When Should you Replace your iPhone’s Battery?

You can check your battery health by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health. The most important indicator there is the Maximum Capacity percentage. Mine currently says 88%, as you can see in the screenshot below. Yours may say something like 85% or 90%. The Maximum Capacity is the biggest indicator as to when you need to change your battery.Battery HealthYour battery ages but its age is not measured in calendar time like it is as we age.
What does Maximum Capacity percentage mean?Essentially, this percentage indicates how many times your iPhone has gone through recharge cycles. So what is a charge cycle? A charge cycle does not mean that you charged your iPhone from 0% to 100%.


Apple Lithium-Ion Batteryes Work in Charge Cycles. ur batterys capacity – But Not Necessarile All From One Charge. For Instance, You Might USE 75% of Your Battery’s Capace One Day, then rechage it fully overnight. If you use 25% the next day, you will have discharged aotal of 100%, and the to day add up to one charge. uld take several days to complete a cycle

Apple further says that an iPhone that has gone through 500 cycles should still retain about 80% of its original capacity. I should mention that this does not mean that after 500 charge cycles, your phone will not be usable. However, you will likely have battery problems. Your phone may slow down, or may shut itself off unexpectedly.
Apple shows how many times you have had charge cycles in percentage instead of showing the actual number. From the Maximum Capacity percentage, we cannot know for sure how many times your phone has been recharged, but we can guess.

If the number is closer to 80%, your recharge cycle is close to 500. Or, if your Maximum Capacity is at 99%, your phone has had only a few charge cycles.
When to change the batteryApple says you need a replacement if you see your Maximum Capacity around 80% or lower.
Apple may replace your battery for free if you are covered under warranty or AppleCare+. If not, Apple can replace your battery for $69 for most models:
iPhone X and later: $69iPhone SE and other models: $49You may have Apple’s limited warranty or AppleCare+.


Limited warranty: This is a year-long warranty that starts after the purchase. This is the basic warranty included with your purchase automatically. If your battery health level reaches 80% or less within a year, the warranty covers the battery replacement.AppleCare+: This can be purchased within 60 days of your iPhone purchase, or you can buy it with your new iPhone at the time of the purchase. It provides up to 3 years of coverage. You can check to see if you have an active AppleCare+ warranty.

How to replace the battery

If your peak performance is at less than 80%, there are three ways to replace the battery:
You can mail your iPhone to Apple. If you choose this option, there will be a shipping cost (in the USA, it is $6.95) regardless of warranty status. Apple usually ships back your device within 3 to 5 days.Make an appointment and take it to an Apple Store. They will probably replace it while you are there. It is usually a quick process.If you do not want to mail it or if there isn’t an Apple Store around, the third option is to take it to an Apple authorized service location. You can ask Apple about the store nearest you.I did not include the information here, but there are also do-it-yourself options. Ifixit, for example, sells battery replacement kits that you can buy to do the replacement yourself, if you think you have the right skills. You should know that this can be risky and voids any Apple warranty.
Lastly, this is a different route but, you can consider a trade-in instead of replacing the battery.

HOW TO How To Optimize And Extend The Battery Life On iPhone

Your iPhone battery life depends on a lot of different factors. How you use your device greatly affects the battery life of your device.
The purpose of this article is to teach you how to get the best out of your battery.

How to keep your iPhone running longer

1. Check our battery settings: On your iPhone, go to Settings > Battery. This screen will let you see a list of your that have used the most battery power. This will let you check app-by-app battery usage. Review this list.
2. Check your battery health. Your iPhone includes battery health settings. Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health:
Maximum Capacity: This percentage indicates battery health. This shows, in percentages, how much your battery can currently hold relative to when your phone was new. According to Apple, your phone is designed to retain up to 80% of its capacity at 500 charge cycles and this is about two years. A charge cycle occurs when you use all of the battery’s energy.Peak Performance Compatibility: You may see one of the two different messages here:Your battery is currently supporting normal peak performance: This means that everything is normal.This iPhone has experienced an unexpected shutdown because the battery was unable to deliver the necessary peak power. Performance management has been applied to help prevent this from happening again. Disable…: This indicates problems.With iOS 13, Apple introduced a new feature called “Optimized Battery Charging”.This feature lets you optimize and extend the battery life on your iPhone.This feature is enabled by default.Do not turn this off.You can access this setting by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health.This feature will help extend the total battery life of your iPhone.
If you want to check your Mac’s battery health, see this article.


3. Update your iPhone to the latest version of the iOS software. You can easily update the iOS software on your iPhone. Go to Settings > General > Software Update. And if there is an update available, simply tap Download and Install.
4. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Turn these off when you do not use them. You can easily disable and enable them by using Control Center on your iPhone. Swipe up from the bottom of your screen to reveal this screen.

