iPhone 14 Pro Max Is wireless charging detrimental to battery life?

[FlyingDutch]

I’ve owned basically all the iPhone models since the beginning (I’ve skipped just the 12) and I’m really very careful managing them. But with the last two models (13 Pro and 14 Pro Max) I’ve noticed a quite fast battery health decline. I bought my 14 Pro Max in January and battery life already is at 90%.
I know the indicator is not very accurate, but usually after one year I had 95/97 %, while the last two models were 91 and 90, with the same usage pattern and just ONE big change in habits: an (apple original) wireless charger.
what is really puzzling me is that my wife’s iPhone 13, bought in the same day, still is at 97%, and she is using it with very little care (charging it often twice a day), but only with traditional wired charger.
is the wireless charging accelerating the battery wear? I know this is technically possible, but I thought it was negligible…
maybe it’s not 🤨

 

[freeagent]

Yup, its hard on the battery.

 

[Clamjuice65]

Oh yes it’s best to have applecare + because wireless charging will and wear your battery down quick fast . 😎😎🥩

 

[Andeddu]

The MagSafe puck isn’t as bad as non-Apple wireless chargers. I have been charging my iPhone 13 every day since January 2023 and I am down to 92% battery life. It’s pretty normal and would likely be the same or very close if I had used wired charging.

For instance, I used 5w wired charging on my iPhone 6S for exactly 2 years and ran it down to 82% battery life.

 

[StumpyBloke]

Wireless charging is no more detrimental to your battery life and efficiency than wired. And in fact possibly better because it charges at a slower rate.

 

[StumpyBloke]

Yup, its hard on the battery.

No more so than wired!

 

[StumpyBloke]

Oh yes it’s best to have applecare + because wireless charging will and wear your battery down quick fast .

No more so than wired!

 

[freeagent]

No more so than wired!

Keep telling yourself that

To be fair I havent used a magsafe. I have one for a droid and my old XSM got hot with it. I havent used it on my 14P.

 

[Clamjuice65]

No more so than wired!

Oh very more than wired , And Apple Techs that work in the Genius Bar Can agree oh yes

 

[StumpyBloke]

Oh very more than wired , And Apple Techs that work in the Genius Bar Can agree oh yes

I am more than happy to be proven wrong. But just saying that Apple techs that work in the genuis bar agree means absolutely nothing: let’s be very honest here, most of them don’t know their arse from their elbow.

Cite some official references for me that disprove my statement please…would be very interesting.

Edit: I’ve done yet another search and can’t find a single post from the last few years saying that wireless charging is inherently worse for your battery compared to wired.

 

[MisterSavage]

Edit: I’ve done yet another search and can’t find a single post from the last few years saying that wireless charging is inherently worse for your battery compared to wired.

Agreed. It's not as if we're talking about something like jailbreaking. Don't you think this is something that would be extensively tested by Apple?

 

[Apple_Robert]

Wireless charging (in and of itself) is not significantly detrimental to the battery.. What is detrimental is charging extremes such as keeping the battery charged to 100% or repeatedly allowing the battery to completely discharge.

 

[jntdroid]

Everything I've seen on this in the past basically makes it sounds like this - "Well, wireless charging is less efficient, takes more energy to charge the phone, and generates more heat - so it it must be harder on the phone's battery health than standard wired charging b/c of the heat generated alone. But no real studies have shown this scientifically yet."

Then you'll hear anecdotal stories on both sides...

I think charging speed and range (20% to 80%) have more of an effect. But that's just my anecdotal opinion.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Personally I doubt wireless charging is enough of a problem to make a significant difference… if it were, AppleCare+ wouldn’t cover batteries. Since it does, any difference is likely minimal, and offset by the convenience of wireless charging.

Since I do have AppleCare+, I don’t concern myself with it. Wireless chargers at bedside, in the car, and at my desk.

FWIW the car & desk use an actual MagSafe puck; bedside is a 3rd party charger with phone & watch.

 

[StumpyBloke]

Wireless charging (in and of itself) is not significantly detrimental to the battery.. What is detrimental is charging extremes such as keeping the battery charged to 100% or repeatedly allowing the battery to completely discharge.

Exactly this. I can’t find a single thing online that even remotely proves that wireless charging is more detrimental to battery life than wired. Therefore I stand by my original post.

 

[3Rock]

Belkin 3 in 1 and now Outterbox 2 in 1 Mag charger over three years with my iPhone 12 and no issues with my battery life of 87% still. I charge up to 100% daily and take it off the charger if I can remember to do so and I’m not gonna change my ways. 👍……. I don’t discharge it all the way down though, maybe around 50% or so.

 

[FlyingDutch]

Yup, its hard on the battery.

But the problem seems to affect the iPhone 14 Pro more than any previous model… there is another thread here speaking about that. So I’m not sure wireless charging is the culprit here 🤔

Oh yes it’s best to have applecare + because wireless charging will and wear your battery down quick fast . 😎😎🥩

AppleCare + is a joke, regarding battery. It will cover it only if the health goes below 80% in just 2 years, which is quite difficult.
BTW I have AppleCare +, as usual, but this doesn’t help me at all.

The MagSafe puck isn’t as bad as non-Apple wireless chargers. I have been charging my iPhone 13 every day since January 2023 and I am down to 92% battery life. It’s pretty normal and would likely be the same or very close if I had used wired charging.

For instance, I used 5w wired charging on my iPhone 6S for exactly 2 years and ran it down to 82% battery life.

No, it’s not “pretty normal”. I NEVER had an iPhone going so low after just one year (and we usually have 4 iPhone in the family, so the statistic is not so irrelevant). It seems that iPhone 14 Pro has a worse battery than before. I could think about my unit, but then yesterday I discovered the thread about several people complaining about battery wearing off quicker than before.

