gives only 1 year warranty so it's over.

I think another culprit for prematurely dead-ing my battery might be my usage habit. I use my phone connected to a charger or powerbank, almost all the time. I read your entire post Lawrence Finch but you didn't talked about whether it's 'okay' to use iPhone while it's charging.

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Answer 9

Feb 4, 2020 4:43 PM in response to soumstar

Your battery is dying. If you routinely let it go to zero you probably killed it.

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Answer 10

kb1951

Level 10

124,943 points

Feb 4, 2020 4:51 PM in response to soumstar

The iPhone se was released in 2016. Depending on when your particular phone was made, it could be 4 years old. Just because you have had it for a short time does not make it a new phone.

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