5. How are you charging your device? You may want to change some of your charging habits. Try to follow the steps below:
Try to avoid fully discharging your battery. When your phone reaches close to 20 percent, it is time to charge it. When possible, do not let your phone go under 20 percent.It is best to keep your iPhone’s battery between 40 and 80 percent charged at all times.Use the charger and the cable that came with your device. If this is not possible, then use certified cables and chargers.6. Lower screen brightness. This will help you save battery life. You can open Control Center to do so. You can also do this by going to Settings > Display & Brightness.
You may want to disable “Raise to Wake”.You may want to limit Auto-Lock to 30 seconds.See also: Does Night Shift Have Any Effect On Battery Life?
You can also enable Auto-Brightness, which you should. If you want to do this, tap Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and scroll down and find Auto-Brightness and turn it on.
Auto Brightness
7. Do not expose your phone to extreme cold and heat. For example, do not leave your phone in your car for a long time on very hot or cold days. Keep your phone cool.
8. Limit background app refresh. Many apps will refresh themselves in the background when they’re not in use. Although this can certainly be convenient, it’s also a drain on battery life. You may want to turn this off by going to Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
Background app refresh

9. Limit location services. Apps requesting your location consume battery. You may want to limit this. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services.
Location Services
10. Limit notifications.Too many notifications are a drain on your battery.You may want to limit this and turn off notifications for some apps.Go to Settings > Notifications and choose which apps can push notifications.Disable notifications for apps you do not need.You may also want to turn all of them off.

24GB of RAM in a smartphone? It’s not as crazy as you might think.

It isn’t too far-fetched to consider that 24GB RAM will be the norm for smartphones in the future, and it’s thanks to AI.


Rumors have been swirling for a while now that there will be smartphones coming over the next year that’ll have a whopping 24GB of RAM. That’s a huge amount by any metric, with the most common RAM configuration on gaming PCs being a humble 16GB at the time of writing. 24GB of RAM sounds like a ludicrous amount, but, not when it comes to AI.AI is RAM-hungry


If you’re looking to run any AI model on a smartphone, the first thing you need to know is that to execute basically any model, you need a lot of RAM.
RAM is faster for a couple of reasons, but the two most important are that it’s lower latency, since it’s closer to the CPU, and it has higher bandwidth. It’s necessary to load large language models (LLM) onto RAM due to these properties, but the next question that typically follows is exactly how much RAM is used by these models.
If Vicuna-7B were to power Google Assistant on people’s devices with some help from cloud services, you would, in theory, have all the benefits of an LLM running on a device with the added benefit of collecting cloud-based data.


There’s a lot worth looking into when it comes to some LLMs currently in deployment, and one that I’ve been playing around with recently has been Vicuna-7B. It’s an LLM trained on a dataset of 7 billion parameters that can be deployed on an Android smartphone via MLC LLM, which is a universal app that aids in LLM deployment. For context, it’s rumored that GPT-4 has 1.76 trillion parameters, and GPT-3 has 175 billion.
Qualcomm and on-device AI
While tons of companies are racing to create their own large language models (and interfaces to interact with them), Qualcomm has been focusing on one key area: deployment. Cloud services that companies make use of cost millions to run the most powerful chatbots, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT is said to run the company up to $700,000 a day. Any on-device deployment that leverages the user’s resources can save a lot of money, especially if it’s widespread.


Qualcomm refers to this as “hybrid AI,” and it combines the resources of the cloud and the device to split computation where it’s most appropriate. It won’t work for everything, but if Vicuna-7B were to power Google Assistant on people’s devices with some help from cloud services, you would, in theory, have all the benefits of an LLM running on a device with the added benefit of collecting cloud-based data.
That’s just one way on-device AI gets around the cost issue that companies are facing currently, but that’s where additional hardware comes in. In the case of smartphones, Qualcomm showed off Stable Diffusion on an Android smartphone powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which is something that a lot of current computers would actually struggle with. can test that right now.

From the above screenshot, note that I am in airplane mode with Wi-Fi switched off, and it still works very well.
Applications of on-device generative AII spoke with Karl Whealton, senior director of product management at Qualcomm, who’s responsible for CPU, DSP, benchmarking, and AI hardware. He told me all about the various applications of AI models running on Snapdragon chipsets, and he gave me an idea of ​​what may be possible on Snapdragon chipsets today. words in a sentence) that can also learn the context.
To that end, I asked him about those RAM requirements that are rumored currently, and he told me that with a language model of any kind or scale, you basically need to load it into RAM He went on to say that he would expect if an OEM were to implement something like this in a more limited RAM environment, it’s more likely that they would use a smaller, perhaps more specialized language model in a smaller segment of RAM than simply run it off of the storage of the device.
An example of a specialized use case is one that Qualcomm talked about recently at the annual Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition conference — that generative AI can act as a fitness coach for end users.


