Many people may be wondering whether wireless charging for iPhone is good for the battery or not? The good news is definitely not.
Let's find out why people shouldn't worry about using iPhone wireless charging and what its long-term effects are on the battery.
Wireless charging is becoming more and more popular.
Why does wireless charging get hot fast?
Wireless charging itself doesn't harm your iPhone battery or degrade its health, but there are side effects that can contribute to battery degradation compared to plug-in charging, such as wireless charging generating more heat than plug-in charging, which is bad for your battery and can reduce its lifespan.
Wireless charging is harmless when it comes to battery degradation and is no different than traditional plug-in charging. However, when compared to wireless charging, wireless charging does generate more heat. Heat wears out lithium-ion batteries, making wireless charging slightly inferior to wired charging.
So why does wireless charging generate more heat? This is because wireless charging is less efficient at transferring the power it draws from the outlet to the device. According to the Wireless Charging Association, wireless chargers can only achieve charging efficiency of around 70%, although real-world results can produce even less efficiency.
This is partly due to the way wireless charging works. Both the wireless charger and the smartphone have coils that power the phone. The coils in both the charger and the device need to be aligned to achieve maximum charging efficiency.
Technologies like MagSafe make wireless charging of the iPhone better.
If the coils aren’t perfectly aligned, not only is energy wasted, it also contributes to slower charging and more heat. Thankfully, this problem has been alleviated with MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging, both of which use magnets to perfectly align the charger and device.
The energy not supplied to the smartphone will be converted into heat and cause the iPhone to heat up, which in turn causes the battery to heat up and degrade the battery. Using thick protective cases will make this worse because the heat will not dissipate quickly, causing the iPhone to stay hot for a longer period of time.
Things are not so bad
The good news is that heat isn’t a big issue for the iPhone even if you’re using a non-MagSafe wireless charger. This is because the iPhone only charges at 7.5W when using a non-MagSafe compatible wireless charger. Such a small amount of power doesn’t generate much heat, which is the main reason why iPhone users don’t have to worry about their battery degrading too quickly due to wireless charging.
However, to charge the battery better and protect the health of the iPhone battery, users need to take some measures as mentioned below:
- Make sure Optimized Battery charging is turned on on your iPhone by going to Settings > Battery.
- If you own an iPhone 15, make sure to select the 80% Limit option so that your iPhone only charges up to 80% by going to Settings -> Battery -> Charging Optimization.
- Use a MagSafe compatible wireless charger.
Adjusting charging will help optimize your iPhone battery's charging capabilities.
- Don't let your iPhone battery drop below 20%. Charge your device regularly throughout the day to keep the battery percentage above 20%. Avoiding overnight charging can also help protect your battery's health.
- Avoid using the device and performing power-intensive tasks such as playing games while the device is charging.
- If you are using a durable iPhone case, make sure to remove it before charging your device.
- Update iPhone to the latest iOS version to avoid bugs and battery drain issues.
- Turn off unused features and turn off Background App Refresh for apps that users don't use often.
Besides, if you are worried about your iPhone overheating while charging, you can use a wireless charger with a built-in cooling fan.
