Redeem now - When Optimized Battery Charging is on, your iPhone won't fully charge until you need to use it.
- Optimized Battery Charging does make your iPhone charge slower, but it also keeps the battery healthy for longer.
- If your iPhone stays fully charged for too long, it can damage the battery.
If you're like most people, you probably keep your iPhone connected to a charger while you sleep. This makes sure that it's got a full charge when you wake up, ready to last the whole day.
Unfortunately, keeping your devices hooked up to a charger all the time isn't always a good idea. If your device's battery is fully charged, but you keep charging it, the battery will slowly wear out until it can't hold a charge at all. Your battery's ability to hold a charge is known as its "battery health," and it's important for phones, computers, tablets, and more.
This is where Apple's Optimized Battery Charging feature comes in. Optimized Battery Charging (or OBC for short) is a feature that stops your iPhone from charging in order to protect its battery health. This might sound like a bad thing, but trust us — it's a great feature.
Here's how Optimized Battery Charging works, and how to turn it on or off.
How Optimized Battery Charging keeps your iPhone's battery healthy
As we mentioned, if your iPhone is fully charged but you still keep it connected to a charger, you're damaging the battery. Charging an already fully charged battery wears out its components and chemicals, and makes it harder to hold power.
To put it plainly: Let's say that when you bought your iPhone, a full charge would keep the phone alive for 24 hours. A battery that's been worn down from overcharging might only last 20 hours, then 15 hours, then 10 hours. Eventually, it won't last even that long.
Optimized Battery Charging helps to prevent this. While OBC is on, your iPhone will charge slower, reducing the amount of time it spends fully charged and plugged in. This keeps your battery healthy, and makes every charge last longer.
The feature works by studying your schedule, recording when you use your iPhone and when you leave it to charge. If you plug your iPhone in before you go to bed, it'll charge until it hits 80 percent, then stop. It'll then wait to hit a full charge until right before your alarm goes off. You don't have to worry about it overcharging while you sleep — OBC handles that.
So while this does mean that you're purposefully making the iPhone charge slower, it's a net benefit in the long run. A healthy battery keeps your iPhone alive for longer, and lets you get more value out of every charge.
Important: While OBC does help keep your battery healthy for a longer time, it doesn't make the battery immortal. Your iPhone's battery will necessarily wear out over time due to temperature changes and natural chemical reactions.
Optimized Battery Charging is available on all iPhones running iOS 13 (released in 2019) or later. If you're not sure what version of iOS you have, you can check using the Settings app.
Every new iPhone should also have Optimized Battery Charging enabled by default. But if you want to check, or if you want to turn the feature off, you can do so quickly.
How to turn Optimized Battery Charging on or off
1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone and scroll down to select Battery.
2. Tap Battery Health.
3. On the Battery Health page, you can see how healthy your battery is. To enable or disable OBC, tap the toggle switch labeled Optimized Battery Charging.
If you're turning it off, you'll also have to choose whether to turn it off temporarily or permanently.
William Antonelli Tech Reporter for Insider Reviews William Antonelli (he/she/they) is a writer, editor, and organizer based in New York City. As a founding member of the Reference team, he helped grow Tech Reference (now part of Insider Reviews) from humble beginnings into a juggernaut that attracts over 20 million visits a month. Outside of Insider, his writing has appeared in publications like Polygon, The Outline, Kotaku, and more. He's also a go-to source for tech analysis on channels like Newsy, Cheddar, and NewsNation. You can find him on Twitter @DubsRewatcher, or reach him by email at wantonelli@businessinsider.com. Read more Read lessncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyowcidnKxnpJqwqXvOqauipZmvsqV5wZqrrZ2irnqktMCrnqKmlw%3D%3D