In theory, OnePlus could provide 16GB of RAM for general usage but an additional 8GB of RAM on top of that that’s only used for AI.
Of course, the other important factor in on-device AI is privacy. With these models, it’s very likely that you would be sharing parts of your personal life with them when asking questions, or even just giving AI access to your smartphone might worry people. Whealton tells me that anything that enters the SoC is highly secure and that this is “one of the reasons” doing it on-device is so important to Qualcomm.

To that end, Qualcomm also announced that it was working with Meta to enable the company’s open-source Llama 2 LLM to run on Qualcomm devices, with it scheduled to be made available to devices starting in 2024.
How 24GB of RAM may be incorporated into a smartphone

OnePlus 12 front and back on dark background Source: SmartprixWith recent leaks pointing to the forthcoming OnePlus 12 packing up to 16GB of RAM, you may wonder what happened to those 24GB of RAM rumors. The thing is that it doesn’t preclude OnePlus from including on-device AI, and there’s a reason for that.
As Whealton noted to me, when you control DRAM, there’s nothing stopping you from segmenting the RAM so that the system can’t access all of it. In theory, OnePlus could provide 16GB of RAM for general usage but an additional 8GB of RAM on top of that that’s only used for AI. even in 8GB or 12GB RAM configurations since the needs of AI won’t change.

In other words, it’s not out of the question that the OnePlus 12 will still have 24GB of RAM; it’s just that 8GB may not be traditionally accessible. ‘s an attempt at making sense of the leaks where both Digital Chat Station and OnLeaks can both be right.
Nevertheless, 24GB of RAM is a crazy amount in a smartphone, and as features like these are introduced, it’s never been more clear that smartphones are just super powerful computers that can only become more powerful.

How to easily check your Apple iPhone’s battery health

A degraded lithium-ion batterywon’t last as long as a new one on a single charge.Here’s how to check your iPhone’s battery health.


Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are consumables that have limited lifespans. When a battery degrades, a full charge won’t last you as long as that on a new battery. The lifespan of a lithium-ion battery has a set number of full recharging cycles. After you cross that certain number, the battery will need replacement.

Otherwise, your iPhone might become slower, shut down unexpectedly, and/or not last long enough on a single charge. Here’s how to check your iPhone’s battery health.


How to check your iPhone’s battery health

Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
Scroll down and click on Battery.Click on Battery Health.There you will be able to find out your battery’s Maximum Capacity. If, for example, your Maximum Capacity is 75%, that indicates that a full charge now will last you as long as a new battery charged to 75% would.
Peak Performance Capability indicates whether your iPhone is being slowed down to avoid an unexpected shutdown.

When the battery is degraded, iOS limits your iPhone’s processing power. If this screen mentions that on your device, you can bypass that and restore the original iPhone speed.Optimized Battery Charging learns from your charging habits and adapts accordingly. If you charge your iPhone every night and unplug it at 6AM, for example, iPhone won’t fully charge your battery until 6AM or so. That’s because keeping your iPhone on the charger while its battery is full contributes to its degradation.


iOS will let you know when you should replace your battery by displaying a message in the Battery section. It will also indicate whether the replacement is an original battery or not. If you’re not satisfied with your iPhone’s batterylife and its Maximum Capacity has dropped significantly, you can always get the battery replaced, even if iOS hasn’t notified you yet.
How many hours does your iPhone last you on a single charge? Let us know in the comments section below.

How to backup iPhone: 3 ways to back up your iPhone

There are a number of reasons why you might need to backup your iPhone. Perhaps you are changing to a newer model of the Apple iPhone and want to transfer all of your data, apps, settings and other content to your new device. You might also run into a situation where it’s necessary to return your iPhone to factory settings and you need to wipe your phone clean of everything.

It is advisable to regularly create backups of your phone’s contents, so that nothing gets lost either due to an accident or some other unexpected issue. There are different ways for you to backup your iPhone. We’ll walk you through the different steps so you can keep your precious data safe and available for backup.

Method 1: iCloud backup

One way to create a backup of your iPhone is to use iCloud.

Make sure that you have a stable WiFi connection.

Go to your iPhone’s Settings

Press the picture of your Apple ID

Press “iCloud” and then “iCloud Backup”

Press “Back Up Now”.

