If you are one of the 10 million who just got their brand new waterproof flex-iPhone 6, charged it in the microwave got your network and WiFi connectivity back and updated it again. There is another rumor surrounding the smartphone that was not-right. Many people still believe it’s always best for the life of the iPhone 6 battery to let it drain fully before charging it again.
No so fast. Caroline Moss at Business Insider explains that there was a time when cell-phones and most electronics ran on Nickel-Cadmium batteries. When a device uses a Nickel-Cadmium battery, you’d want to let your feature-phone fully drain before charging it again. Why? Nickel-Cadmium batteries, suffer from what’s known as “memory effect.” When they are charged and discharged hundreds of times, they start to lose the ability to charge up to 100%, draining your battery life significantly over time.
In 2006, Lithium-Ion batteries replaced most NiCd batteries. Ms. Moss says these new batteries can be found in all Apple (AAPL) devices and do not suffer from “memory effect” the way NiCd batteries do. Apple says on its website:
Lithium-ion polymer batteries have a high power density, and you can recharge a lithium-ion polymer battery whenever convenient, without requiring a full charge or discharge cycle.
Apple does recommend, however, that you should let the device go through at least one charge cycle each month to help keep the electrons moving (as opposed to a NiCd battery which needs to go through a full charge cycle every few days). Letting the device drain from 100% to fully shutting off at 0% helps to maintain the life of the battery.
Robin Lim at The Android Guy wrote that the typical modern lithium-ion battery you find in a mobile device should last for 500 charge and discharge cycles depending. Five hundred cycles should be enough to get you through two years.
Five hundred cycles is more than it sounds. A battery cycle means a full charge and discharge. So if you charge your battery before it is empty, it will not count as a full cycle. Ms. Kim claims that if you usually charge battery when it gets to 30%, it should be good for over 700 charges.
The battery does naturally degrade over time. While the battery is designed to last 500 cycles, it does not mean that the battery will maintain a 100% charge throughout the 500 cycles. It also does not mean that after 500 cycles, the battery will die. After 500 charge and discharge cycles, your battery would be at about 70% of its original battery life. Your phone will still report that it is 100% fully charged, but it will really be at about only 70%. Basically, your battery deteriorates about 30%, gradually, over the 500 charge and discharge cycles according to the article.
Ms.Lim offers tips to maintain LI-on batteries.
- Avoid letting the battery drain below 20-30%. Partial discharges are actually better for your battery. The old rule that you had to fully discharge your battery, does not apply to the Lithium-Ion and Lithium-Polymer used in smartphones today. Battery University tests have shown one full discharge your battery once results in more wear and tear than charging it twice when it hits 30%.
- Recharge often. Given that recharging at higher levels of remaining battery life results in less wear and tear, it makes sense to recharge frequently.
- Partial charge is okay. Plugging in the battery for your new iPhone 6 for even half an hour will keep your remaining battery level higher at the end of the day.
Calibrate once every month or two. The Android Guy says continuous partial discharges create a condition called digital memory. Your smartphone does not really measure battery life, but really just estimates the remaining charge. Partial discharges decrease the accuracy of the device’s battery gauge. So once every month, or every other month, let the battery discharge to the cut-off point and then recharge. Once fully charged, leave it plug to the wall charging for another two hours. The power gauge will be re-calibrated.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.