iOS 11.3 finally brings Apple’s promised power management feature. After the #batterygate debacle, Apple has decided to include a new menu in Settings which will give users information about their battery health and will let them turn off the throttling. But as this is Apple, it’s all implemented in a way that’s not exactly transparent. Here’s how it works.
What exactly does the Battery Health feature do? Here’s the low down from our Battery Health explainer post:
iOS 11.3 will let you disable the power management feature (CPU throttling) but there’s no toggle switch for it. You have to go look for a little Disable..button. And the next time your iPhone experiences an unexpected shutdown, the power management feature will be re-enabled again.
How to View Your iPhone’s Battery Health
Battery Health feature is enabled for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus. According to Apple, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X models include hardware updates that allow a more advanced performance management system that more precisely allows iOS to anticipate and avoid an unexpected shutdown, so the power management feature doesn’t affect iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X.
After updating to iOS 11.3, go to Settings -> Battery. Here you’ll find a new Battery Health section. After tapping on it, you’ll see a Maximum Capacity percentage. This is basically your battery health.
Apple says that “a normal battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles when operating under normal conditions“. But this doesn’t mean that your iPhone’s battery is OK if it’s not below 80%.
Below, you’ll see a section called Peak Performance Capacity. This is your iPhone’s capacity to deliver power to the CPU when it’s under load. If your Peak Performance Capacity is good, this means your battery can provide power your iPhone even when you’re doing heavy tasks and it won’t just crash your iPhone. Apple doesn’t rate Peak Performance Capacity in percentage form. Instead, you’ll find a detailed description of the state of the battery.
If your iPhone is at 90% battery health and isn’t able to match peak performance (iPhone will unexpectedly reboot), you’ll see the following message:
This iPhone has experienced an unexpected shutdown because the battery was unable to deliver the necessary peak power. Performance management has been applied to help prevent this from happening again. Disable…
The same goes if your battery levels are below 80%, or they are unreadable. If your battery has degraded, you’ll see the following message:
Your battery’s health is significantly degraded. An Apple Authorized Service Provider can replace the battery to restore full performance and capacity. More about service options…
How to Turn Off Throttling
If your iPhone battery has degraded and your iPhone suffered from a crash, Apple will automatically turn on the CPU throttling. The only way to disable this feature is to go to the Battery Health section and then tap on the little Disable button at the end of the Peak Performance Capacity section.
Once you disable the power management feature you’ll see the following message.
This iPhone has experienced an unexpected shutdown because the battery was unable to deliver the necessary peak power. You have manually disabled performance management protections.
Once the power management feature disabled, you can’t manually enable it again. But that’s not permanent. The next time your iPhone experiences an unexpected shutdown due to heavy load, the power management feature will automatically turn back on again. And the option to disable the feature will reappear again.
Your Thoughts?
If your iPhone is older than 2 years and if it keeps crashing, you should get the battery replaced. Apple is running a special $29 battery replacement promotion until the end of the year and you should take advantage of it.
Do you think this feature is enough? Will it help prolong the life of your iPhone? Share with us in the comments below.