Your iPhone will now create a backup into iCloud.

In case you want to have your phone do a backup automatically, you can toggle the “iCloud” -selection at the top of the “iCloud Backup” -page. To do this, your iPhone has to be charging and have a Wifi connection. Remember to also check that you have enough storage space in iCloud to store all of your data.

Method 2: iTunes backup with a Windows computer

Another way to backup your iPhone is through iTunes on your Windows PC.

Make sure that you have installed iTunes on your Windows PC.

Connect your iPhone to the computer with a USB cable.

Locate and press the iPhone button in iTunes (an icon depicting a smartphone on the top-left corner).

In the “Backups” -section, select “This Computer”.

Check the “Encrypt local backup” -checkbox if you wish to encrypt the data.

Press the “Back Up Now” -button.

Wait for your iPhone to back up on iTunes.

Done!

Method 3: Backup using Finder on an Apple Mac

Start by connecting your iPhone to the computer using a USB cable.

Locate and select your phone in the computer’s Finder.

Check the “Encrypt local backup” -checkbox if you wish to encrypt the data.

Press the “Back Up Now” -button.

Wait for your iPhone to back up locally on your Mac.

Done!

Summary: How to backup your iPhone

We just went through three methods that you can use to create an iPhone backup. Now you can restore your backup whenever you need to, for example when migrating to a new Apple smartphone or when something unexpected happens and you lost some or all of your data.

Make sure to backup your iPhone regularly either in the cloud or locally on your PC or Mac device.

A Complete Guide to Refurbished iPhones

We are all familiar with the idea of ​​recycled clothes and furniture, but not so many of us are comfortable with the idea of​​second-hand phones.Much like clothing and furniture, used phones can be repaired and given a whole new life.


First things first – what does ‘refurbished’ mean? refurbished phone is carefully checked and repaired by specialists. The repair process returns the iPhone to a clean factory state.
What are the benefits of buying a refurbished phone?There are two main reasons people cite when choosing to buy a refurbished phone: price-point and sustainability. Of course, if you buy a phone second-hand you could be knocking a great deal off the original price. Especially when compared to relatively new releases, where often the brand new price from the retailer seems way out of budget. 


More importantly for some, buying a phone second-hand is a conscious choice made to save the environment from unnecessary pollution and electronic waste.As we grow more aware of our impact on the environment, there is more pressure on companies to turn to eco-friendly procedures.We each can do our part to make a greener future by not encouraging companies to produce more and more units when there are plenty of perfectly serviceable phones out there.Is buying a refurbished phone safe?There are a few ways to tell whether the company is safe or not. First, you should check to see if all of their refurbishing is done ‘in-house’.
If you buy a refurbished phone from a private seller or a reseller, there are many potential risks involved. For example, it could be a scam. Without a warranty, you as a customer have very little security.
In order to always stay safe and not sorry, make sure you buy from a legitimate company who can offer you a guarantee that the phone will work, as well as a warranty and the right to return.


What do you need to consider before buying a refurbished phone?

When buying a refurbished phone, there are a few things you should consider.As I have previously mentioned, you should always look for a warranty.The warranty you should get as comprehensive as if you were buying from any of the major manufacturers, such as Apple.
The next most important thing is a returns policy. Without the right to return, you could be stuck with a broken phone and a hole in your wallet. The length of the returns policy matters too – it can take a few days to get used to a new phone, so at least a week would be needed.
Of course, I must also mention shipping times

How can I make sure that I am buying from a reliable vendor?

To ensure that the company you are looking to buy from is reliable, always check the reviews. Checking a third-party site like TrustPilot, which gathers real feedback from customers and cannot be edited by retailers is the best way to do this. Companies with satisfaction rates that exceed 90% are ones you can really trust.
It also helps to research the legitimacy of a company by checking to make sure that they have a location with an actual physical address and have a phone number you can call. Another good sign is if they use trustworthy payment methods like Visa and PayPal. You should be able to email them, using a chat service, or call them and get a response within a day or two.These are also all good indicators of legitimacy.
Som e other important questions about refurbished phonesWill a refurbished phone still be locked to a particular service provider?
If you are buying a refurbished phone, it must be unlocked. An unlocked phone isn’t contracted to any particular service provider. Phones sold by trustworthy companies will be unlocked unless otherwise specified.


Do refurbished phones come with updated software?
If you buy from a respectable retailer, a refurbished phone should absolutely come with updated software!
Can you return a refurbished Apple phone?
You should be able to, but it depends on where you got the phone. That’s why it’s so important to go with companies that offer a right to return. This is usually indicated on the company’s website. Buying from a company that advertises a right to return will be a lot safer than buying from a reseller with no information about this right.