Wireless charging (in and of itself) is not significantly detrimental to the battery.. What is detrimental is charging extremes such as keeping the battery charged to 100% or repeatedly allowing the battery to completely discharge.

I know that very well… I never discharge my iPhone below 30% and I’m taking it off the charger at 90% whenever is practical. Always did that, but this IP14 Pro Max seems to be more “fragile”.

Personally I doubt wireless charging is enough of a problem to make a significant difference… if it were, AppleCare+ wouldn’t cover batteries. Since it does, any difference is likely minimal, and offset by the convenience of wireless charging.

Since I do have AppleCare+, I don’t concern myself with it. Wireless chargers at bedside, in the car, and at my desk.

FWIW the car & desk use an actual MagSafe puck; bedside is a 3rd party charger with phone & watch.

Again, AppleCare + is not going to help you here, unless your battery really is defective.

 

[Apple_Robert]

But the problem seems to affect the iPhone 14 Pro more than any previous model… there is another thread here speaking about that. So I’m not sure wireless charging is the culprit here 🤔



AppleCare + is a joke, regarding battery. It will cover it only if the health goes below 80% in just 2 years, which is quite difficult.
BTW I have AppleCare +, as usual, but this doesn’t help me at all.


No, it’s not “pretty normal”. I NEVER had an iPhone going so low after just one year (and we usually have 4 iPhone in the family, so the statistic is not so irrelevant). It seems that iPhone 14 Pro has a worse battery than before. I could think about my unit, but then yesterday I discovered the thread about several people complaining about battery wearing off quicker than before.


I know that very well… I never discharge my iPhone below 30% and I’m taking it off the charger at 90% whenever is practical. Always did that, but this IP14 Pro Max seems to be more “fragile”.


Again, AppleCare + is not going to help you here, unless your battery really is defective.

What do you mean by "more fragile"?

Each battery in the iPhone is different and how long the battery will last until it needs to be replaced will vary person to person, given the numerous variables involved.

 

[disruptedDD]

Keep your phone at very low or very high battery life hurts you battery a little bit and whether it's wireless or not doesn't matter that much (sure, it might heat up your phone a bit that's it). The main reason why your battery health is a bit low should be related to how much you use your phone. You probably use it and charge it a lot more often than your wife.

If you wish to extend your battery life, it's best to keep battery percentage at a medium-ish level (because of chemical reasons, it's more stable in the middle rather than at very low or very high level). But I really don't think you need to worry it too much. If you find it worrying why not just get a MagSafe battery pack? A third party one shouldn't cost you too much.

It's so weird some people believe that wireless charging hurts battery life without any freaking actual evidence.

 

[BotchQue]

It makes sense that any inefficient charger that causes the phone to warm up would be detrimental to battery life; does the MagSafe cause iPhones to warm noticeably?
I use a third-party wireless charger on my 2nd-gen SE, and just now before I took it off the charger, I measured both the phone, and the table it was sitting on, with my IR Thermapen: the phone was 78º and the table was 70º. My battery capacity is 81%, but I couldn't find the phone's mfg date (I know its at least 3 years old).
It would be interesting if someone with a newer phone, and an IR thermometer, could record the phone vs ambient temp after charging overnight by MagSafe, and then again the next morning charging by wire. Anyone?

EDIT: I should add that I rarely use my phone, and only have to recharge it every 2nd or 3rd night.

 

[Jackbequickly]

Heat can decrease battery life and wireless charging "can" heat up the battery. Low wattage wired charging should yield the longest battery life!

Next will come the "do not worry about your battery" posters!

 

[eicca]

My iPhone 12 Mini battery health was nice and stable until I started regularly using a wireless charger. Then the health immediately declined rapidly.

Once I stopped using wireless charging (and I had several different models) my battery health stopped declining and stayed at the same number until the day I traded it in.

Make of that what you will.

 

[freeagent]

But the problem seems to affect the iPhone 14 Pro more than any previous model… there is another thread here speaking about that. So I’m not sure wireless charging is the culprit here 🤔

Not sure. I only use a cable on mine. Just got my 14 Pro like a month or two ago.

So far the battery life is awesome lol.

But my OS is tweaked.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Exactly this. I can’t find a single thing online that even remotely proves that wireless charging is more detrimental to battery life than wired. Therefore I stand by my original post.

I also think you'd be right.

The way I see it, wireless charging would only wear your battery more than wired charging if the power that is lost through wireless induction creates enough heat to damage the battery, or that it even transfer to the phone in way to heat up the battery altogether.

Other factors like opting for MagSafe vs. regular Qi (1st Gen)., and whether your phone is wearing a cover or not would also probably play into this.

With all this in mind, I haven't seen any definitive proof that wireless charging is anymore detrimental than wireless.

What is a fact is that wireless is less efficient and cannot charge at the highest of speeds. But that doesn't mean that it damages the battery.

If Apple has a footnote somewhere that warns against Qi or MagSafe charging, that it may damage the battery, then I haven't seen it yet. I can't imagine they wouldn't have tested this and warn buyers if the damage from wireless charging was real or on a level that would matter. That's a billion dollar class action lawsuit they wouldn't win.

 

[Reggaenald]

Wireless charging is no more detrimental to your battery life and efficiency than wired. And in fact possibly better because it charges at a slower rate.

To say it’s not less efficient than wired charging us just wrong. Just, wrong.
Which is obvious if you’ve ever felt your charging cable or the port compared to the wireless charger or the back of the phone in terms of temperature.
Heat means inefficiency.