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ajo

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 28, 2006
680
24
My iPhone X battery was at 86% capacity so I paid for a replacement from Apple. I am still finding though that at the end of the day it is close to 20% with maybe less than 3 hours screen time. Is this normal?
 

Andeddu

macrumors 68000
Dec 21, 2016
1,642
2,041
You’ll really only get 30-40 minutes of extra battery charge with a replacement. It’s probably not too noticeable to you.
 

BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Aug 19, 2017
6,858
8,712
Arizona/Illinois
My iPhone X battery was at 86% capacity so I paid for a replacement from Apple. I am still finding though that at the end of the day it is close to 20% with maybe less than 3 hours screen time. Is this normal?
If your battery was at 86% it didn't need replacement and that's why you aren't seeing an improvement. I had mine replaced at 80% with the "service battery soon because severely degraded" notification and I noticed a night and day difference. I was getting maybe 2-3hrs SOT before the replacement, now I get 6hrs on average
 

ajo

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 28, 2006
680
24
If your battery was at 86% it didn't need replacement and that's why you aren't seeing an improvement. I had mine replaced at 80% with the "service battery soon because severely degraded" notification and I noticed a night and day difference. I was getting maybe 2-3hrs SOT before the replacement, now I get 6hrs on average
I think it was 86% there was a massage about it needing servicing. I had it replaced as I noticed the iPhone was really struggling and slow with simple things. I feel that that has at least improved.
 

BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Aug 19, 2017
6,858
8,712
Arizona/Illinois
I think it was 86% there was a massage about it needing servicing. I had it replaced as I noticed the iPhone was really struggling and slow with simple things. I feel that that has at least improved.
If it had the service battery notification then it was worn. I had weird fluctuations of battery percentage, stuttering and horrible battery drain when using YouTube and other intensive tasks. All went away after the battery replacement. You might try a clean install of iOS as this helped my phone a lot when I did it when iOS14 was released. I used iTunes and did a clean install, it took awhile to do but it cleared up a lot of little quirks that I just thought was due to upgrading to a more demanding, newer version of iOS..
 

snipr125

macrumors 68000
Oct 17, 2015
1,797
2,834
UK
I think it was 86% there was a massage about it needing servicing. I had it replaced as I noticed the iPhone was really struggling and slow with simple things. I feel that that has at least improved.
With a brand new battery, the voltages go back to normal so that's why those simple things that seemed slow are now faster/normal again.
 

HalfFullmoon

macrumors 6502
Dec 29, 2021
261
168
I changed the battery on my iPhone 8 and experienced lackluster improvement just like you. I maybe gained an hour of battery life. I had no performance issues before and after. My old battery’s health was at 87%. When asked Apple technicians why this was the case, they said newer iOS updates cause more drain. I call it the update drain, and it makes buying older phones and/or changing the battery pointless.

Phones are disposable after a couple of years. It doesn’t have to be the case, but that is the situation we are in now. Not like there is an alternative. I am reading that this happens in the android phones as well. ?
 

OhMyMy

Suspended
Oct 21, 2021
986
1,310
I changed the battery on my iPhone 8 and experienced lackluster improvement just like you. I maybe gained an hour of battery life. I had no performance issues before and after. My old battery’s health was at 87%. When asked Apple technicians why this was the case, they said newer iOS updates cause more drain. I call it the update drain, and it makes buying older phones and/or changing the battery pointless.

Phones are disposable after a couple of years. It doesn’t have to be the case, but that is the situation we are in now. Not like there is an alternative. I am reading that this happens in the android phones as well. ?
There's a simple explanation. Newer processors are more powerful and at the same time more power efficient. And newer iOS versions come with more functionality that naturally requires more power. This is where older hardware falls behind. Their performance can come close to the newer processors but at the expense of more power and the more iterations of iOS versions we pass the more prominent the battery drain would be with the processor trying to keep up.
Apple mitigates this to some extent by limiting certain features to newer processors. Theoretically the software could be more optimized for the older processors but Apple chose not to as a strictly financial decision. Hence, the struggle.
 
