Is 87% iPhone battery health normal after one year?

Batteries, like people are individuals. No two people age exactly the same and batteries don’t age the same either. The exact usage, chemical makeup, storage conditions, exposure to heat and cold and about a dozen other factors mean that every battery ages differently. Battery aging is not a linear (straight line) and degrades at different rates as the chemicals in the battery age and other factors mentioned above. Apple expects your battery health to be at 80% after 24 months. If your battery health misses that expectation, contact Apple Support.

Please review the Apple Support articles on battery optimization. It contains the best  current practices for battery charging.

iPhone Battery and Performance - Apple Support

Batteries - Maximizing Performance - Apple

About the battery and performance of iPhone 11 and later - Apple Support

Your iPhone battery is doing better than normal. Your iPhone’s battery health is expected to drop about 1% a month or 25 charge cycles, and the decline isn’t always linear. Meaning some months you will lose more than expected, and other months none at all.

So after 470 charge cycles, you should be at about 81% battery health, so you are ahead of your battery.

Remember, your iPhone’s battery is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and they chemically age as time goes on. When your battery health reaches 80% or below, you should have the battery replaced.

As already stated, a 1% decline per month is expected. Another measure is Cycle count. For about every 25 cycles, it's common to see a 1% drop. Given your iPhone has now gone through 470 cycles, 470/25 = 18.8. 100 - 18.8 = 81.2. Yet your battery health is at 87%, so you're essentially doing better than most.

One thing you can count is battery health decline. It can't be stopped. ALL batteries lose their health over time. When your battery dips to 80%, which it will, it will then be time to pay Apple to replace the battery.

Bob Timmons wrote:

I would include the phrase "under ideal conditions" with this since I have a feeling that most users will discover that their battery has not been operating under ideal conditions.

As people continue to post their concerns with battery health and how many cycles their phones have been through, I think making sure to say under ideal conditions is indeed important. I'm not seeing much difference since Apple suggests more cycles to 80%. Nobody runs their phones in lab controlled, ideal conditions. It may likely be somewhere between 25 and 50 cycles is normal for a 1% decline. In this users case, with 470 cycles and year later, they simply don't have an issue with the battery in their iPhone.

You might want to check to verify that the battery on an iPhone 15 Pro is guaranteed to be at 80% after 1,000 charge cycles according to Apple's advertisements. Apple does mention "ideal" conditions, although no details are provided on exactly what that might be.

So, the idea of a 1% drop after 25 cycles, or roughly 1% a month is pretty much out the window, since that older guideline for earlier iPhone models is based on the battery at 80% after 500 cycles.

It's normal for the battery to lose 1% of its health each month.

(257295)

Yes, according to Apple's claims in their advertising. The tricky part here is that there is no definition of what "ideal conditions" might be even in the hard to find footnotes.

If the OPs battery was "right on schedule"....."under ideal conditions".....the Battery Health after 470 cycles would in the 90-91% range.

It depends on how you use your phone. What settings you’ve turned on, iOS bugs, and other factors can all contribute to battery degradation. People know that Apple uses lithium-ion batteries, which means that your battery will degrade over time, potentially leading to reduced capacity after days, months, or years. So, you don’t have to worry about downgrading your battery; it’s a natural part of the battery’s lifespan.🔋🪫

You can read more detailed information about Apple batteries and how they work. Batteries - Apple

Good to know. So for future posts, I should say that the batteries of iPhone 15 models and later’s battery health decline at about 1% for every 50 charge cycles.

So roughly 1% for every 50 charge cycles for the newer models?

I would include the phrase "under ideal conditions" with this since I have a feeling that most users will discover that their battery has not been operating under ideal conditions.

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