My IPhone 12 is better than my iPhone 14

The measure of battery health deterioration/drainage is subjective and can vary depending on individual usage patterns. There is no universal standard to determine whether the battery health deterioration/drainage is normal or abnormal because it heavily relies on how the battery is used and maintained.

Protect & Prolong the Life of your iPhone's Battery:

1. About the battery usage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch ...
2. Batteries - Maximising Performance - Apple (IN)
3. iPhone Battery and Performance

Try to monitor Battery usage by iPhone Activity as shown below

What is shown under battery usage? Checking that would give you an indication of the usage behavior.

1. Background Activity
2. Notifications
3. Connected to Charger
4. Or any Other

See the pic below (iPhone 12 Pro iOS 17.3.1)

"Show Activity" feature will show you more info see the pic below

Try some of these options too.

To prolong the life of your iPhone battery, you can follow these tips and best practices:

To prolong the life of your iPhone battery, you can follow these tips and best practices:

1. Optimize Battery Charging: Enable the "Optimized Battery Charging" feature on your iPhone. It helps reduce the wear on the battery by slowing down the battery aging process. You can find this option in Settings > Battery > Battery Health. About Optimized Battery Charging on your iPhone - Apple Support (IN)
2. Avoid Extreme Temperatures: Extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, can negatively impact your battery life. Avoid exposing your iPhone to excessive heat or cold, such as leaving it in direct sunlight or in a freezing car.If your iPhone or iPad gets too hot or too cold – Apple Support (UK)
3. Use Original Chargers and Cables: Always use Apple's original chargers and cables or certified third-party accessories. Low-quality chargers or cables can damage the battery and reduce its lifespan. Identify counterfeit or uncertified Lightning connector accessories - Apple Support (IN)
4. Avoid Draining the Battery to Zero: Charge it whenever the charge becomes lower than 20%. The rest is up to you when to charge. how long to charge, how often to charge, which adapter to use starting from 5W to 140W USB-C Power Adapter etc.
5. Optimize Display Settings: Adjust your display settings to optimize battery life. Lower the screen brightness, enable auto-brightness, and use shorter screen timeout durations. Adjust the display and text size on iPhone - Apple Support (IN)
6. Minimize Background App Refresh: Limit the number of apps allowed to refresh in the background. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and disable it for apps that don't require real-time updates. Switch apps on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support (IN)
7. Disable Push Email: Push email notifications can drain your battery quickly. Instead, set your email accounts to fetch data manually or at longer intervals. You can change this setting in Settings > Mail > Accounts > Fetch New Data.

After 2 - 3 years of use, it's highly unlikely and unusual an iPhone battery in any phone would be at 97%. Something is not right with the battery in your iPhone 12. But that doesn't make it a better phone than an iPhone 14. On average, you should expect about a 1% decline in battery health per month on your iPhone. That is on average and battery health decline is not linear. It can remain steady for a while, then drop a few points. After a year, a battery health of 89% is completely within normal expectation.

JoseCastilloNavas wrote:

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/27f20700-0b6f-4372-93da-af9e90ee7180

First off, you’re on iOS 26 Beta Software. Beta software is known to drain more battery and that will cause you to have to charge more often, causing the battery health to degrade faster. Secondly, from the screenshot your iPhone is at 1%. Letting your iPhone’s charge get that low is one of the worst things you can do for the battery.

You have been incredibly lucky with the battery in the iPhone 12....IF....the numbers are actually correct. I don't think they are, but anything is possible I suppose.

My iPhone 12 went about 3 years before the Maximum Capacity dropped to 80%. That's not bad for a battery that was expect to last approximately 2 years.

The battery in your iPhone 14 is operating normally as expected. Replace the battery when it is down to 80% Maximum Capacity.

you are aware that

these forums are user helping other users like yourself, it's sort of going

to a physical apple store and asking other customers there advice

and if you wish apples ear then you need to seek out

Get Support (apple.com)

And or

Contact - Official Apple Support

And or

Contact - How to Contact Us - Apple

Or

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

I should have, but didn't notice they are on Beta.

I meant this for Zachyy, by the way. But since you're on iOS 26 Beta, there's no telling if the Beta could be a factor and you are not allowed to ask anything about issues, which could be Beta related per the NDA you signed when you installed the beta on your iPhone.

JoseCastilloNavas wrote:

I always charge my iPhone 14 and my iPhone 12 without charge is SITLL at 97%

It doesn’t appear that way from your screenshot. If you continue to do that it will eventually shorten the battery health, it may not show immediately.

This tells me that the battery reading is not correct on the iPhone 12, as I already mentioned above.

You have been incredibly lucky with the battery in the iPhone 12....IF....the numbers are actually correct. I don't think they are......

lobsterghost1 wrote:

I should have, but didn't notice they are on Beta.

I only noticed it from the screenshot. You’re not the only one so don’t worry! I also supposed you meant it for me.