14+ Great Ways to Save Your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch Battery

Avoid Reaching 0%

It isn't technically healthy for a battery to be at the 0% or 100% mark. These extremes affect your battery in the long run, and the best practice would be to keep it charged somewhere in between.

Avoid using or leaving your iPhone or MacBook at 0%. If you're not going to use a device for a long time, aim to keep its battery at 50%, so it stays better preserved throughout that time.

It's also recommended that you don't fully charge your devices in order to keep your battery healthy, although we know that's not probable, especially if you charge your phone at night.

Avoid Extreme Temperatures

Extreme temperatures can damage your battery life permanently. The ideal ambient temperature for any Apple device is between 62° to 72° F (16° to 22° C).

If you're charging your device at a very high temperature, higher than 95° F (35° C), your device will limit the charge to 80%. More than that will damage your battery permanently, so avoid charging it at all costs at such high temperatures.

Using your iPhone or any other Apple device at a low temperature can decrease your battery life faster than usual, but it should perform normally once the temperature goes up.

Use Low Power Mode

If you really need some extra battery throughout the day, use Low Power Mode on your iPhone or iPad. This will reduce background activity until you can charge your iPhone again. Here's how to enable it.

You can access Low Power Mode from the Control Center or by doing the following:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and select Battery.
3. Enable Low Power Mode.

Unfortunately, the iPad and MacBook don't have a Low Power Mode, so you'll have to use the next tips to reduce battery usage.

In your MacBook, though, you can adjust the battery settings to make it last longer. Here's how.

1. Click on the Apple menu on the top left.
2. Select System Preferences.
3. Click on Battery.
4. On the side menu, click on Battery.
5. Adjust the settings to make your battery last longer.

Understand Mail Fetch vs. Push

If you use the Mail app as your default, you might have seen two options called Fetch and Push. Both are great to keep you updated, but they also consume a lot of battery life.

• Push helps the Mail app send notifications as soon as you receive a new email.
• Fetch keeps the Mail app checking for updates on time intervals to see if you've received any new mail periodically.

If you have any of these features activated, your iPhone or iPad's battery will drain faster. Here's how you can manage them.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and select Mail.
3. Tap on Accounts.
4. Select Fetch New Data.
5. Disable Push and change the Fetch time to what you think is best.

Your MacBook doesn't have a problem with fetching mail since it only does it when the Mail app is open. Still, if you want to have it open and not worry about the battery, you can take your accounts offline.

1. On your Mac, open the Mail app.
2. Click on Mailbox on the menu bar.
3. Click on Take All Accounts Offline.

You'll need to do the same and click on Take All Accounts Online to receive mail again.

Install the Latest Software Updates

There's no way around it; updating your software can help your device improve its battery life and even protect it from any security breaches Apple discovers. Here's how you can check for software updates on your iPhone or Mac.

Check for software updates on iPhone or iPad:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap on General.
3. Select Software update.
4. If there's a software update available, tap on Download and Install.

Check for software updates on Mac:

1. Click on the Apple menu on the top left corner of your screen.
2. Select System Preferences.
3. Click on Software Update.
4. If there's a software update available, click Update Now.

Manage Background App Refresh

Background App Refresh is a handy iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad feature that keeps apps updating in the background even if they aren't open. That way, you'll get the latest as soon as they happen instead of having to open the app to find out.

Although it's helpful, this feature can kill your battery faster than you can say Background App Refresh. Plus, it also consumes your data, so it's best not to use it with every app.

If you want to manage which apps can use this feature, here's what you need to do:

1. On your iPhone or iPad, open Settings.
2. Tap on General.
3. Select Background App Refresh.

Choose which apps can use Background App Refresh and disable the ones you don't want active. You can also turn off Background App Refresh completely. You can also turn off Background App Refresh for your Apple Watch in the Watch app.

Turn Your Screen Brightness Down

This seems like a no-brainer, but if your display is too bright, your battery will suffer the consequences, especially with bigger devices like your iPad or your Mac, or a larger iPhone model.

Turning down your brightness is as easy as opening the Control Center on your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook and dragging the brightness level down.

You can also use the F1 key on your MacBook or use the touch bar if you have a MacBook Pro.

