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How to prevent charging iPhone when USB connected

Hello all, is there a way to prevent a PC or a Mac to charge an iPhone 8 that is connected to the laptop through an USB cable? Thanks for your support

iPhone 8

Posted on Feb 8, 2023 5:38 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 8, 2023 7:34 AM

You can certainly let Apple know it's a feature you'd like to see:


Product Feedback - Apple


However, as there isn't really any harm in the phone charging, I don't see it as something that Apple is likely to implement. Also, you may want to make sure you have Optimized Charging turned on.


See here for more information:


When to charge your iPhone or iPad - Apple Community

11 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 8, 2023 7:34 AM in response to Pierre2Grenoble

You can certainly let Apple know it's a feature you'd like to see:


Product Feedback - Apple


However, as there isn't really any harm in the phone charging, I don't see it as something that Apple is likely to implement. Also, you may want to make sure you have Optimized Charging turned on.


See here for more information:


When to charge your iPhone or iPad - Apple Community

Feb 8, 2023 7:10 AM in response to Pierre2Grenoble

Well, I found the answer by myself here in the Apple Community. Sorry to haven't seen it before posting. Here is the topic I spotted: Prevent iPhone from charging while connec… - Apple Community


So the answer is definitively NO, you CANNOT prevent your iPhone being charged when plugged in a computer :-( The Android system has implemented this feature for power management and some manufacturers offer it as an option in the device settings, i.e. to NOT charge the device when plugged through an USB cable.


Topic marked as "Best answer" to avoid contributors to waste time with this already answered question. My apologies!

Feb 9, 2023 12:46 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

@Laurence Finch, I take the opportunity to send you a big "Thank you" for your very valuable and detailed article about the way and the myths to manage Li-Ion batteries, in addition to my five stars :-)


Yes, syncing over Wi-Fi would the way to go. I just wonder if this is possible, i.e. allowed by Apple Marketing department, between a PC under Windows 10 with iTunes or the iCloud client. I can recall but not sure at 100% (is that correct English?) that it does work for a while as I tried this way of syncing once in 2020 my between my iPhone 8 / iOS 13.x device and my PC / iTunes and I was surprised to see it working as Apple don't make the Windows users life easy :-D


Just a fact at that time: there was no way to upload photos from an iPhone to a PC over a Bluetooth connection while this was quite natural to achieve between a PC and any Android device. I will also give a try to exchange files between a PC and an iPhone using NFC that is faster and more secure that Bluetooth. This could be cool for occasional transfers of specific files.


Thanks again to all your valuable inputs and advices

Feb 8, 2023 4:35 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

Thanks a lot @IdrisSeabright for sharing this!


I carefully read the topic When to charge your iPhone or iPad. Having been working in the chemistry industry and made research about some specific batteries, I almost agree with all the assertions except the one stating that charging to 100% in any fashion does NOT matter at all, meaning that 4 times from 20 to 45% is not STRICTLY the same as 2 times from 10% to 60%. This due to secondary reactions occuring in the polymer acting as a solid electrolyte and varying under charge status and other conditions.


This being said, it was a good reminder even though I will stick to charge my batteries as few as possible, from 10%-20% to 90%-100% whenever possible.


I checked for the Optimized Battery Charging setting in my iPhone and it was activated by default. A very goog article from Apple about this feature: About Optimized Battery Charging on your iPhone => About Optimized Battery Charging on your iPhone - Apple Support


Feb 8, 2023 10:10 PM in response to Pierre2Grenoble

Pierre2Grenoble wrote:

This being said, it was a good reminder even though I will stick to charge my batteries as few as possible, from 10%-20% to 90%-100% whenever possible.

I never worry about how often or to what percentage I charge my batteries. I've got optimized charging turned on and tend to leave my phone sitting on the wireless charger when I'm at my desk. My previous battery lasted from June 2017 to September 2022. I can't imagine that being that fastidious about charging would have made enough difference to offset the cognitive load of worrying about it. But, I also understand that there are people who have a different view on the matter.


Best of luck.

Feb 9, 2023 7:11 AM in response to Pierre2Grenoble

Pierre2Grenoble wrote:

@IdrisSeabright, thanks to share your actual experience in the real life. This feedback proves that these secondary chemical reactions in batteries do not have an measurable impact on Li-Ion batteries lifespan. I maybe will become less cautious about that as from today!

There’s actually very little that you can do that has measurable impact on battery life, except possible discharging to zero regularly, and Apple even has some protection against that. So my advice is don’t worry about the battery, and, in 2-3 years, if you still have the phone, Apple will replace the battery for a reasonable fee, usually while you wait.

Feb 9, 2023 8:51 AM in response to Pierre2Grenoble

Pierre2Grenoble wrote:

Just a fact at that time: there was no way to upload photos from an iPhone to a PC over a Bluetooth connection while this was quite natural to achieve between a PC and any Android device. I will also give a try to exchange files between a PC and an iPhone using NFC that is faster and more secure that Bluetooth. This could be cool for occasional transfers of specific files.

As stated, charging is the one thing that cannot be disabled on a USB cable. You can finagle a USB cable to prevent data transfer (you cut one of the wires, there are instructions on the Intertubes), which is useful in concocting a 'secure cable' you can use in dodgy public USB ports that could try and pwn your device, but you can't prevent the juice from flowing.


As for moving data to and fro sans-cable, might I suggest exploring DigiDNA's iMazing utility, an iTunes successor which at least on a Mac platform allows moving any and all information. Can't test on any Windows flavor since I am all Mac, but I expect the product to work there as well.

Feb 9, 2023 12:27 PM in response to Courcoul

Courcoul wrote:

As stated, charging is the one thing that cannot be disabled on a USB cable. You can finagle a USB cable to prevent data transfer (you cut one of the wires, there are instructions on the Intertubes), which is useful in concocting a 'secure cable' you can use in dodgy public USB ports that could try and pwn your device, but you can't prevent the juice from flowing.

As for moving data to and fro sans-cable, might I suggest exploring DigiDNA's iMazing utility, an iTunes successor which at least on a Mac platform allows moving any and all information. Can't test on any Windows flavor since I am all Mac, but I expect the product to work there as well.

Thanks for the suggestion. I had a glance at iMazing product page and it looks very powerful, user-friendly and inexpensive for the paying features. When Igive it a try in my Windows environment, I will report here my experience.

How to prevent charging iPhone when USB connected

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