What about the warranty?
New phones come with a warranty to guarantee the quality of your phone. When looking for refurbished phones, it’s a good idea to look for at least a one-year warranty. Again, this is going to completely depend on the company that you’re using.
Okay, I’m interested. Where can I find a trustworthy retailer to buy a refurbished phone?If buying a refurbished phone sounds like a good idea to you, then it’s time to check out Swappie. They sell refurbished Apple iPhones that have been carefully inspected and repaired by their specialists. They have a huge variety of models, including iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, and pretty much every iPhone released after that up to iPhone 11 Pro Max.


Swappie offers a fourteen day right to return, with the returns label included in your original package. There’s also a free one-year Swappie Warranty to ensure that you won’t end up with a broken phone and a lot of disposal.
Swappie has 3 different condition categories: ‘Excellent’, ‘Very Good’, ‘Good’ and ‘Acceptable’. These condition categories only concern cosmetic signs of wear on the phones. Phones in ‘Like New’ condition have virtually no signs of wear; ‘Acceptable’ condition phones will have notable signs of wear throughout the phone. screens or camera lenses.
You can also choose from a wide selection of models with a range of memory options, from 16 GB all the way up to 512GB. Just about any iPhone you can imagine will be available through their website, with discounts of up to 40% when compared with its brand new counterpart. 


Swappie has a 52-part testing process for their phones– every detail is considered from the moment the phone arrives to the moment it leaves. They also have exceptional customer service and a 96% satisfaction rate on TrustPilot, one of the most respected review sites on the Internet.
So, if you’re looking for a new phone and want to save some money, save the environment, and get your new iPhone in your hands fast, you should check them out today.

Everything You Need to Know About iPhone Batteries

In Apple’s iPhones, it is fair to say that the battery is a bit of a mystery box. Unlike some of its competitors, it’s non-removable, so you have to trust that what you are getting is actually good. When shopping for a refurbished iPhone, a good battery is just as important as a sleek appearance.
Fortunately, you don’t have to stay in the dark. In this guide, we will answer some commonly asked questions regarding iPhone batteries, from understanding good capacity levels to the typical performance of an iPhone battery across different models.


Everything mentioned in this guide is applicable to all current and recent models of Apple smartphones. Where necessary, we’ve pointed out how different models function when it comes to their batteries. Generally speaking, though, this comprehensive iPhone battery guide will be helpful regardless of whether you’re looking to purchase an iPhone 7, or iPhone 11.
Understanding iPhone Battery CapacityWith the release of iOS 11.3 in 2018, Apple introduced a new feature that can tell you quite a lot about the capacity and function of your battery: Battery Health. It describes exactly how long your iPhone should last between charge cycles, on a scale of 0% to 100%.
Your phone’s maximum battery capacity goes down over time. New iPhones typically come with a 100% capacity, but charge cycles and potential damage (like exposing your phone to extreme temperatures) reduce the capacity.
As your battery’s health declines, so does its ability to deliver maximum performance.

What iPhone Battery Capacity is Considered Optimal Condition?

You might think that because your iPhone’s maximum capacity begins at 100%, it’s the only condition that can be considered optimal. However, that’s not quite true. Apple considers any iPhone with a battery capacity of 80% or above to be in optimal condition.
In fact, Apple feels so strongly about battery health that its 1-year warranty covers any battery at 80% capacity or more. It’s not unusual to see iPhones that, after one year, still have a battery capacity of 95% or above.
The reason is a type of fail-safe: Apple builds its batteries with excess capacity, meaning that it doesn’t actually use all of its potential operating power when its Battery Health states 100%. Even when it is at 80%, your phone is still operating in optimal conditions.


How to Check the Battery Status of Your iPhone

On any iPhone with iOS 11.3 or later installed, you can find your battery capacity by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health. It’s important to note that this feature is only available for the iPhone 6 and any models that came after it.
In your Battery Health screen, you’ll also see an important secondary metric: Peak Performance Capability. Because of the above-mentioned nuance, this screen might actually be more important than capacity.
If your battery runs optimally to support all of your apps, you will see a simple message that your phone is operating at normal peak performance.
If you see the warning message, your phone will still function, but the time between charge cycles will be significantly shorter. The message only appears when your battery capacity is at 79% or below.


