Can you charge your battery too early

MamaofIII wrote:

What percentage should your phone be before you plug it in to charge? Can you plug it in too soon and take life off the battery

The simplest answer is no, you cannot. Plug it in whenever you want or whenever is convenient. Lithium batteries are not harmed at all by “shallow” discharge/charge cycles.

Joshualweber wrote:

You can plug it in whenever, but the battery does degrade (lose life) a little quicker when being drained below 40%. Many people say below 30%, some say 50%, Tesla recommends 60% for their cars. I personally recommend 40%.

All untrue. Tesla recommends 60% so you don’t get stuck in the middle of nowhere without a charger in sight.

It makes no difference at all, except that letting it go below 20% may mean that the phone will shut down if there is a sudden need for energy, such as a long call.

Older, non-lithium based batteries do suffer from memory affect of what level they are at when charged. NiMH is notorious for this and should be fully discharged always before charging and then always charged to full.

But lithium batteries don’t suffer from the same effect. They can be degraded more quickly by regular deep discharges as deep cycles take a toll. And a truly full discharge is a death sentence for a lithium battery. Which is why S.M.A.R.T. Lithium battery technology often includes an auto-power off feature before the battery is fully discharged (I.e. why the iPhone shuts down when the battery reaches “0” charge, as this is not truly zero and retains enough charge that the battery is not ruined).

And, just my opinion, but retail store employees spread more misinformation about lithium batteries than just about anybody. It’s a technology we’ve lived with now for decades, but the myths of older battery chemistry get carried over when sales people talk about lithium batteries.

You can plug it in whenever, but the battery does degrade (lose life) a little quicker when being drained below 40%. Many people say below 30%, some say 50%, Tesla recommends 60% for their cars. I personally recommend 40%.

Theoretically there are all these these little things that **may** affect battery longevity in minor ways. But there are also a lot of things that the manufacturer does that affect lithium-ion battery longevity, including setting when it's "full" and "empty" relative to what a battery is capable of. But if it's not automated it gets really difficult to do anything. Some portable electronics have settings where the user can select a mode for longevity at the expense of charge range, but Apple doesn't support anything like that.

I personally charge whenever it's convenient and don't worry about whether or not these little things happen. You can tie yourself in knots trying to get your battery to last forever, when it's easier to just accept that you'll need to replace it.

MamaofIII wrote:

Really? I didn't realize that. When we bought one of our first phones years ago, they said if you charged it like that it would degrade faster because it would expect to always be charged that fast. Thanks

It’s good that you didn’t realize it, because it is false information.

See: When to charge your iPhone or iPad - Apple Community