5S battery charges to 98/99 %

rdvt4me · Feb 20, 2014

My 5S often only charges to 98 or 99% when I charge it overnight. What's up with that?

Ninety5eclipz · Feb 20, 2014

Are you charging directly through the phone or through a battery case like a mophie?

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natehartey12 · Feb 20, 2014

Most all smartphones do this. They charge to 100 then they trickle charge so it doesn't damage the battery or the phone

rdvt4me · Feb 21, 2014

I am charging through the phone. If I unplug and then plug it back in, it charges to 100% within a few minutes. Everything works fine, just seemed strange. My previous 4S would always be at 100% when left overnight to charge. My ipad air and previous ipad2 were always at 100% when charged overnight. so this behavior of charging to only 98% seemed a bit off.

Skull One · Feb 21, 2014

Hard reboot the iPhone while it is plugged in after it shows the same percentage (98% or 99%) for more than 5 minutes. This "should" cause iOS to relearn the top of the charge. You might also then want to drain then iPhone to below 5% and then do one more full charge to make sure it is fully trained. You battery is probably fine, iOS on the other hand might be off on its low and top end readings and hence can't scale the battery life properly.

rdvt4me · Feb 21, 2014

Skull One said:
Hard reboot the iPhone while it is plugged in after it shows the same percentage (98% or 99%) for more than 5 minutes. This "should" cause iOS to relearn the top of the charge. You might also then want to drain then iPhone to below 5% and then do one more full charge to make sure it is fully trained. You battery is probably fine, iOS on the other hand might be off on its low and top end readings and hence can't scale the battery life properly.

Thanks, that makes sense!

Skull One · Feb 21, 2014

rdvt4me said:
Thanks, that makes sense!

Let us know if this trick still works under iOS 7. Have only tested it with iOS 5 and 6.

rdvt4me · Mar 3, 2014

Skull One said:
Let us know if this trick still works under iOS 7. Have only tested it with iOS 5 and 6.

I have recharged it a few times after doing your suggestion.....it worked!

wpgmini · Mar 10, 2014

rdvt4me said:
My 5S often only charges to 98 or 99% when I charge it overnight. What's up with that?

This is a common, well documented issue. The calibration is off for the battery. According to apple, just let the phone run down until it turns itself off and charge to full. When you turn it back on, you will have 100%. Voila, problem solved.