When/how to charge the iPhone for optimal battery life?

Question

Level 1

0 points

When/how to charge the iPhone for optimal battery life?

I have an iPhone 3G 8GB. I was just wondering what the best way to go about charging the iPhone is, in order to optimise the battery life?

Should you wait until the iPhone is really flat/ low battery and then charge it up full, or are smaller and more frequent 'shallow' charges healthier?

I also heard somewhere that every couple of months or so it is a good idea to let the battery run completely dead and then charge it up, in order to calibrate it or something... but that doing this too often could be detrimental.

Any help/ advice would be greatly appreciated! I don't know if I should let my iPhone run really low before charging it or if smaller more frequent chargers are the way to go.

Thanks!

Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Apr 3, 2010 4:25 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Apr 3, 2010 4:30 AM in response to katelouise

This article will tell you everything you need to know about the iphone battery:

http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html

For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).

A lithium-based battery is not subject to a memory effect, so charge whenever you want.

Reply

Answer 2

katelouise Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 3, 2010 4:44 AM in response to wjosten

Thanks! I did read over that and have taken the steps mentioned and fiddled around with settings of my phone to optimise use. I was just wondering if anyone else had anything else to add about charging habits specifically and what works best... I think mainly I'm just being paranoid about my phone dying prematurely since it's the first time I've owned such an expensive gadget!

Also, can you overcharge it? Is it bad to leave it on the charger overnight? I've done some searching in other threads/ webpages and there seems to be some discrepancies but for the most part people seem to think that it will be fine?

Reply

Answer 3

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Apr 3, 2010 4:56 AM in response to katelouise

Also, can you overcharge it?

No. You can't overcharge the iphone. As stated earlier, charge whenever you want. Mine is connected to the charger every night to insure I have a fully charged phone every morning.

If you follow the directions in that article, you'll be fine. Quit worrying, its a very robust device with a very good battery. Many millions have been sold & the vast majority of users have zero problems. This place is like an emergency room, the only people here are people with problems.

Reply