Is your iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max battery not charging to 100%? Fret not, we’ve got some tips to help you take back control of your iPhone’s charge.
From simple software problems to bigger hardware fixes, there are plenty of reasons why your brand new iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max may not be charging to 100%. This could leave you with less charge at the end of the day or cause you to get less time out of Apple’s most impressive devices.
If you have experienced your iPhone 16 battery not fully charging, here are all the ways you can currently use to get it working again.
WHY IS MY IPHONE 16 NOT CHARGING PAST THE 80% THRESHOLD?
If your iPhone 16 is not charging to 100%, you may notice that it remains at the 80% threshold or something close to that (like 83-84% for me). That’s because Apple introduced a feature in iOS 18 called "Charge Limit." While it may be an annoying feature, Charge Limit is supposed to help you out in the long run. It prolongs the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro battery life and helps prevent you from wearing out the battery too quickly.
Charge Limit is a slider with five settings: 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, and 100%. You can select any of these five settings, and your iPhone will automatically stop charging when it reaches your selected limit.
If you select 100%, the Optimized Battery Charging toggle will become active, allowing you to choose whether or not to use this setting. If you select a Charge Limit below 100%, you won’t be able to turn this on; your iPhone will always stop charging at the selected limit.
You may find your iPhone battery not charging to 100% because of the Optimized battery charging feature. Optimized battery charging uses on-device machine learning to get to know your charging habits. It then adapts how your iPhone charges in order to prolong your battery life. For example, if you go to bed at 11PM each night, put your iPhone on its charging stand, and take it off again when you get up at 7AM, your iPhone will learn this routine. It will then stop charging at 80% during the night and will start charging again just in time for you to wake up with your battery fully charged to 100%. It can take up to two weeks for your iPhone to learn your habits before the optimized charging will kick in.
As I’ve already mentioned, Optimized battery charging is only available as an option on iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models when your Charge Limit is set to 100%.
You may find your iPhone battery not charging to 100% because of the battery temperature. When you overcharge your iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro, it may generate a lot of heat, which is detrimental to battery health. The heat that your device generates while charging basically exerts extra stress on the battery, reducing its lifespan. Again, Charge Limit and iOS can limit charging beyond 80% if the battery temperature exceeds Apple’s recommended limits.
HOW TO TURN OFF CHARGE LIMIT ON IPHONE 16
When you’re at home or at work, you probably have easy access to a phone charger. Setting your Charge Limit to 80% isn’t so much of an issue when you can charge your iPhone whenever it gets too low.
However, there may be times when you could do with some extra juice, such as if you’re going on a long journey without any means of charging. If this is the case, you can temporarily pause your Charge Limit, allowing you to charge your iPhone 16 all the way up to 100%. Your Charge Limit will then return to its previous setting the next day.
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Battery.
- Tap Charging.
- Drag the Charge Limit slider to 100%.
- Tap Allow Until Tomorrow to let your iPhone 16 charge to 100% for one day only.
- Select Set Limit to 100% to always allow your iPhone 16 to charge 100%.
HOW TO TURN OFF OPTIMIZED BATTERY CHARGING ON IPHONE 16
When Optimized Battery Charging is active, a notification on the Lock Screen says when your iPhone will be fully charged. If you need to have your iPhone fully charged sooner, touch and hold the notification and then tap Charge Now.
While the Optimized Battery Charging feature is supposed to help you extend your battery’s life, maybe you want to turn it off to see if your iPhone 16 can fully charge to 100%. Or perhaps you don’t like the feature. Thankfully, turning it off is easy!
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap Battery.
- Select Charging.
- Drag the charge limit slider to 100%.
- Now, you will have the option to toggle Optimized Battery Charging on or of
- Tap the toggle for Optimized Battery Charging to OFF.
- You’ll get two options for when turning Optimized Battery Charging to off: Turn Off Until Tomorrow or Turn Off (permanently). Choose which one you prefer.
CHANGE CHARGING LOCATION TO A COOLER LOCATION
As mentioned earlier, the battery’s temperature can affect it, so your iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro may not be able to charge to 100% and is stuck at around the 80% threshold. To fix this, you should try moving your iPhone to a cooler location, which would be more conducive. Avoid things like direct sunlight, rooms with poor ventilation, other appliances, and electronics, or other devices that can generate heat, if you can. If the environment is still too hot, you should try cooling your iPhone off with fans or air conditioners before attempting to charge.
Sometimes, wireless chargers can make your iPhone run quite hot so make sure to regularly check the temperature of your iPhone as it charges.
REMOVE YOUR PHONE CASE TO DISSIPATE HEAT
While cases are great for protecting your iPhone from drops and everyday wear and tear, they can also trap heat from your device while it’s charging or being used, which again, could cause your iPhone 16 to not charge to 100%. If you have done the previous steps of turning off Optimized Battery Charging and moved to a cooler location, try removing your case. This way, the heat generated from the device can dissipate into the air, cooling off the battery.
TRY CLOSING OUT APPS THAT ARE DRAINING BATTERY
If several resource-intensive apps are running in the background, it may cause your phone to get warm. It would help to force quit those apps that are using significant battery life to prevent further battery drain as well as reducing strain on the device, allowing the battery temperature to drop slightly.
Sometimes the problem can be because you are using fake or unauthorized charging accessories that don’t have the proper Made for iPhone (MFi) certification from Apple.
ONE MORE THING… MAKE THAT BATTERY LAST
If you have had trouble with your iPhone 16 battery not charging to 100%, like me, then hopefully, these tips have helped you troubleshoot the issue. But if they haven’t, then you may need to take your iPhone into an Apple-authorized repair center to have it looked at or even replaced. Need help locating one? We have a guide on how to contact Apple Support for your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch if you need help.