Before you make any decisions, you should understand what happens to your iPhone battery over time. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, the type the iPhone uses, are considered consumables because they are known to degrade over time. It’s not a quality issue, it’s just the way they operate. Battery age is measured in battery cycles: One cycle equals draining the battery to 0% and completely recharging the battery to 100% one single time. This can take any amount of time since you will not drain your battery to 0% and back up to 100% every single day. It may take a day, two days, or more to complete a battery cycle.
The iPhone packs an estimated 500 battery cycles before it starts to degrade, meaning if you own your phone for two or more years, you will have charged enough battery cycles to degrade the battery to just 80% of its full capacity. When the amount of charge the battery can hold diminishes, you’ll find your battery drains faster and must be recharged more often.
Battery age is not only dependent on time, but also on how you use your phone and the effect your use has on battery lifespan. As batteries degrade, it’s reflected in your phone’s performance and the ability of the phone to access enough juice to do the things you want. With iOS 11 or later, you can check the general life of your battery under Settings > Battery > Battery Health > Maximum Capacity. You can also check charge levels for the last couple of days and even the percentage of time you spend on each app on your phone. This will help you decide whether or not to invest in a new battery.
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