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HalfFullmoon

macrumors 6502
Dec 29, 2021
261
168
There's a simple explanation. Newer processors are more powerful and at the same time more power efficient. And newer iOS versions come with more functionality that naturally requires more power. This is where older hardware falls behind. Their performance can come close to the newer processors but at the expense of more power and the more iterations of iOS versions we pass the more prominent the battery drain would be with the processor trying to keep up.
Apple mitigates this to some extent by limiting certain features to newer processors. Theoretically the software could be more optimized for the older processors but Apple chose not to as a strictly financial decision. Hence, the struggle.
I am pretty sure the only thing I will miss if I switch back to iOS 12 would be the emojis.
 
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Andeddu

macrumors 68000
Dec 21, 2016
1,642
2,041
I changed the battery on my iPhone 8 and experienced lackluster improvement just like you. I maybe gained an hour of battery life. I had no performance issues before and after. My old battery’s health was at 87%. When asked Apple technicians why this was the case, they said newer iOS updates cause more drain. I call it the update drain, and it makes buying older phones and/or changing the battery pointless.

Phones are disposable after a couple of years. It doesn’t have to be the case, but that is the situation we are in now. Not like there is an alternative. I am reading that this happens in the android phones as well. ?
Your iPhone 8 should have close to the same battery life it had when you first purchased your phone. My iPhone 12 Mini is at 84% but I don’t think I would even gain an hour with a battery replacement. I will get my battery replaced soon though as the phone is almost 2 years old.
 

MindYourMind

macrumors regular
Aug 27, 2020
224
249
The Netherlands
There's a simple explanation. Newer processors are more powerful and at the same time more power efficient. And newer iOS versions come with more functionality that naturally requires more power. This is where older hardware falls behind. Their performance can come close to the newer processors but at the expense of more power and the more iterations of iOS versions we pass the more prominent the battery drain would be with the processor trying to keep up.
Apple mitigates this to some extent by limiting certain features to newer processors. Theoretically the software could be more optimized for the older processors but Apple chose not to as a strictly financial decision. Hence, the struggle.
You may be right.
 

HalfFullmoon

macrumors 6502
Dec 29, 2021
261
168
Your iPhone 8 should have close to the same battery life it had when you first purchased your phone. My iPhone 12 Mini is at 84% but I don’t think I would even gain an hour with a battery replacement. I will get my battery replaced soon though as the phone is almost 2 years old.
It isn't even close to the same battery life. I think battery replacements are only intended for faulty batteries. But let us know how yours go.
 

Andeddu

macrumors 68000
Dec 21, 2016
1,642
2,041
It isn't even close to the same battery life. I think battery replacements are only intended for faulty batteries. But let us know how yours go.

I had a 79% 6S battery replaced a week ago and now the phone is a top performer. I reckon it’s not far off from when I got it originally. Obviously, as the other poster said, the additional computational requirements of iOS 15 sap the battery harder than iOS 12 which is likely why you aren’t seeing the same on-screen time.

Also, batteries degrade over time even not in use. I had an SE1 battery replaced from 2017 that was showing 100% health but was giving me less than 50% the expected on-screen time. I guess it’s a possibility that Apple replaced your battery with one that had been lying around for a couple of years.
 
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HalfFullmoon

macrumors 6502
Dec 29, 2021
261
168
I had a 79% 6S battery replaced a week ago and now the phone is a top performer. I reckon it’s not far off from when I got it originally. Obviously, as the other poster said, the additional computational requirements of iOS 15 sap the battery harder than iOS 12 which is likely why you aren’t seeing the same on-screen time.

Also, batteries degrade over time even not in use. I had an SE1 battery replaced from 2017 that was showing 100% health but was giving me less than 50% the expected on-screen time. I guess it’s a possibility that Apple replaced your battery with one that had been lying around for a couple of years.
And did your SE1 give back proper screen time? Where did you get it replaced?
 

Andeddu

macrumors 68000
Dec 21, 2016
1,642
2,041
And did your SE1 give back proper screen time? Where did you get it replaced?

I am testing out my SE now and it appears to be providing as good a return as when it was new… even on iOS 15.4! I haven’t ran the new battery flat but it’s giving me more screen time than my 12 Mini. I have been streaming videos on cellular & listening to podcasts and browsing the web a lot and still have 50% battery left. I got my SE’s battery replaced by a third-party repair shop because Apple probably wouldn’t touch an old phone or would overcharge for the service.
 

ajo

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 28, 2006
680
24
I had a 79% 6S battery replaced a week ago and now the phone is a top performer. I reckon it’s not far off from when I got it originally. Obviously, as the other poster said, the additional computational requirements of iOS 15 sap the battery harder than iOS 12 which is likely why you aren’t seeing the same on-screen time.

