Iphone Battery question

**redneck6497** · 12-12-2012, 01:00 PM

Hi All,

This is my first post on imore.com. I'm a Blackberry convert. I have to say that I really like the iPhone. Certainly, there are things I like more about the BB, but the overall experience is better on the iPhone. That being said .... I have a question about battery percentage. I noticed that after I take the IPhone 5 off the charger in the AM every day, the batt is at 100%, but quickly falls to 99%, 98%, etc. I do restart on the phone, and it goes back to 100%, and takes MUCH longer to get back to those levels.

My question is whether this is really accurate, or if perhaps the battery level really is sort of sitting at that level anyway, and Apple has something to make you think you're taking it off at 100%. I have noticed this with my ipad from time to time as well.

I restart it everyday to "reclaim" my lost 3 or 4 pct. However, I think deep down I'm just doing it to make me feel better about the battery life.

**bamf-hacker** · 12-12-2012, 04:05 PM

For the most part the battery % is pretty good. I would cycle the battery on the iPhone. Let the phone drop all the way down to 2 or 3% and then plug it in and let if fully charge. I have noticed that helps calibrate the % on the iPhone's I have and test for work.

OH.... Welcome to iMore and the iPhone

**redneck6497** · 01-10-2013, 01:03 PM

Thanks for the info. and the welcome!

Originally Posted by bamf-hacker

For the most part the battery % is pretty good. I would cycle the battery on the iPhone. Let the phone drop all the way down to 2 or 3% and then plug it in and let if fully charge. I have noticed that helps calibrate the % on the iPhone's I have and test for work.

OH.... Welcome to iMore and the iPhone

**broadwayblues** · 01-12-2013, 11:46 PM

I don't have a 5 yet but I had a 4. Also numerous Android devices and an iPad 3.

The devices all charge up to 100% but according to what I understand, the phone won't recharge until it reaches a set point under 100%. This keeps the phone from constantly recharging the phone and keeping the battery life higher. So while your 5 may display 100%, it might be somewhere around 95%, and might quickly drop to reflect the actual number.

If you are really worried about that last couple of percentage points, try this:

Unplug your phone after charging all night
Turn the phone off
Plug back in
Wait and when it indicates full, you can pull it off the charger.
You are now sporting a full battery.

This is called power cycling, and I did it on my HTC Thunderbolt which lasted all of 4 hours when it first came out.

Hope that helped! Not exactly sure if it will work on the 5, maybe try it out and let me know?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

**Fausty82** · 01-13-2013, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by redneck6497

Hi All,

This is my first post on imore.com. I'm a Blackberry convert. I have to say that I really like the iPhone. Certainly, there are things I like more about the BB, but the overall experience is better on the iPhone. That being said .... I have a question about battery percentage. I noticed that after I take the IPhone 5 off the charger in the AM every day, the batt is at 100%, but quickly falls to 99%, 98%, etc. I do restart on the phone, and it goes back to 100%, and takes MUCH longer to get back to those levels.

My question is whether this is really accurate, or if perhaps the battery level really is sort of sitting at that level anyway, and Apple has something to make you think you're taking it off at 100%. I have noticed this with my ipad from time to time as well.

I restart it everyday to "reclaim" my lost 3 or 4 pct. However, I think deep down I'm just doing it to make me feel better about the battery life.

The battery percentage meter is pretty accurate, but you also have to understand how the iPhone (and other iOS devices) charge. They charge to 100%, then the charge cycle shuts off until the phone drops to about a bit and then the charge cycle kicks on again. So when you pull your phone off the charger it may read 100% and then drop almost immediately to 98 or 99%, as you have experienced. But the meter is accurately reflecting the charge. That said, it’s a good idea to run your battery all the way down until the device shuts off about once a month to keep the battery meter calibrated.

Reference:

**jerome g** · 01-13-2013, 01:59 PM

A little OCD in my opinion, does it really matter if he battery % is 100 or 98 or 95 ?
The important issue would be if you are on the lower end and you think you have 20% and need to do something important like a call, and you really only have 15% or so and are in danger of running out of juice.