Is it worth getting an iPhone battery replaced?

iPhones are an integral part of our daily lives whether for work or play, so when we start with no notice that our battery isn’t holding as much charge, it’s time to consider whether to replace your iPhone battery or splash out on an upgrade. In this post, I will give you my thoughts on why a replacement battery is the better option.

I brought a refurbished iPhone 11 Pro and when it came, its battery capacity was at 80%, this lasted a good year and a half before my phone informed me that it required a service.  

I had to make the decision whether I was going to enter into a new contract with a newer phone or just replace the phone’s battery.

My decision was pretty easy, my phone worked and I knew that I would probably still get a couple of years of ios updates, so a replacement battery it was.

Reasons to replace your iPhone battery

If you’re looking for reasons why you should replace your iPhone’s battery instead of buying a new phone or entering into a contract, here are three reasons below.

1. Good for the planet

In building your phone and your phone’s battery a lot of raw materials and resources are used, which would have all had a negative impact on the planet, therefore in replacing your battery you are decreasing the need for these materials and resources to be utilised.

2. Saves money

If you were to buy the newest iPhone outright right, you should probably expect to pay nearly £900 for the standard model, increasing to over £1000 for a Pro model.

If you were to enter into a new tariff for one of these phones you will be paying anything from £40 – £60 over two years and have would have also had to pay an upfront cost for the phone.

3. Improved performance

There are several things that can impact your phone’s performance and a battery that has degraded is one of those things.

You wouldn’t know that a degraded battery is a reason for poor performance unless a diagnostic test had been carried out on your phone, so a replacement battery could improve overall performance.

When should you replace your iPhone battery?

Like any phone’s battery, your iPhone battery degrades over time, so you will find yourself charging your phone more often than when it was new as the battery struggles to keep its charge, which isn’t useful when you’re out and about and don’t have an external power pack.

Not only will you be able to tell when your phone’s battery might need replacing, but the helpful folks at Apple have, within the settings of the phone, given you details about the battery, so not only does it tell you what apps you have been using that have utilised most of your battery’s juice it also provides details of its battery health.

How to access details of your iPhone battery health

1. Click Settings
2. Scroll down to battery
3. Click Battery Health & Charging
4. Look at what your Maximum Capacity is

The higher this number is as a percentage the more charge it will hold.

Ideally, you want this to be anything above 80%, as I’ve found that both on the phone that I’m currently using and the iPhone 7 that I used before anything below his results in poor battery performance.

How much will an iPhone battery replacement cost?

I’m not one to replace my phone every year, so at the moment I’m using an iPhone 11 pro and to replace its battery with an authorised Apple Authorised Service Provider cost me £89.

The newer your phone is more it’s going to cost, though you would hope that you can get some good usage out of your new phone before it needs its battery replaced. The same Authorised Service Provider charge £105 for a battery replacement on all iPhone 14 models.

How do you maximise the iPhone’s battery?

If like me you want to get the most out of your battery here are some steps you can take to preserve its lifespan.

Ensure that you have the latest operating system

Installing a new ios version not only ensures that you have the relevant security patches it might also improve your phones battery life,

This is because, new ios releases can have bugs that unintentionally affect the battery, so updating to the newest available ios option might result in better battery health due to Apple finding a fix to whatever it was that was causing the issue.o

I generally wait before updating to see whether others have experienced any issues with a recent install, so you might want to do the same if this is a concern.

Check your screen’s settings

You’re probably checking your phone multiple times a day, which means that your screen is on.

If you set it to its brightest setting this is going to affect your phone’s battery health so either set it to auto-brightness, where it will adjust automatically depending on the lighting conditions around you or manually turn your phone’s brightness down.

To access auto-brightness

1. Click Settings
2. Accessibility
3. Display & Text Size
4. Toggle auto-brightness on/off

Use low-power mode

Low power mode can be accessed via the settings > battery or alternatively, you can access it quickly by adding it to your control centre settings > control centre.

Low power mode reduces the power that your battery uses by turning off some app functions and reducing screen brightness.

Conclusion

If like me you value the money in your pocket enough not to buy into needing a new phone every year, getting its battery replaced is something that you should do, it will give you a couple of years on your phone and with older phones being supported by Apple for a while for me is a no brainer.

As I’ve highlighted above, it’s good for the planet, saves you money and can improve our phone’s performance.