How to Extend Your iPhone’s Battery Life and PerformanceApple has tried to extend the battery life of their phones through something called performance throttling, or performance management, which caused some controversy a few years ago. Performance management throttles your phone’s performance on your behalf to keep the iPhone running and conserve battery.
Instead, it makes sense to take these few simple steps that can extend your phone’s battery life, courtesy of Apple:
Stay on the latest iOS upgrade. Every major upgrade comes with new features to preserve and extend battery life.Try to keep your phone in temperatures between 16 and 22 degrees celsius on average. Anything above or beyond might be damaging to your lithium battery.Avoid excess heat when charging. Some cases or surfaces can cause your phone to heat up, which can damage the battery.

Check it while it is charging to make sure it stays cool.Store your phone half-charged. Emptying the battery completely could cause it to fall into deep discharge, which will cause significant damage.Turn on auto-brightness. The brightest screen settings tend to drain your battery quickly, which forces you to go through charge cycles quickly and lose battery health.Check your background activity in Settings > General > Background Refresh. Too many apps running in the background will drain your battery.How iPhone Batteries Perform Based on Individual ModelsWhen researching used iPhones es, battery life and performance are probably among your top considerations. You can look at factors like the processing speed or RAM, but how much does that really tell you about the phone’s actual user experience?


Fortunately, other metrics exist as well. One is Geebench’s Performance benchmark, which standardises all iOS devices to compare their performance directly against each other. The results, from highest to lowest performance, are as follows:
iPhone 11 Pro Max – 1,330iPhone 11 – 1,280iPhone XS Max – 1,110iPhone XR – 1,108iPhone 8-922iPhone 7-742iPhone 6S – 542iPhone 6-308Battery life is another important component when comparing iPhone models. The review specialists at AnandTech reviewed the battery life of each iPhone model from the last few years. They based their comparison on the amount of time a phone would be able to leverage a full charge when on WiFi. Their results are below:
iPhone 11 Pro Max – 15.58 hoursiPhone 11 – 14.03 hoursiPhone XR – 12.95 hoursiPhone 8 Plus – 11.83 hoursiPhone XS Max – 10.31 hoursiPhone 7 – 9.22 hoursThe trends for both performance and battery life tend to be linear. Each new model tends to be more powerful than those that came before it and comes with new features that preserve and extend its battery life. 
The bottom line is that newer models, regardless of whether their capacity is below 100%, tend to have longer battery life than their older counterparts and will be useful for longer as a result.


Refurbished iPhones vs. Other Phones: Who Wins the Battery Battle?

Of course, you may be looking beyond iPhones. In that case, how battery life and performance compare between Apple’s products and its competitors is an important question to ask.
For new phones, Apple generally wins out. In both the performance and battery life benchmarks referenced above, iPhone models place above their counterparts from Android and Google from the same year.
But what about refurbished phones? Here, it’s still better to trust iPhones over other refurbished phones. Generally speaking, iPhones retain about 15% more value per year than even their best Android counterparts.
All in all, the iPhone tends to win the battery battle. Not only does it start out strong, it also retains its strength for longer. That’s what makes it such a good choice for anyone looking for a refurbished smartphone.
What Can You Expect From a Swappie Refurbished iPhone?

At Swappie, we guarantee that every refurbished iPhone has a battery with at least 80% capacity, meaning that it will work and perform like a new iPhone. You don’t have to worry about replacing the battery to get the performance you want. These standards are not guaranteed by other iPhone resellers.


Especially in older models, even a perfectly functioning batterywill not be as effective as it would be in a newer model.As shown above, an iPhone 7 lasts more than 6 hours less than the newest model.Keeping your expectations in line with reality can help you make a purchase that works well for both you and your phone. 
So now that you have read our complete guide to iPhone batteries, we hope that you feel more confident with your knowledge. If you’re interested in checking out Swappie’s selection of refurbished iPhones, you can find them here.

6 Useful Tips to Extend the Life of Your Phone

We’ve put together some tips and tricks that will help you take better care of your phone, keep it in good condition and use it longer.


1. Protect the phone’s screenAccidents happen. Everyone’s been there: you’re happily tapping away at your phone, when suddenly it slips out of your hand and drops on the floor, shattering the screen. On top of that, repairing the damage can prove costly.
The glass used in phones is very brittle. People want thin and slender phones, which means the glass can’t be very thick and using more durable glass is expensive, which would further raise the price of smartphones . touch screen must also be able to register touches, which doesn’t work nearly as well through heavy glass.
The worst thing that can happen to a phone is it smashing corner-first into a rock, gravel or asphalt surface. However, when a smartphone’s screen breaks, it has likely already taken many hits that have weakened its durability one by one.
Replacing a broken screen is far more expensive than protecting it beforehand. Screen protectors don’t cost much, whereas replacing a broken screen can cost hundreds. A plastic film protector only protects the screen from scratches, so it’s a much better idea to use a tempered glass screen protector for smartphones . Tempered glass screen protectors are impact resistant and the feel of the display is identical to a phone without one.


