iOS 17.4 features a more comprehensive at-a-glance overview of battery health information on your iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro within the Settings app.
Instead of the Battery Health & Charging section in Settings > Battery, iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro owners will see the separate Battery Health and Charging Optimization sections when they update to iOS 17.4 after it launches in March.
In addition, the Battery Health section lists more information about the current state of the battery that was previously hidden in the General > About section, including crucial statistics such as the battery cycle count.
iOS 17.4 brings richer battery health stats, but only for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models
Other stats listed here include the iPhone’s current battery capacity, when the battery was manufactured and first used and whether it’s time to replace it.
On iPhone 14 and older, battery health information remains available in Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging, but you only get to see battery capacity.
Stats like the battery cycle count, manufacture date and first use are only available on the iPhone 15 lineup with iOS 17.4 and later. Apple has updated a support document on its website to acknowledge these tweaks.
About the battery cycle count
The cycle count is the most important number when determining the health of an iPhone’s battery. The battery cycle count denotes the number of complete charge cycles before the original battery capacity falls below eighty percent. At this point, iOS may begin throttling the CPU to avoid issues like sudden shutdowns.
Here’s how Apple describes the iPhone’s battery capacity:
Maximum battery capacity measures the device battery capacity relative to when it was new. A battery will have lower capacity as the battery chemically ages which may result in fewer hours of usage between charges. Depending upon the length of time between when the iPhone was made and when it is activated, your battery capacity may show as slightly less than 100 percent.
iPhone batteries are typically rated at retaining up to eighty percent of their original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles, except for the iPhone 15 lineup.
Apple retests iPhone 15 batteries
That’s because Apple has quietly doubled the advertised battery cycle lifespan for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models from 500 to 1000 complete charge cycles.
The company claims it rated the iPhone 15 batteries as having a much longer battery lifespan than initially thought after conducting new tests that represent everyday use cases, including charging and discharging the battery 1000 times. The battery lifespan of the iPhone 14 family and older models remains unchanged.