Long term, long life
Apple reveals its battery tricks: How to charge iPhone, Apple Watch and Co. correctly
The correct handling of charging protects the battery of iPhone etc.
© Malte Mansholt / stern
Charging your iPhone or iPad incorrectly can wear out the battery. Find out how to do it right here.
At some point it’s over: Even the thickest battery is empty after a certain time – and then has to be connected to the cable. Because batteries wear out over time, this becomes necessary more and more often over time. How to charge the battery gently and still achieve long runtimes is no secret: Apple itself gives appropriate tips iPhone, Apple Watch and Co.
On its own support page, the company reveals which tips and tricks you can use to protect the battery – in two ways. This means that the devices can not only be operated more energy-efficiently, but can also be charged in such a way that wear and tear remains low. Exciting: Not all tricks apply to all devices.
+++ Also read: Former Apple insider reveals the best iPhone tricks – and becomes a Tiktok star +++
How to improve battery life
For example, Apple advises Mac users to close unused apps to save battery life. However, Apple foregoes this tip with the iPhone. There is a simple reason for this: Although many iPhone users like to close down all apps, this is not helpful at all on the Apple smartphone and is actually harmful. iPhone and iPad can freeze the apps so that they no longer consume any power at all. If you end it yourself, it will put a strain on the battery (you can find out more here). It’s different with the Mac: Because programs can run in the background and use up resources, it’s advisable to close them in battery mode if you don’t need them.
It’s similar with WiFi. While Apple advises you to switch off the function on the Mac when you are not using it, you should always leave the wireless standard on on the iPhone. What sounds contradictory becomes clear upon closer inspection: If you don’t use the Internet on your Macbook, the connection is a power guzzler. With the iPhone, however, it is, on the contrary, a possible saving – because the cell phone connection you would otherwise use uses even more power and puts a correspondingly greater strain on the battery.
Improve battery performance: This helps with all devices
However, some of the tips can be applied generally. In general, the group recommends keeping the software up to date. That makes sense: If you find errors that put a strain on the battery, they can of course only be fixed in updates. In practice, however, the tip is not always helpful: When Apple released iOS 17, it combined with some apps to put more strain on the battery than before. Apple released a special update to fix this. The real tip is: Always keep the software up to date – but wait a few days before an update is released.
Another general tip is to adjust the display brightness. Screens are the biggest battery hogs in modern devices. If you turn down the brightness a little, the device will quickly last longer. This also works automatically: Auto brightness ensures that the display always adapts to the current lighting conditions – and dims it down when the ambient lighting allows it. This not only protects the battery, but also the eyes. If it is too bright outside, the Apple devices automatically turn the brightness to the maximum.
It is also important to avoid extreme temperature fluctuations for all devices. If the device is too hot or too cold, this also affects the running time. If you leave the notebook in a cold car, the battery will drain much faster. If the heat is too high, the devices can no longer be charged for safety reasons – to prevent overheating. Apple specifies the ideal operating temperature for most devices as 0 to 35 degrees; the company’s notebooks work best between 10 and 35 degrees Celsius.
Apple has an exciting tip if you’ve been charging your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch on your Mac since then: According to the company, you should only do this if the computer is also connected to the cable and switched on – otherwise the connected devices will be connected discharge instead of charging.
Apple offers these tips for the iPhone
Another way to save power is the option to limit background app updates. This is particularly useful for apps that regularly use power in the background. This information can be found in the settings under “Battery”.
If reception is poor, the endless search for a network can quickly drain the iPhone’s battery. If you are traveling on the train or in a place without reception for a long time, switching on flight mode can help as a battery-saving measure. This is especially true if you already have an internet connection via WiFi.
How to optimize Apple Watch battery
Apple’s smartwatch also has some very specific tricks to extend the battery life. For example, measuring your pulse on your wrist is a big power drain when you’re training. If you want to extend the running time, you can turn it off during long workouts by activating the power saving mode, Apple advises.
However, it is even better to outsource the measurement to an external device, says Apple. “For longer training sessions, you can use a Bluetooth chest strap instead of the integrated heart rate monitor,” advises the company. By the way, GPS consumption can be reduced by taking your iPhone with you: If it is paired, the Apple Watch uses the smartphone’s GPS signal instead of the chip built into the watch.
If the display constantly switches on due to too frequent gesturing, this can also reduce the running time. One way to prevent this is the so-called theater mode, which can be switched on via the quick settings. If you switch it on, the watch no longer wakes up when you lift your arm, but only when you tap the display or press the digital crown.
Source: Apple