I ignored Apple’s battery advice for months – here’s how my iPhone 17 Pro Max performs now
I ignored Apple’s battery advice for months – here’s how my iPhone 17 Pro Max performs now
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ignored-apple-battery-advice-on-iphone-the-result/
Publish Date: 2026-02-10 21:42:00
Source Domain: www.zdnet.com
I’ve charged this iPhone in all the wrong ways… for science!
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- It’s normal for iPhone battery health to stay at 100% for the first few months.
- Expect battery health to drop by 1 percentage point every 50 recharge cycles.
- Modern batteries are very resilient and can take a lot of abuse.
My iPhone 17 Pro Max was one of the first to roll off the production line and into people’s hands on launch day. Since I’d spent the previous two years absolutely babying the battery in my iPhone 15 Pro Max, I decided to take a different approach this time around.
Also: After charging my iPhone the ‘Apple way’ for 2 years, here’s the state of its battery now
I don’t think it has made any difference.
What I’ve done so far
As of today — Feb. 7, 2026 — my new iPhone has been through 122 recharge cycles over the past 140 days. I’ve had the charge limit disabled so every charge goes to 100%, and I’ve had Optimized Battery Charging disabled. My iPhone can’t seem to figure out my schedule, as I’m somewhat erratic and don’t need an alarm most of the time about 6 a.m., but I get up earlier a few days a week to get some more walking miles under my belt, so this feature doesn’t work well for me.
Here’s how my iPhone’s battery is coping so far.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
I also charge my iPhone both wired and wirelessly, using a huge variety of chargers and power banks, and over the past few months it has seen freezing temperatures and baking sun, sometimes not on the same day.
Some days it’s been run flat, and other days it’s been attached to a charger or power bank all day.
Oh, and the whole time, it’s been inside a thick case that does nothing to keep the handset cool.
Also: I changed 10+ settings on my iPhone to significantly extend its battery life (iOS 26 and older)
Without doubt, I’ve used and abused this iPhone harder than any other I’ve owned, and that says a lot, yet my battery is…
