I can safely disconnect the cables,

and we can get started on the battery replacement.

- Every iPhone battery is going to expire.

That is, it's going to go bad over time

for some pretty technical reasons.

So a few months ago,

I shared that my iPhone 14 Pro's battery

had depleted faster than my previous iPhones.

- Joanna Stern actually mentioned

that hers is down to 88% capacity.

- [Reporter] Wall Street Journalist Joanna Stern

said her iPhone 14 Pro is down to 88%.

- And I shared some hidden numbers about its battery health.

As of today, as the battery hits 494 charge cycles,

the battery health is at 87%.

But what the heck do those numbers mean?

Where can you find them?

And why did this battery deplete so fast in just a year?

I found the answers to all of that and more.

There's no such thing

as a lithium ion battery that lasts forever.

So Apple lets you know just how healthy your battery is

in the software.

Go to Settings, Battery, Battery Health, and Charging.

See that maximum capacity?

That's a measure of the battery capacity relative

to when it was new.

When I first unboxed this iPhone 14 Pro,

it was at 100%.

Now, a year later, it's at 87%.

Yes, as that number gets lower,

the battery doesn't hold a charge as long.

Think of it like a shrinking gas tank,

and it's when that number gets

into the low 80% range that you start to worry.

According to Apple's website,

a normal battery is designed to retain up to 80%

of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles

when operating under normal conditions.

But what's a charge cycle?

(upbeat music)

Safety first.

Obviously, I got a bicycle to explain cycles.

There we go.

All right, 500 cycles.

One, two.

How's this working?

Okay, let's pretend this wheel is your battery.

You complete one charge cycle when the battery goes

from 100% to 0%.

It's basically like the Tour de France.

But you don't complete a cycle every time you charge.

Say you use 80% of your battery one day,

and then recharge it to 100% overnight.

If you use 20% the next day,

you will have discharged a total of 100%.

So yes, it could take multiple days to complete one cycle.

That lithium ion battery in your phone

is rated for 500 of these cycles.

Anyone have a snack?

Nearing 400 cycles.

Thank you.

This is how they do it.

450.

And as you get closer to 500 cycles,

the more that battery capacity percentage is gonna go down.

And yes, the battery will drain faster when you use it.

And 500.

Why is it getting so slow?

Why is is it so hard to pedal?

How do you find out the number of charge cycles

on your phone?

Well, the new iPhone 15 models actually show it.

Go to Settings, General, About,

then scroll down to Cycle Count.

For other iPhones,

you can download this software called coconutBattery

to your Mac.

When you plug in your phone, it will show the cycle count,

which brings me back to my iPhone 14 Pro.

I had hit 494 charge cycles in a year,

which makes me seem like a total phone addict,

which, obviously, I am not,

but I don't think I use the phone

that much more than my iPhone 12 Pro,

which after two years of use had 652 charging cycles

and 88% battery health.

But I had two leading theories

about why the 14 expired quicker.

Number one, software.

Some app or some part of iOS was causing the battery

to drain faster.

Thus, I was charging it more, so more cycle counts happened.

It's gonna hurt tomorrow.

Number two, heat.

I did a previous video on this,

but heat is the number one enemy of batteries.

- Oh no, it's smoking. - Okay, yeah, it is.

It is.

So maybe something inside my phone was getting warm

or causing the battery to fail quicker.

When I took it to an Apple store,

I was told there was no hardware issue.

An Apple spokesman pointed me

to the company's website,

and said that given the cycles,

my battery's performance was in line with what's promised.

Okay, so this battery expired quicker,

but it will happen to all iPhone batteries eventually,

which brings us to two choices.

Buy a new iPhone, or replace your battery,

which is gonna be a lot cheaper

and better for the environment.

So I went to a local New York City repair shop

to explore the replacement options.

How many battery replacements would you say you do?

- Battery replacements are actually

one of our most common repairs,

especially on Apple devices.

I would say we get a few devices every day,

even though it's a common misconception

that the battery can't be replaced because, you know,

back in the day, we used to just pop the back open,

replace the battery with something we found online,

and that was it.

The batteries are actually very easily replaceable,

usually takes about 15 to 20 minutes

- [Joanna] But not all battery replacements are equal.

Joe here offers two options.

- So the battery we have here on the left

would be the Apple original versus an aftermarket battery,

which we purchase from suppliers

that produce them for shops like us.

- [Joanna] Those aftermarket or third-party batteries tend

to work as well according to Joe,

but you will get the following message on the phone.

- That basically tells you that it's unable to determine

if your iPhone battery is a genuine Apple part,

and it tells you to go to Settings

to get more information about it.

- You can dismiss that initial popup,

but it will still show in Settings.

Plus, you won't be able to see

all that battery health information.

An Apple spokesman pointed me

to a report citing a study by the UL,

saying that in tests,

third-party batteries overwhelmingly failed

to meet safety standards.

Joe says he buys safe, high-quality batteries.

The easiest way to avoid the error message

is to get your battery swapped at an Apple store,

or an Apple-authorized repair shop.

And honestly, it might cost about the same

to do it there too.

Joe said it would cost $89

for the iPhone 14 Pro battery replacement at his store.

The Apple store quotes $99.

Why should I opt to come here?

- The Apple's warranty is a 90-day warranty

on the batteries.

We offer a six-month warranty.

We also are able to replace the battery within 10

to 20 minutes,

versus Apple's lengthy process,

sometimes can take an hour,

sometimes two or three depending on how busy they are.

- So what did we learn here today?

Well, if you don't want your battery to go bad,

don't charge your phone.

Seriously though,

you can keep those charge cycles down by reducing use.

Relying on low power mode will help too.

There's also a new setting on the iPhone 15

that will stop charging at 80% to preserve health,

and definitely keep your phone out of the heat,

but you can't live your life babying your battery.

It's like, I guess we'll just be sitting here,

preservin' charge cycles.

Great.

(upbeat music)

(Joanna sighs)

(Joanna exhales)