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Ask HN: iPhone Low Power Mode, or No?

6 points by thx ↗ HN
Will normally have iPhone running ‘low power mode’ as is most likely less intensive / potentially better for ‘battery longevity’ (?)

Also typically only charge phone when it’s like below 5% battery life & ideally to 80-90% (does this matter?)

Main question be: is “Regular Power Mode” better for the phone? (Like does “full power” keep the system running better / etc.)

Basically asking which overall is best battery mode for iPhone life

16 comments

[ 72.5 ms ] story [ 391 ms ] thread
mattl
I always have my iPhones on Low Power Mode, and I have a shortcut automation which does it for me. No complaints.
meristohm
Same; toggles on plug-in and de-plug
thx
:33

feel like “keep the battery cool” is the theme

Obscurity4340
Go even further: trigger it with "Low PowerMode turned off" and set the action to "turn LowPowerMode on". Then turn it on once manually and it creates an infinite loop where once the system turns it off it automatically toggles itself back on.

You can keep the plug-in/out as a redundancy measure but the above should be the end of the matter.

thx
almost always do low power mode but also didn’t know if high power mode “turns the iPhone fan on” or helps keep the rest of the system cool (my iPhone rn is actually my fav tech piece ever so def want!it to live)

thank u for getting back / am curious about the shortcut automation :33

shmoogy
I can't answer most of your questions - but - On low power mode you lose 120hz, it shifts to 60 - which makes things seem very sluggish once you're used to it.
sbierwagen
120 hz is a Pro only feature. People who pay a thousand bucks for a phone tend to be people who are fine spending a hundred bucks to replace the battery once a year.
sbierwagen
https://batteryuniversity.com/img/content/DST-cycles-web2.jp...

To save a click, maximum battery longevity is achieved keeping it between 75 and 65 percent SoC. (But only a psychopath would do that, the third best lifespan is 75-25%)

The deeper you discharge it and the higher you charge it, the shorter the lifetime.

thx
great last sentence / makes sense

not super techy (i wish) but this been my fav website for a while

sounds like keeping battery cool is best

RulerOf
iOS Low power mode breaks a lot of UX, and the power savings it can bring are already within your control. Read up on what it affects[0].

If you want to be a power user and limit the energy usage of your device, then do that instead. Lower your brightness. Disable background app refresh for apps that don't really need it or that you don't use regularly. You'll get more consistent UX and end up with the similar energy usage.

0: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205234

thx
def recognized the UX on low power (even / especially swiping) is way less smooth (iPhone 13 pro max

not worried about UX / just watching that “battery health” slowly trickling away & not happy

thx
but ty for all aspect of protips
Leftium
I personally like the convenience of starting with a full battery and using my device freely, so I'll just have the battery replaced as needed.

I'm not sure, but I get the feeling my iPhone cellular/Wi-Fi reception is a little weaker in low power mode.

I like the convenience of wireless charging, but the phone gets quite warm/hot.

https://chargie.org/ helps by charging the phone slowly (less heat) and limiting the maximum charge.

thx
agreed / the phone doesn’t work as magnificent in low power mode

think the main takeaway i get out of reading all of these as of rn is keep phone cool & it will be more healthy

:33

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