Now that the iOS 18 developer beta is out in the wild, we've learned about some new and interesting features that Apple failed to mention in its WWDC keynote announcements. One of these is expanded charging limit options, and though it might sound counterintuitive, these can really help your iPhone in the long run.
New charging limits for iPhone 15 models
Apple is expanding the charging limit options on all iPhone 15 models. Sadly, the new options aren't available on older devices.
Users can now choose to stop their iPhone from charging when it reaches either 80%, 85%, 90%, and 95% charge. Previously, options were limited to 80% or "Optimized Battery Charging," which charges based on your habits. Of course, you can also keep charging limits off.
If you're wondering why you'd want to use this, it's because limiting a device's maximum charge is a common way to increase its battery's longevity. It's something that Mac users have done for years, using third-party tools like Battery Toolkit. Limiting the charging to 80% can really help increase your battery's health, but it also decreases how much battery life you'll have in a single go. Perhaps a 90% charging limit strikes a better balance.
According to a Reddit post, users who do limit charging will also be able to enable 100% charging temporarily, which will help when you're out traveling or when you have a full, busy day ahead of you.
According to MacRumors, Apple will also send notifications to users, urging them to enable the charging limits feature, which should help with its adoption.
iPhone 15 users will find this feature in Settings > Battery > Charging.
Is your fast charger actually fast?
The Battery page's charging graph is also getting more useful. Apple will now differentiate low charging with an orange color, while regular/fast charging is shown in green.
This feature can be a good way to find out if a Qi wireless charger is performing well, or if an older MagSafe charger is actually charging your iPhone at 15W, as promised. Sometimes, third-party adapters and wireless chargers aren't everything they've been cracked up to be.