Also, batteries degrade over time even not in use. I had an SE1 battery replaced from 2017 that was showing 100% health but was giving me less than 50% the expected on-screen time. I guess it’s a possibility that Apple replaced your battery with one that had been lying around for a couple of years.
When Apple gave it back after an hour, the replaced battery was on 2% or so. They told me to charge in car on the way home. Is that normal?
 

HalfFullmoon

macrumors 6502
Dec 29, 2021
261
168
When Apple gave it back after an hour, the replaced battery was on 2% or so. They told me to charge in car on the way home. Is that normal?
Yes, they decreased mine to about 7% or so, and told me it is part of their testing. Perhaps they were recalibrating the battery.
 

HalfFullmoon

macrumors 6502
Dec 29, 2021
261
168
I am testing out my SE now and it appears to be providing as good a return as when it was new… even on iOS 15.4! I haven’t ran the new battery flat but it’s giving me more screen time than my 12 Mini. I have been streaming videos on cellular & listening to podcasts and browsing the web a lot and still have 50% battery left. I got my SE’s battery replaced by a third-party repair shop because Apple probably wouldn’t touch an old phone or would overcharge for the service.
Okay, so it is possible Apple used an old battery, even though I don’t know much about lithium batteries. Post your battery chart when you are done for the day.
 

Andeddu

macrumors 68000
Dec 21, 2016
1,642
2,041
When Apple gave it back after an hour, the replaced battery was on 2% or so. They told me to charge in car on the way home. Is that normal?

I’ve had 3 iPhone battery replacements over the last 2 weeks. An iPhone 6S and 2 SE ‘16s. None of the batteries were less than 60% when I returned to the shop to uplift my phone. Your battery has obviously been lying in the shop for a while and ran out of charge. To me that’s an indication you’ve been handed an older battery which may not be performing at the expected level. I would charge the phone to 100% and run it down to 5% and see what your screen on time is like to get an idea if your replacement battery is a lemon.

I don’t have any hard stats but I do not feel as though iOS 15.4 is pushing this old hardware much more than iOS 12/13. I am not noticing a difference.
 

HalfFullmoon

macrumors 6502
Dec 29, 2021
261
168
I’ve had 3 iPhone battery replacements over the last 2 weeks. An iPhone 6S and 2 SE ‘16s. None of the batteries were less than 60% when I returned to the shop to uplift my phone. Your battery has obviously been lying in the shop for a while and ran out of charge. To me that’s an indication you’ve been handed an older battery which may not be performing at the expected level. I would charge the phone to 100% and run it down to 5% and see what your screen on time is like to get an idea if your replacement battery is a lemon.

I don’t have any hard stats but I do not feel as though iOS 15.4 is pushing this old hardware much more than iOS 12/13. I am not noticing a difference.
Which store did you get your battery changed? uBreakiFix? Did they tell you anything about the battery used for replacement - if was OEM, etc.?

Also, the low battery is from what the technicians did. I could see in the battery graph that replacement battery had around 50% battery level, which was reduced very low during repair.
 
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Andeddu

macrumors 68000
Dec 21, 2016
1,642
2,041
Which store did you get your battery changed? uBreakiFix? Did they tell you anything about the battery - if was OEM, etc.?

No, it was a local repair shop in the UK. None of the batteries were OEM but all appear to be great quality as they’ve completely restored my old phones back to their original levels. I paid £35 per battery which is very high but I was assured the quality was very good for aftermarket. Most repair shops charge £25 for a battery replacement but the quality of product is unknown. I didn’t want to risk low-grade battery in my phones.
 
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Andeddu

macrumors 68000
Dec 21, 2016
1,642
2,041
That’s me completed a day of use on my Gold iPhone SE with the brand new aftermarket battery installed. Those are the results which aren’t bad considering I have been away at work all day and have been on 4G which requires more battery draw than WiFi. I also managed to stream 1.5 hours of podcasts on earphones on top of that screen time. I think that’s a decent result considering the SE’s battery is something tiny like 1600 mAh.
 

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