Can an old iPhone 5s be left on charger permanently?

I imagine it can, but I would NOT. Lithium iON batteries don't have a forever life. If the battery is in poor health, it can be unsafe. What if you're not around and it swells, and catches on fire (that's possible, btw). If you want to continue using such an old out of date device, spend $49 to have Apple replace the battery in the phone, IF Apple will even agree to replace the battery in the phone.

You have to admit that you got a good ride out of an iPhone 5, which was released now going on 9 years ago. The fact it still turns on and does anything without having the battery replaced, which is a normally degrading consumable part is pretty amazing.

All good things eventually reach their end of life. And so too has that day come for phones built and sold that many years ago.

For your iOS 14 battery drain, I've had none. With EVERY iOS update, people come here saying their batteries are draining faster. This is most often because something is still running in the background which is being monitored or turned off. After EVERY iOS update, I immediately Force Restart my devices. It's a good thing to as it fixes little things and force closes everything running on your phone. To force restart (depending on the model phone you own), see the following link --> Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

You should also go to Settings > Battery and look at what is using the most power and make adjustments accordingly.

Depending on the age of your current phone, especially if it a 6s or 7 which are not themselves getting older, the reality is the newer software versions are more complicated and require more computing power. The processor in the older generations phones, even those which can run the newest iOS versions may see batteries run down a bit faster. And older phones too are seeing batteries decline with age.

It doesn't matter that it's just for music. And the suggestion that the Apple Store leaves phones on charge all the time is a poor analogy. The phones on charge all the time in the Apple Store are modern, new model phones with new, healthy batteries. Plus those phones are NOT being used to stream music, which actually makes a battery work harder.

I would definitely NOT be willing to so what you're asking in my home, that's for sure.

Hello, BHG123,

I think that it would be an interesting topic, you can put your iPhone on the charger permanently. But there are some downsides to this:

• Fire hazards
• lowers the battery levels even more
• Heats up the iPhone (Heating up the iPhone makes it throttle its CPU meaning it won't be as fast as a phone)

However Apple leaves them that way in the Apple store, so I think it is fine.

Have a good day,

CJM