How to Check Battery Health on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

I became slightly obsessed with battery health about a year ago when my iPhone started dying at 30 percent. Like, the battery indicator would show 30 percent remaining, and then poof, the phone would just shut off. No warning, no low battery alert, just black screen. Happened to me twice during important phone calls which was, let me tell you, not a great experience.

Turns out my battery health had degraded to 74 percent and my phone was basically lying to me about how much charge it actually had left. Once I replaced the battery, everything went back to normal. But that whole experience made me realize I should've been paying attention to battery health way earlier instead of just assuming my phone was fine until it very clearly wasn't.

So if you're wondering how to check your battery health, or you're not even sure what battery health means, or maybe you just noticed your phone doesn't last as long as it used to, this guide is for you. I'll cover iPhones, iPads, and Macs because they all handle this stuff a bit differently.

What Even Is Battery Health?

Okay so here's the deal. The battery inside your iPhone, iPad, or Mac is a lithium-ion battery. These batteries are great for a lot of reasons, they're lightweight, they charge fast, they hold a lot of power for their size, but they have one major downside: they degrade over time.

Every time you charge your battery from zero to full, that counts as one "charge cycle." And lithium-ion batteries can only handle so many charge cycles before they start losing capacity. It's not like the battery suddenly dies after a certain number of cycles, it's more gradual than that. The battery just slowly holds less and less charge compared to when it was new.

When Apple talks about battery health, they're basically telling you what percentage of the original capacity your battery can still hold. So if your battery health is 90 percent, that means your battery can hold 90 percent of the charge it could hold when your phone was brand new. If it's 80 percent, you've lost 20 percent of your battery's original capacity.

This explains why older phones don't last as long on a single charge even if you haven't changed how you use them. You might be doing the exact same stuff you did two years ago, but now your phone dies by 3pm instead of lasting until bedtime. It's not your imagination. Your battery literally can't hold as much power as it used to.

Apple considers a battery to be in good health if it's above 80 percent capacity. Once you drop below that, they recommend replacing the battery. Your phone will still work below 80 percent obviously, but you'll notice significantly reduced battery life and potentially some weird behavior like my phone randomly shutting off at 30 percent.

Checking Battery Health on iPhone

This is probably why most of you are here, so let's start with iPhone. Apple made this pretty easy to find, though the exact location has moved around a bit over different iOS versions.

First is Maximum Capacity. This is the big number, the one that tells you what percentage of original capacity your battery can still hold. If you've got a new phone, this should be at or very close to 100 percent. It'll slowly decrease over time as you use your phone and charge it.

Below that you'll see Peak Performance Capability. This tells you if your battery can still deliver peak power when your phone needs it. If everything's fine, it'll say your battery is supporting normal peak performance. If your battery has degraded significantly, you might see a message about performance management being applied. That means your phone is intentionally slowing itself down to prevent unexpected shutdowns. Yeah, Apple got in a lot of trouble about this a few years back when they didn't tell people it was happening.

There might also be an option for Optimized Battery Charging, which is a feature that tries to extend your battery's lifespan by not charging to 100 percent until you actually need it. Like if you usually wake up at 7am, your phone might charge to 80 percent overnight and then top off to 100 percent right before you wake up. The idea is that sitting at 100 percent for hours isn't great for battery longevity. I leave this turned on personally.

One thing I should mention: the battery health feature doesn't show up on really old iPhones. I think you need an iPhone 6 or later, and you definitely need to be running iOS 11.3 or higher. If you're on something older than that, you might not see these options. Honestly though if your phone is that old, your battery probably needs replacing anyway just based on age.

What Do the Numbers Actually Mean?

So you found your battery health percentage. Now what? Is it good? Is it bad? Here is the breakdown:

If you're at 95 to 100 percent, your battery is basically new. Nothing to worry about. This is normal for phones that are less than a year old, sometimes up to two years if you're gentle with your charging habits.

If you're at 85 to 95 percent, your battery has some wear but it's still in pretty good shape. You might notice slightly shorter battery life compared to when the phone was new, but nothing dramatic. Most phones hit this range after one to two years of regular use.

If you're at 80 to 85 percent, your battery is getting tired. You'll definitely notice reduced battery life at this point. Your phone might not make it through a full day without needing a charge, depending on how heavily you use it. Start thinking about whether you want to replace the battery or just deal with carrying a charger everywhere.

If you're below 80 percent, Apple officially considers your battery degraded. You'll probably see that performance management message I mentioned earlier. Battery life will be noticeably worse, and you might experience weird stuff like your phone shutting down unexpectedly. At this point you should seriously consider a battery replacement, or maybe just getting a new phone if yours is old enough that the battery isn't the only thing showing its age.

My phone was at 74 percent when I finally checked it, which explains all the problems I was having. I got the battery replaced for I think around 90 bucks at the Apple Store and it was like having a new phone again.

Checking Battery Health on iPad

Here's something that annoys me a little bit. iPads don't have the same detailed battery health menu that iPhones do. I don't really understand why Apple made this decision. iPads have the same kind of lithium-ion batteries that degrade over time just like iPhones. But for whatever reason, they didn't include the battery health feature.

So how do you check battery health on an iPad? You've got a couple of options, none of which are as convenient as the iPhone method.

