Apple retroactively doubles the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro’s battery lifespan

There’s some good news for iPhone 15 owners: Your battery will last longer than previously thought. According to Apple, anyway.

In a newly updated support document (as spotted by 9to5Mac), the company states that “batteries of iPhone 15 models are designed to retain 80 percent of their original capacity at 1,000 complete charge cycles under ideal conditions.” But that has changed from the original figure of 500 cycles, which Apple still gives for the iPhone 14 and earlier. By “iPhone 15 models,” Apple means all four handsets released last fall: the 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max.

The change is the result of new testing. Apple says it ran tests in which phone batteries were completely charged and discharged 1,000 times “under specific circumstances representing common use cases.” This led it to update the estimated lifespan to reflect improvements to power management systems for the latest generation of iPhone.

For now, this results in a support document that conveniently makes the newest phones look especially appealing, and thus might encourage some holdouts to upgrade their current handsets. But Apple has admitted that it may yet update the numbers for older iPhones, which after all benefit from many of the same power management systems introduced in iOS updates. It is “currently investigating” the iPhone 14 and earlier to see if their figures need to change.

It’s well known that the rechargeable batteries of iPhones and other electronic devices degrade over time–and will eventually need to be replaced–but it’s possible to slow this process by taking care of your handset and not wearing out the battery unnecessarily. The 80% Charging Limit feature is a good place to start.

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