iPhone 15 Pro Max Battery Health Dropped To 99% In Less Than A Month

It's not aging "quickly," it's aging normally.

Apple has stated a battery health drop of 1-2% per month of use is normal since they introduced the battery health feature in iOS 11.3 for the iPhone 6.

Of course Background Refresh will use more energy, your phone is always doing something even when "idle."

If your phone doesn't shut down because it's over temperature, it's not overheating, no matter how hot you believe it is.

If you do some research you will see people making these same complaints about the iPhone 14, 13, and so on when they were released.

I used the Apple 30W charger (suggested by an Apple store employee) for a month on my iPhone 15 Pro Max and my battery health dropped 2%, despite using the 80% charging limit. Since then I stopped using it, switched to Optimised Charging, and have been using the Apple 20W charger, and the battery health hasn't changed since at least a month. Is it possible it is because of that charger and 80% limit which did lead to so much overheating of the phone that I had to use a table fan to cool it down, or because of something else?

After 2 months an iPhone will typically be 98%. But some phones will perform better than average; it’s just the luck of the draw.

A battery is a chemical device, and chemistry is generally pretty variable and uncertain, as well as being analog, not digital. Apple specs the battery capacity to remain above 80% for 500 full charge cycles, but that is a minimum requirement; there is no published maximum expected capacity. So sometimes batteries will perform much better than that minimum specification, and sometimes the change in maximum capacity won't be linear. There is no way to predict in advance what the real-life performance of any specific battery will be.

All iPhones have a specification for the battery. As an example, for the iPhone 14 Pro that is 3200 milliampere-hours (MaH). So the battery monitor is calibrated for 100% at that value. But there are variations in manufacturing, so some batteries will have less capacity, and some will have more. Suppose your battery had, say, 3520 MaH capacity (10% over standard). That would still show as 100% (even though it was actually 110%), but as it aged the health would stay at 100% until it fell below 3200 MaH. This would appear to you as if the battery had fabulous life, until suddenly it didn’t.

angelafromhammond wrote:

I purchased my iPhone 15 Pro Max on September 16, 2023. It is now January 7, 2024 and my battery health is at 99% with 62 charge cycles. I mainly use the 80% charge limit almost all the time and usually let it drop to around 20 to 30% all day before putting it on the charger. Sometimes I might charge it throughout the day if I’m on TikTok and noticed the battery drains fast. When I had my iPhone 14 Pro Max, it stayed at 100% for 9 1/2 months of usage.

For your iPhone 14 you were lucky enough to get a battery that exceeded its minimum specifications.

Your iPhone 15 exceeds specs also at 99% after 4 months. A phone that just met the specification of staying above 80% for 500 full charge cycles would be at 97% after 62 charge cycles (losing 1% for every 25 charge cycles).

doctorfetch wrote:

I used the Apple 30W charger (suggested by an Apple store employee) for a month on my iPhone 15 Pro Max and my battery health dropped 2%, despite using the 80% charging limit. Since then I stopped using it, switched to Optimised Charging, and have been using the Apple 20W charger, and the battery health hasn't changed since at least a month. Is it possible it is because of that charger and 80% limit which did lead to so much overheating of the phone that I had to use a table fan to cool it down, or because of something else?

PLEASE read some other messages in the thread you posted to. Your experience is clearly explained in multiple messages. Especially my post that is 2 posts above yours.

What's going on is it's called normal.

Apple states that it is normal and expected for your battery health to drop 1-2% per month of use.

If it falls below 80% within one year of purchase, they will replace it for free under warranty.

Batteries chemically age, it's how they work.

You probably haven’t lost 2%, more likely you’ve lost 1.1% to 98.9%, because the gauge drops the fraction rather than rounding it.

Here is a note I posted earlier in this forum, which I’m sure you didn’t see because if you had you wouldn’t have had to post:

A battery is a chemical device, and chemistry is generally pretty variable and uncertain, as well as being analog, not digital. Apple specs the battery capacity to remain above 80% for 500 full charge cycles, but that is a minimum requirement; there is no published maximum expected capacity. So sometimes batteries will perform much better than that minimum specification, and sometimes the change in maximum capacity won't be linear. There is no way to predict in advance what the real-life performance of any specific battery will be.

All iPhones have a specification for the battery. As an example, for the iPhone 14 Pro that is 3200 milliampere-hours (MaH). So the battery monitor is calibrated for 100% at that value. But there are variations in manufacturing, so some batteries will have less capacity, and some will have more. Suppose your battery had, say, 3520 MaH capacity (10% over standard). That would still show as 100% (even though it was actually 110%), but as it aged the health would stay at 100% until it fell below 3200 MaH. This would appear to you as if the battery had fabulous life, until suddenly it didn’t.

There are 2 ways to quantify battery capacity, full charge cycles, and time. On average an iPhone will lose 1% for every 25 full charge cycles, so your phone is right on target. As the average user goes through around 24 full charge cycles a month that also works out to about 1% loss of capacity a month. However, this is a less precise measurement, because some people have fewer than 24 full charge cycles a month, and some people have more. That’s where the 1% to 2% per month comes from, but it is a rougher estimate than full charge cycles.

Hi. Please check the charging cycles in both and let us know. If they’re the same then it is a matter of concern. But if they’re different (assuming your mom uses lesser batter power and requires less charging cycles) then they’re probably normal.

No, Apple doesn't need to do anything because there is nothing wrong.

Batteries degrade over time with usage due to chemical aging, that's just how they work.

You can expect about a 1% drop per month with average use on an iPhone. This is an approximation, that is why it may be plus or minus a few percent on a month to month basis.

Apple recommends replacing it when it reaches 80%.

About Lithium Ion Batteries

iPhone battery and performance - Apple Support (IN)

Are you using all the battery into it fully runs out alot or/and charging it overnight or charging whilst using it iff you are doing any or one of these things that will explain why its dropping

KZarchi wrote: "I face the same issue here. I bought 15 Promax on 29 Oct and just 3 Jan, the max cap is 98 already."

That's perfect! ...A decline of about 1% / month is exactly what is expected and normal.

But post back if it stays at 98% during the coming months — because that may indicate a problem with either the battery itself or the algorithm which estimates the battery's health.

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Right on schedule. Expect an average of about 1% a month decline. Some months may not decline at all, then go down 2% the next month.

Apple does not show any tenths or fractions, so your phone might be at 98.9%, but this will display as 98%.

After a year, the phone will be at 88-89%. Replace the battery when it is down to 80%.

You can take your phone to the Apple Store or authorized Apple service shop to have them confirm what we say is true.

I WAS RIGHT I WROTE DOWN WHAT. I WAS GOING THRU WITH MY PHONE MY PHONE ENDED UP DIEING TOOK IT TO THE APPLE STORE THEY WERE CONFUSED. MAKE SURE U PRESS APPLE ON THERE USB C BREAKING AND THERE BATTERYS FAILING

You were very lucky that your iPhone 13 had a battery that exceeded its minimum specifications, and started with a battery that probably had 110% or higher capacity (which is still reported as 100%, except in Coconut Battery). With the 15 Pro Max you got a device that had only a “standard” battery that only met specifications, rather than a “super” battery.

If you go read old threads you will find plenty of iPhone 13 users complaining that their devices were losing 1% per month from the start. Likewise for every other model iPhone since Apple foolishly put in the capacity monitor. You won’t have this problem with an Android, because they don’t report battery capacity so you’ll never know the condition of your battery.