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1rottenapple

macrumors 601
Apr 21, 2004
4,704
2,720
My XS Max is still rendering fluid animations and there’s little to no stutter but the battery health has reached 83% and I either need to buy a new phone or change the battery. Right now I get 2,5 hours of screen-on-time.

Will it be a waste of money if I change the battery when the phone has the A12, which is quite inefficient for iOS 16 and future iOS versions? Will the phone still have bad battery life on a new battery life?
If photography wasn’t important I would keep the xs max. I gave mine to family and it’s still strong and going. I kinda wish I kept it. It’s strong and really comfortable to hold.
 

Ram65

Suspended
Sep 20, 2014
430
284
My XS Max is still rendering fluid animations and there’s little to no stutter but the battery health has reached 83% and I either need to buy a new phone or change the battery. Right now I get 2,5 hours of screen-on-time.

Will it be a waste of money if I change the battery when the phone has the A12, which is quite inefficient for iOS 16 and future iOS versions? Will the phone still have bad battery life on a new battery life?
Upgrade to the iPhone 14 series get away from that Intel Modem 😁
 

Rooster 🐓

macrumors member
Jun 7, 2021
70
381
I was in exactly the same boat recently, but iPhone 14 pro supply is limited, and so I just got a new battery in my iPhone XS 256gb for £69.

It’s like a new phone, with its peak performance back, easily outlasting a days relatively heavy use.

Taking it out of its case for the first time in ages for the service at the Apple Store, I forgot how beautiful it is naked. It’s still very capable and now like a rocket with everything 🚀 No need to upgrade.

Bought an Apple Watch ultra to upgrade my series 4 with the money I saved ⌚️ That way I’ve got crash detection now too 🙂
 

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,488
1,937
Battery life when replacing battery is significantly better if updated, but it will never be like-new, like it was iOS 12. If maybe 5 hours of SOT like it was reported is enough, go ahead.

It was twice that, around 10-11 hours, back on iOS 12.
 
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Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
15,624
10,931
Bought an Apple Watch ultra to upgrade my series 4 with the money I saved ⌚️ That way I’ve got crash detection now too 🙂
I tried out Apple Watch ultra when my series 4 was sent for repair. That was a great watch, albeit a bit bulkier to my liking. Sadly. I have to return It cause money is tight on other areas.
Im fully up to getting Apple Watch ultra when time comes. Maybe not today, but certainly.
 

BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,025
Something you have to keep in mind is, Demand growth is not linear. The experience we enjoy today, similar experience 3 years down the line, I doubt A12 will hold just as well as it is today. Website loads more stuff to support whatever. Video streaming uses different codecs that benefit newer devices more. Even for your so-called "basic" tasks, older electronics may not be able to comfortably handle it. Yes, YMMV, but past 3 years is not the same as next 3 years, and I tend to be conservative on this one.

Also, calling "OP has at least 3 years of comfortable use out of the device" as "truth" in and out of itself is already a stretch. I'd call them "educated predictions" or simply "opinion", cause we have no idea what will happen exactly in the next 3 years. Your overall demand may remain relatively stable, but that's not what the tech world goes.
Yeah, I know someone with an Xs Max and while the phone isn't bad, it has a hard time running some of the modern high intensity applications - for example, Discord. Discord crashes a lot and is very slow and causes the phone to struggle.

Thankfully, I don't use Discord so I think those of us that relegate those tasks to a computer/iPad will get more use out of their phones. All depends on your demands I guess.

I get 3-4x more battery life with my phone than my wife does, but I don't use a tenth of the applications she does and when I have tried one or two out, the drop in battery life was astounding. I refuse to put work Microsoft Teams on my phone because it would require that I charge my phone significantly more and I don't want work bugging me constantly. lol.
 

BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,025
Something you have to keep in mind is, Demand growth is not linear. The experience we enjoy today, similar experience 3 years down the line, I doubt A12 will hold just as well as it is today. Website loads more stuff to support whatever. Video streaming uses different codecs that benefit newer devices more. Even for your so-called "basic" tasks, older electronics may not be able to comfortably handle it. Yes, YMMV, but past 3 years is not the same as next 3 years, and I tend to be conservative on this one.

Also, calling "OP has at least 3 years of comfortable use out of the device" as "truth" in and out of itself is already a stretch. I'd call them "educated predictions" or simply "opinion", cause we have no idea what will happen exactly in the next 3 years. Your overall demand may remain relatively stable, but that's not what the tech world goes.
On another note - I know several people who think that their devices are horrible because the battery life is significantly worse.

I know that they're using their devices 3-4x as much as they used to with apps that are significantly more intensive than when they first bought their device (11-12 Pro).

@OP - I'm more in the camp of - depending on how much you rely and use your device, I'd upgrade my phone at least every 2-3 years. If you have other devices that you can use (MacBook, Desktop computer, iPad, etc) - then upgrading your iPhone as frequently isn't required.
 
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FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,488
1,937
Yeah, I know someone with an Xs Max and while the phone isn't bad, it has a hard time running some of the modern high intensity applications - for example, Discord. Discord crashes a lot and is very slow and causes the phone to struggle.

Thankfully, I don't use Discord so I think those of us that relegate those tasks to a computer/iPad will get more use out of their phones. All depends on your demands I guess.

