Back in 2019, Apple introduced a new feature to iPhones, as part of iOS 13: Optimized Battery Charging. This is intended to protect iPhone batteries from unnecessary charge levels, in order to prolong their life.
The same feature subsequently came to AirPods, Apple Watch, and the Mac. But one Apple product doesn’t yet have it, and that’s the Apple Pencil …
Optimized Battery Charging
The performance of lithium-ion batteries gradually degrades over time, limiting the maximum charge they can hold. This is just an unavoidable part of the chemistry.
However, there are steps that can be taken to limit degradation. A key one of these is to limit the amount of time a battery spends at 100% charge, as that places the most stress on a battery.
Optimized Battery Charging is a clever way to achieve this. Your devices effectively learn your daily routine, to work out when your battery needs to be at 100% charge, and only top up to that level when actually needed.
For example, if you charge your iPhone overnight, and consistently get up at 7 a.m., your phone will learn this routine. It will then charge the phone to 80%, and pause it there. Only as 7 a.m. approaches will it top up to 100%, just before you start using your phone.
Another example: My MacBook Pro sits on my desk on mains power most of the day. It’s only when I finish work when I need it to be at full charge, for use elsewhere in the apartment or when mobile. My Mac has learned this pattern, and keeps the battery at 80% until it gets close to the end of my working day, then tops it up to 100%.
I’d like to see this expanded to the Apple Pencil
The Apple Pencil has a non-replaceable battery. If its maximum capacity falls below 80% during the first year, Apple will replace the Pencil with a new one; if it happens after that, you’re on your own.
Expanding Optimized Battery Charging to the Apple Pencil would prolong the battery life, and thus the life of the product itself.
If for any reason that’s not practical, an alternative would be a simple software toggle to manually limit charging to 80%. This would likely meet the needs of all but the most prolific artists, and lengthen the life of the Pencil.
Is this something you’d like to see? Please take our poll, and share your thoughts in the comments.
Photo: Miguel Tomás/Unsplash
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