Turn off Wireless Connections

Here's another simple option that can help your battery survive in an emergency. Remember that having your Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or your cellular data on when you're not using them is a waste of battery life you can easily avoid.

If you're not using a Wi-Fi connection, turn off your connection and vice-versa. The same goes for AirDrop and Bluetooth when you're not using them.

If you really need to save battery, you can turn on Airplane mode. For MacBooks, it's a bit trickier though, since they don't have Airplane mode, so you'll have to turn off all connections for yourself.

Turn off Location Services

Location services allow apps on your Mac, iPhone, Apple Watch or iPad to use your current location to give you a better, more specific experience based on where you are.

For some apps, like Apple Maps, Location Services is a must. Other apps, however, don't really need this feature, and you'd save battery life and keep your current location private if you'd turn it off.

Manage Location Services on iPhone or iPad:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap on Privacy.
3. Select Location Services.
4. Manage which apps can use Location Services or turn it off altogether.

Manage Location Services on MacBook:

1. Click on the Apple menu on the top left.
2. Select System Preferences.
3. Click on Security & Privacy.
4. You may need to click the Lock icon on the bottom left of the window to allow changes.
5. Manage which apps can use Location Services or turn it off altogether.

Plug Your MacBook in When Charging Other Devices

If you connect your iPhone or other devices to your MacBook for charging, then you should plug in your MacBook when you're doing it. This will not only save you battery life but also will keep your MacBook's battery healthier in the long run.

Charging other devices with your MacBook makes its battery work much harder than it needs to, so Apple recommends that it's plugged in at all times when using it to charge something else.

Turn off a VPN to Increase Battery Life

Using a VPN is important to keep your personal information private, but it's also an extra app that's constantly running in the background, consuming battery.

The good and bad thing about the iPhone and Mac is that once you have your VPN turned on, it usually stays that way, even if the app is closed. Here's how you can make sure your VPN isn't turned on.

Check your VPN connection on iPhone or iPad:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap on VPN.
3. Make sure the Status says Not Connected when you don't want to use it.

Check your VPN connection on MacBook:

1. Click on the Apple menu on the top left.
2. Click on System Preferences.
3. Select Network.
4. On the side menu on the left, click on the name of your VPN.
5. Make sure it says Not Connected when you don't want to use it.

Turn off iCloud

If you're using iCloud, you know how great it is to save pictures and everything else in the cloud without moving a finger – however, this can drain your battery faster than usual.

Although not recommended, you could turn iCloud off when you know you don't need to store anything in the cloud. Once you have enough battery again, you can turn it back on.

How to Disable iCloud on iPhone or iPad:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap on your name at the top.
3. Disable the apps that you don't need.

Disable iCloud on MacBook.

1. Click on the Apple menu on the top left.
2. Select System Preferences.
3. Click on Apple ID.
4. Disable the apps that you don't need on iCloud.

Terminate Apps That Consume the Most Battery

One thing you can do to save battery is to manage the apps that are running on your MacBook, iPhone, or iPad.

Most Apple devices show you how much battery you've consumed and which apps are consuming the most battery. Based on this information, you can close or uninstall unnecessary apps.

How to check battery usage by app on iPhone or iPad:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and select Battery.
3. Scroll down, and you'll see a list of all the apps that are consuming your iPhone's battery.

How to check battery usage by app on MacBook:

1. Open the Spotlight Search (? + Spacebar)
2. Type Activity Monitor and press Enter.
3. Click on the Energy tab at the top of the window.

You can also click on the Battery icon on the top right and click on the app under Using Significant Energy.

Afterward, you can manage each app to improve your battery life.

Monitor Battery Health

When your devices' batteries become too old, they don't work as efficiently as they once did. That's completely normal, but you need to understand if that's a current problem or not.

Fortunately, Apple has a Battery Health feature to check your battery's status.

Check Battery Health on iPhone.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and select Battery.
3. Tap on Battery Health.

Check Battery Health on MacBook.

1. Click on the Apple menu on the top left.
2. Select System Preferences.
3. Click on Battery.
4. On the side menu, click on Battery.
5. Click on Battery Health at the bottom, and a small window will pop up. You can see your battery condition at the top and check the box to extend its longevity.