We’re just over a month away from the iPhone 14 Pro’s first birthday, but for some buyers, the handset simply isn’t holding up as well as you would expect as it prepares to turn one.
Back in 2018, Apple introduced a feature called “Battery Health” with iOS 11.3. It was intended as an easy way for owners to check on how well their battery was holding up, with Apple recommending a replacement if it dipped below the 80% mark.
Apple’s conservative estimate is that this won’t happen for at least 500 complete charge cycles. But plenty of iPhone 14 Pro batteries seem to be dipping a lot faster than previous generations.
iPhone 13 Pro Battery Health after almost two years 🫠iPhone 14 Pro Battery Health after almost one year 💀What’s your current battery health? #iPhone14Pro #iPhone13Pro pic.twitter.com/komomKah4AAugust 5, 2023
This includes AppleTrack’s Sam Kohl, whose iPhone 14 Pro hit 90% health in July, and the Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern, who is down to 88%. They’re not alone, as you’ll see in replies to this tweet, which gives a wider survey of iPhone users.
My iPhone 14 Pro is officially useless 🙃After 10 months, my battery health has dropped under 90% pic.twitter.com/wnsVIq5tjOAugust 3, 2023
To be clear, this doesn’t seem to be impacting all users. Plenty of owners are reporting 97% or higher — and indeed my own day-one iPhone 14 Pro is showing a score of 98% with nightly charges. Nonetheless, the number of people reporting scores of below 90% is concerning.
What’s wrong with my iPhone 14 Pro Max battery 🪫 86% Battery health in 11 months!!! pic.twitter.com/5J7WEBgHkXAugust 11, 2023
With Apple not acknowledging a problem, it’s hard to know exactly what might be causing it. Stern notes in her newsletter that when she took her phone to the Apple Store, staff told her that her battery was “aging at a normal pace for a power user,” and that’s certainly a possibility. Using the Mac app Coconut Battery, she was able to find she’d charged her phone 451 times since purchase — not far off Apple’s expectation of 500 cycles before 80%.
But there could be more to it than that, too. The iPhone 14 Pro is the first Apple handset to have an always-on display, and while this should sip at the battery, it’s possible it could be doing more.
Heat can also cause battery capacities to shrink, so perhaps the iPhone 14 Pro is getting a bit hotter than previous models — either in regular use or while fast charging.
I don’t understand anything about battery health and I’m really pissed about this result less than one year after I bought my 14 Pro: pic.twitter.com/LNPHn49fVCAugust 11, 2023
Whatever it is, the problem is that it’s a vicious circle. Charging your phone more weakens the battery, and a weaker battery requires you to charge more, exacerbating the problem.
It’s also unfortunate that while Apple will replace batteries for its handsets, a replacement for the iPhone 14 is $10 more than previous models. At the time of writing, it’ll set you back $99 — unless you’re already under 80% and under warranty.
All we can say for certainty at the moment is that if your iPhone 14 Pro battery doesn’t seem to be holding up as well as previous generations, you’re not alone. If you are in that boat, here are some tips to boost your iPhone’s battery life.