I get 3-4x more battery life with my phone than my wife does, but I don't use a tenth of the applications she does and when I have tried one or two out, the drop in battery life was astounding. I refuse to put work Microsoft Teams on my phone because it would require that I charge my phone significantly more and I don't want work bugging me constantly. lol.
Usage is key for battery life. It used to be a lot more significant back when phone batteries were smaller. The iPhone 6s thread is full of highly mediocre - if not outright poor - results, with people using it for heavy tasks, like gaming, camera, and other intensive apps. Lighter usage patterns were fine.

That is regardless of brightness. Even with low brightness, intensive tasks will drain devices quite heavily. That said, brightness is the #1 battery killer regardless of usage. Reports of the 1st-gen 12.9-inch iPad Pro getting 4 hours back when it was new due to max brightness were everywhere, and they’ve continued to this day on current large iPads. Why do I mention those? Well, because they’re the most extreme examples. I haven’t used one of those, and people have reported that the large iPad is a little worse than its smaller sibling, but just to give an example, I get more than 20 hours of screen-on time on my Air 5 with light usage and low brightness. A recent thread complained about them getting 4 hours on a 5th Gen, 11-inch iPad Pro. Of course, brightness was at 100%.
 
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AlixSPQR

macrumors 65816
Nov 16, 2020
1,015
5,359
Sweden
I am completely happy with the phone. My only concern is, there's a high chance that the phone with a new battery will still have poor battery life because the A12 is quite inefficient today and Apple doesn't optimize new iOS updates for older hardware.
[Decided to start talking yourself into getting a new phone]
 

Basic75

macrumors 68000
May 17, 2011
1,963
2,307
Europe
When it comes to batteries in devices I use everyday (and especially ones I keep in my pocket) I would be wary of third-party batteries.
Yes, unfortunately third-party batteries are often ****. The ones I got for various Apple and non-Apple devices luckily weren't a safety hazard, yet, but their capacity is not much better than the worn-out originals they replaced!
 

AlixSPQR

macrumors 65816
Nov 16, 2020
1,015
5,359
Sweden
Yes, unfortunately third-party batteries are often ****. The ones I got for various Apple and non-Apple devices luckily weren't a safety hazard, yet, but their capacity is not much better than the worn-out originals they replaced!
There are better batteries than original, also. This is a PolarCell battery for a iPhone SE 1st gen which originally had 1750 mAh (original is 1624 mAh). It is still better than the original capacity battery after 244 load cycles. I have bought several PolarCell batteries for different iPhone models and they perform very well. They have, since I bought this battery, improved their iPhone SE 1st gen battery to 2000 mAh.

dump.png
 
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9Benua

macrumors regular
Aug 20, 2011
163
68
If the phone suits your need just fine, I'll replace the battery. If you need an upgrade (5g capability, newer cameras, etc), get a new phone. Don't bother with aftermarket battery, just go to apple and get them replaced yours.
 

KOTN91

macrumors 6502a
Nov 23, 2017
678
550
I’d say the A12 generation is now in the grey area as to whether it’s too old or not, certainly for a main device
 
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Motionblurrr

macrumors 65816
Jul 1, 2008
1,303
1,622
I’d say the A12 generation is now in the grey area as to whether it’s too old or not, certainly for a main device
Not yet.

I'd say maybe the XR models with the A12 are in the grey area, since they only have 3GB of RAM and the XS Max has 4GB. It makes a huge difference.

I learned this from the iPhone 6 Plus to the 6S Plus... The 6 Plus was almost unusable to barely being tolerable as a main device. The 6S Plus was a huge difference, so much so that it was literally still being supported last year--albeit it probably was hard to tolerate as a main device in 2021.
 

Paddle1

macrumors 601
May 1, 2013
4,817
3,137
Realistically most apps don't push the A12 seeing as they were designed to run on less powerful devices such as iPhone 6s. Only apps that scale up such as intensive games are really a concern. I replaced the battery in my XS this year and I think it actually gets longer battery life streaming video than my laptop does.
 
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Andeddu

macrumors 68000
Dec 21, 2016
1,644
2,044
I’d say the A12 generation is now in the grey area as to whether it’s too old or not, certainly for a main device
Why? The A12 runs pretty much every game and every app smoothly. If you already own the device then it’s good for at least 3 more years. If you don’t own the device, then I agree that you may want at least an A14.

I think a lot of people here are programmed to be consumers and judge a device on its age rather than performance and usefulness.
 
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Torty

macrumors 65816
Oct 16, 2013
1,045
810
Not yet.

I'd say maybe the XR models with the A12 are in the grey area, since they only have 3GB of RAM and the XS Max has 4GB. It makes a huge difference.

I learned this from the iPhone 6 Plus to the 6S Plus... The 6 Plus was almost unusable to barely being tolerable as a main device. The 6S Plus was a huge difference, so much so that it was literally still being supported last year--albeit it probably was hard to tolerate as a main device in 2021.
The A10 iphone 7 Plus with 3GB didnt got iOS 16 but the A9 IPad 5 with 2GB got iPad OS16.
I think in the past the decisions were met on HW but today it seems these are strategical decisions by apple what’s gonna supported and whats not.
 
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