Woman used iPhone 16 Pro's max 80% charge limit for an entire year to see what effect it has
Published on Sep 29, 2025 at 7:48 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Sep 29, 2025 at 7:48 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Claire Reid
A woman did a year-long experiment with her iPhone 16 Pro Max, making sure she stuck to the 80 percent charge limit to see how it impacted battery health.
You may have heard of the 80 percent charge limit, a strategy that some folks say will help improve your phone battery’s life span.
On the Apple iPhone 14 and newer, you can actually set a charge limit from 80 percent up to 100 percent.
One Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max recently took part in a year-long test – and the results are pretty surprising.
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She kept to a strict 80 percent charge limit on iPhone 16 for a whole year
We’re all familiar with that annoying feeling of needing to use your phone only to realize it’s out of juice.
Unfortunately, as your phone – and its battery – ages, this becomes more of a problem and leads to people trying out hacks and tricks to make their battery last longer, or if the battery is toast, forking out for a new one.
In a bid to boost her battery’s life span, the owner of an iPhone 16 Pro Max carried out a year-long experiment to see if sticking to the 80 percent charge limit was beneficial.
In a post shared on the Mac Rumors forum, she explained that she had actually carried out a similar experiment with her iPhone 15 a year ago before doing it again using the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
In the post, she explained that she only charged her phone up to 80 percent and tried to avoid it falling below 20 percent.
She explained that she used a mix of wireless and USB-C charging but that it wasn’t always easy.
“It was fine when home, but if I was out and wanted to use the camera or needed GPS, it often wasn’t enough battery,” she explained.
What did the results show?
After starting the experiment in September last year, the woman finished it this month and shared her results online.
In the post, she said after a year of strictly sticking to the 80 percent charge limit, her battery health was at 94 percent battery capacity after 299 charge cycles.
The woman reckoned this was ‘about average’ regardless of charging habits.
“I now have two years of data with my iPhone limited to an 80 percent charge, and I don’t think it’s been worth it,” she said.
“My coworker, who also has a 16 Pro Max, did not have an 80 percent charge limit set, and his battery capacity is 96 percent with 308 charge cycles.
Despite not thinking it was worth it, she did go on to say that she has bought an iPhone 17 Pro Max and has already begun another year-long charge limit test.
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Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Claire covers a wide variety of topics, with a special focus on cars, technology, planes, cryptocurrency, and luxury.