Option 1: Third Party Apps

The first option is to use a third party app. There are apps on the App Store that can read your iPad's battery data and tell you the current capacity and cycle count. I've used one called coconutBattery which actually runs on a Mac but can read battery info from connected iOS devices. There's also apps like Battery Life and others that run directly on the iPad. Fair warning though, these apps can be hit or miss in terms of accuracy, and some of them are loaded with ads. Read the reviews before downloading.

Option 2: Check Using a Mac

Option 3: Apple Support

The third option, and probably the most reliable one, is to contact Apple or visit an Apple Store. They have diagnostic tools that can read your iPad's battery health accurately. If you're having battery problems and want to know whether a replacement is worth it, this is probably your best bet.

It's annoying that Apple makes this harder on iPads than iPhones. Maybe they figure people keep iPads longer so they don't want everyone freaking out about battery degradation. Or maybe it's just an oversight they never got around to fixing. Either way, it is what it is.

One more thing about iPads: they generally have bigger batteries than iPhones, which means they can absorb more degradation before you really notice it. Your iPad battery might be at 85 percent health and you might not notice any real difference in daily use because there was so much capacity to begin with. iPhones with their smaller batteries show degradation more obviously.

Checking Battery Health on Mac

Macs are better about this than iPads, thankfully. You can check your MacBook's battery health right from the system settings without any third party apps.

You'll see a status that says either Normal, Service Recommended, or something along those lines. Normal means your battery is functioning well. Service Recommended means your battery has degraded significantly and Apple thinks you should get it looked at.

Older macOS versions handle this a bit differently. You can hold the Option key and click on the battery icon in your menu bar. A dropdown will appear that shows your battery condition. Same deal, Normal means good, Service Recommended or Replace Soon means your battery needs attention.

If you want more detailed info like the actual percentage of original capacity and the cycle count, you can find that in the System Information app.

The cycle count is interesting to look at. Apple says MacBook batteries are designed to retain 80 percent of their original capacity after 1000 charge cycles. So if your cycle count is 500 and your battery is still at 90 percent capacity, you're doing pretty well. If your cycle count is 300 but your battery is already at 82 percent, something might be off.

Different MacBook models have different cycle count expectations by the way. The 1000 cycle figure applies to most modern MacBooks from the last several years, but older models might have lower expectations. You can look up your specific model on Apple's website if you're curious.

How to Make Your Battery Last Longer

Okay so you've checked your battery health. Maybe it's still good and you want to keep it that way. Maybe it's starting to degrade and you want to slow that down. Here are some things that actually help.

Use the charger that came with your device, or at least a good quality third party charger with the right wattage. Cheap knockoff chargers can deliver inconsistent power that isn't good for your battery. I'm not saying you need to use Apple branded everything, there are plenty of good third party chargers out there, just avoid the really sketchy ones.

If you're storing a device for a long time, don't store it fully charged or completely dead. Apple recommends around 50 percent charge for long term storage. And turn the device off rather than leaving it in sleep mode. Batteries slowly drain even when devices are off, so check on it every few months and top it off if needed.

Keep your software updated. Apple occasionally includes battery optimizations in software updates. I know updates can be annoying but they sometimes genuinely help with battery performance and longevity.

When to Replace Your Battery

So your battery health is getting low. How do you know when it's actually time to replace it?

I'd say if you're below 80 percent and you're noticing real problems, like significantly shorter battery life, unexpected shutdowns, or performance throttling, it's probably time. At that point the replacement cost is worth it for the improved experience.

If you're between 80 and 85 percent and things are just kind of annoying but not terrible, it's more of a judgment call. How much does it bother you to carry a charger? How much longer do you plan to keep this device? If you're going to get a new phone in six months anyway, maybe just deal with it. If you're trying to squeeze another two years out of this phone, the battery replacement makes sense.

Apple charges different amounts for battery replacement depending on your device. For iPhones it's usually somewhere between 80 and 120 bucks depending on the model. For MacBooks it's more expensive, often in the 200 to 300 dollar range, because the battery is harder to access and usually requires replacing the entire top case on newer models.

You can also get third party battery replacements done cheaper, but be careful with this. A bad battery replacement can cause all kinds of problems, and non-genuine batteries might not perform as well or could even be dangerous. If you go the third party route, use a reputable repair shop with good reviews.

One thing to consider: if your phone is already several years old and the battery is shot, it might make more sense financially to just get a new phone. Depends on how you feel about your current device and whether anything else about it is bothering you. A new battery in an old phone gives you better battery life but doesn't make the phone any faster or give you new features.

Final Thoughts

Checking your battery health isn't something you need to obsess over, but it's worth looking at every few months, especially if you notice your device isn't lasting as long as it used to. It takes thirty seconds and can save you from that frustrating experience of your phone dying in the middle of something important.

And honestly, just knowing that batteries degrade over time has made me less frustrated with my devices. When my phone's battery life started getting worse, I used to think something was wrong with the software or that some app was draining power in the background. Sometimes that is the problem. But a lot of the time, it's just the battery getting old, and there's an easy fix for that.

So go check your battery health right now if you haven't already. If it's above 80 percent, great, you're good for a while. If it's getting low, at least now you know why your phone keeps dying and you can do something about it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check my iPad's battery health using one of those third party apps because Apple still won't just show me the number. Slightly annoying but whatever. At least the iPhone and Mac make it easy.