When a screen protector breaks, it’s easy to replace – usually the phone itself doesn’t get damaged at all.
Even if you protect your phone with covers and tempered glass screen protectors, you should still keep in mind that it is a highly fragile object. Try to avoid dropping or bending the phone and knocking it against hard surfaces. Knocks cause microfractures that grow slowly with every impact. The more microfractures, the more likely the screen is to break from a bigger impact.

2. Protect the body of the phone with a protective case

In addition to the screen, it’s also highly recommended to protect the phone’s body. For example, in some iPhones the cellular antenna is located on the side of the phone. If the phone receives several hits in that particular spot, the signal may weaken. Some models also have a glass back cover, which should be protected to prevent it from breaking. The case also protects the phone’s camera from scratching when it’s set down on a table.
Phone cases come in all colours, so they can dramatically alter the appearance of phones. They can also be made out of all kinds of materials, such as hard or soft plastic, metal, wood or leather.
The best protection is provided by cases that have a separate cover for the screen, that is, so-called wallet cases. Of course, they do make the phone somewhat thicker and larger, but are unbeatable in terms of protecting the phone.

3. Maximize battery life by charging the phone correctly


Currently, smartphones mainly use lithium-ion batteries. Compared to traditional battery technology, they charge faster, last longer and have higher energy density, thus having a longer lifespan. Lithium-ion batteries have their own little tricks that will make them last longer in use.
You should never fully charge your smartphone, that is, up to 100%. Charging the phone fully, especially from a low power level reduces the battery’s lifespan.
The correct way to charge your phone is to do it little by little. You should charge your phone whenever you get a chance – even if only for a few minutes at a time. The power level should be continuously be maintained between 45–75 percent. So, for example, the habit that many people have of using their phone for the day and charging it overnight is bad for the battery’s lifespan.
You also shouldn’t charge the phone with another device’s charger – for example, you should never charge an iPhone using an iPad charger. Chargers designed for different devices may supply a different amount of power to the devices, even if they look the same.


4. Look after your information security

A huge amount of information about users are stored on their phones. You wouldn’t want pictures, messages, contact lists, usernames or passwords to fall into the wrong hands. Obviously, the most effective way to counter threats related to mobile privacy is simply to not lose your phone. Previously, before the time of smartphones, deactivating your SIM card helped if you lost your phone. Nowadays, deactivating your SIM card doesn’t really prevent the information from falling into  Fortunately, however, at least Apple offers the possibility to empty the data on the device remotely through iCloud with your Apple ID.
You should always protect your phone with a passcode. Even a short passcode or security pattern is an effective way to prevent outsiders from accessing the device. Don’t set a code that is too obvious, such as 1234 or 0000, because someone trying to break into the phone is sure to try these codes first.


Always download apps from secure app stores. App store managers are usually very careful about what kind of apps they accept to the store and who can offer them to customers. In a previous blog post, we explained why Apple’s phones are notably more secure than, for example, Android phones.
The phone and the apps it contains should also always be kept updated and up-to-date.

5. Use the phone correctly in cold weather


Especially in northern countries, winter conditions complicate the use of smartphones. Due to cold weather, the chemical reactions producing electricity in the phone’s battery slow down and part of the energy the battery produces is expended on warming the battery instead of transforming into electricity.
It’s a good idea to charge the phone before going outside and maybe even take a portable charger with you, which will let you keep the battery optimally charged during a longer trip in the cold outdoors.
The phone can easily be kept warm if you store it close to your body instead of in your trouser pocket, for example in the inner pocket or breast pocket of your coat. Human body temperature remains relatively stable and the phone doesn’t get exposed to cold or temperature changes. You also shouldn’t leave the phone in the cold, for example, in the car while you go grocery shopping.
Cold air easily condenses into moisture, so when you slip the phone into your pocket after use you should make sure that it doesn’t condense there

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6. Do the right thing if your phone gets wet

For example, the newest iPhones are water-resistant and at least according to advertisements, there are even waterproof phones available. However, if you drop your phone into the sea, for instance, you should action immediately to save the phone. You have to take the phone out of the water immediately, so that as little water as possible can get inside of it.
If the phone has been dropped in salty seawater or a sweet liquid like juice, you should rinse the phone with tap water or alcohol. Salt and sugar speed up corrosion once they get into the phone, which progresses inside the phone over time and will later render it unusable.
Visible moisture should be dried with a cloth and you should shake the phone or tap it against your leg, for example, so that the water comes out of the charging and headphone ports. Detachable parts, such as SIM or memory cards should be taken out. If the battery and back cover come off, you should remove them too, but this cannot be done with iPhones.


