It's not just that iOS is written for new devices and runs slower on old models (though that's certainly part of it). It's maddening. But Apple got caught when some older iPhones improved after new batteries were installed and people went public with it on Reddit. Weeks later, the company is being sued, and the battery replacement is its public relations response. 29 battery replacement only applies to iPhone SE, 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, and 7 Plus.
79—except if the battery is less than 80 percent capacity when fully charged, in which case the AppleCare battery swap is free. To get your new battery, take an iPhone to the Apple Store's Genius Bar or mail it in. But what if you're on the fence about your own iPhone's battery, How do you tell if its capacity is low and it's gone through 500 charge cycles—Apple's somewhat arbitrary number for what it considers the lifespan of an iPhone battery, In other words: how do you tell if you need a replacement battery,
The easiest thing to do is download an app like Battery Life (there are multiple apps with that name, but this version, by RBT Digital, seems to be the most robust). The first thing the app will do is display a giant front page graph showing battery wear level. Here are three versions you can compare.
The first one is on a 2-year-old iPhone 6s Plus; the second is a smaller iPhone 6s purchased a year ago; the third is an iPhone X that's barely a week old. Wear level is the battery's capacity to hold a charge compared to its capacity when brand new. For example, an iPhone X comes with a battery (the X actually has two batteries inside) with a total capacity of 2,716 milliamps per hour (mAh); according to the Battery Life app, it still has that full capacity.
However, the iPhone 6s Plus has a battery that was originally capable of 2,725 mAh, but now can only hold 2,300 mAh, or 84 percent of what it once could handle. The more you check this app, the more history it keeps, so you can check to see as your iPhone battery capacity decreases over time.
That happens after more and more charge cycles are used. A charge cycle happens every time you discharge 100 percent of a battery's capacity. Apple says its batteries are good for 400 to 500 charge cycles. That usually takes a year or two—or around the time you'd upgrade iOS and see it all slow down when the new iOS detects an aging battery and reduces processor output to "help" you.
It doesn't hurt that Apple would also prefer you purchase a new phone around that time, too. No app lets you see how many charge cycles you've used on an iPhone. It might seem counterintuitive to require a laptop or desktop PC to check how many times you've used a charge cycle on your iPhone's battery, but alas, those are Apple's rules.
Previously, whenever developers tried to release an app that measured iPhone battery charge cycles, Apple pulled it from the App Store. With iOS 10, Apple then pulled info on charge cycles as well as battery temperatures so third-party apps like Battery Life could not get to them. Let's hear it for transparency!
However, there are some desktop programs to get you through. On a Mac, download coconutBattery, which will also tell you all about the health of your Mac's battery. Plug your iPhone into the Mac via the USB-to-Lightning cable, then turn on coconutBattery to get a reading on the iOS Device tab.
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