After drying it, place the phone in an airtight bag filled with rice. The bag should be airtight so that the rice absorbs the moisture from the phone, not the air. You should let the phone be in the rice bag for at least 48 hours before trying to start it.
The phone may seem to work at first, but problems can arise later.The damages can occur or appear in the phone’s functioning only months later.If the phone won’t start or some component or function doesn’t work, you should take the phone into repair where it can be opened and the water damage can be inspected more closely.
Inform your insurance company immediately if the phone has got wet. Even if it works at first, major problems may arise later which render the phone unusable. Depending on the insurance contract, your home insurance may cover the water damaged phone.

Apple’s Product Launch and Swappie’s New Prices

Apple released the much-talked-about new iPhone models .These models are the iPhone XS Max, the iPhone XS and the iPhone XR. As expected, the prices are rather high. The most expensive model, the iPhone XS Max 512GB, costs a whopping €1679.

How will the new models affect Swappie’s prices?

Lots of people have asked us how the new models will affect Swappie’s prices.
The answer is clear. We lowered the prices of the older models and as soon as we get the new models in our product range, we will also sell them with a generous discount compared to newly purchased phones.


Swappie’s mission is to provide high-quality Apple phones in mint condition to our customers at a cheaper price than buying a new one from the store, and that is precisely what we are doing.
The best thing is that as the new models begin to arrive in Swappie’s product range, they often fall into our best condition category and are completely indistinguishable from new phones. Despite this, we sell the phones at a much lower price than new phones.


Developments inApple’s phone pricesApple’s new products cost more each year and there are no price reductions in sight. The first models were available in Finland for just over €300, but the price of newest models has now already exceeded €1600. Previously, the price increase has been steady, but after the release of the iPhone X last year, the price increase has only accelerated.


This situation makes a service like Swappie even more important.
When will the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR be available from Swappie?We will receive the first models about 2–3 weeks after the first shipments. At first, there will be a small number of phones and their demand is high, so you may still have to wait a while for the latest models.


If you don’t want to wait for the latest model, now is a great time to buy an older model. We have lowered the prices of our already affordable older models, some even by up to €110. In terms of the quality/price ratio, the iPhone 7 or the iPhone 6s is currently a very worthwhile purchase.
Check out the prices of all our products here.

Apple announces the new iPhone models – how will they affect Swappie’s prices?

As expected, on Tuesday night Apple announced its new iPhone models at its annual product launch. The company has previously profiled itself as a device manufacturer that takes pride in carrying only a limited number of products that are refined to the very last detail. However, in the same manner as last year, Tuesday’s event saw a whole fleet of new devices – including three new flagship phones: the iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Apple’s Kaiann Drance introducing the new iPhone

How will the new models affect Swappie’s prices?

This year, the product launch produced no major surprises so the announcement’s direct impact on our prices will remain small. Here at Swappie we are constantly updating our prices based on the latest market information and the availability of used versions of each model. As a result, Swappie’s prices are always up to date and as affordable as possible based on current market conditions. However, there is a more direct impact on the price of models that Apple is currently manufacturing and selling.
And as soon as we get the new models in our range, we will be selling them at a much lower price. As in previous years, we expect that when the models arrive in our range they will barely have been used – making them virtually indistinguishable from a new Apple Cell iphone

The iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max come with a triple camera

How will iPhone prices evolve?

With this year’s launch, the prices for new Apple devices are relatively low, hitting a similar price level as last year’s iPhone releases ( iPhone XR, XS and XS Max ). The iPhone 11 series does not provide major technical innovations or enhancements compared to the previous high-quality phone models. However, the iPhone 11 Pro does offer a sharper display, faster processing power than before and an exciting new feature: three rear cameras.
In the past, prices have been steadily increasing, but the current pricing trend is most likely due to Apple’s efforts to reach a growing number of users. This is of course great news for Swappie’s customers, as many consumers will decide to upgrade their current phone to the latest model. This will result in an increasing number of low-end, high-quality iPhones being sold for reuse.


When will the new models be available at Swappie?

The first devices will arrive to Swappie about 2–4 weeks after the first shipments, which will begin on September 20th. However, you don’t have to wait for the new additions, since as we have reduced our already affordable prices, now is the perfect opportunity to get a new phone– responsibly and at a reasonable price. For example, the iPhone 8 and iPhone XR models are excellent phones in terms of their quality-price ratio.

Take a look at our selection here!