Tech-battery.com| Wholesale Phone,Tablet,Camera ,Tool ,Laptop Battery, Adapter and Accessories store in US

We expect to see the iPhone 15, Apple Watch Series 9 and more at the company’s annual fall event.

Apple sent out invites Tuesday for its fall launch event, where we expect to see the iPhone 15 and several other devices revealed. The “Wonderlust” event will be Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. PT.

This falls within Apple’s usual timeline of holding its iPhone launch event in mid-to-late September. Last year’s event for the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Ultra was held Sept. 7, 2022, for instance.

The iPhone 15 will likely be the marquee device revealed. We expect to see four models released this year: a standard and larger Plus in the lower tier, and a more advanced Pro and Pro Max in the pricier tier.

It’s never quite clear what else will launch alongside each year’s iPhone, though in the last several years a new Apple Watch, AirPods and standard iPad have been shown off at these events.

There’s one new device that will almost certainly make an appearance: the Apple Vision Pro. The AR/VR headset, revealed at WWDC 2023 in June, isn’t expected to start arriving in Apple stores and shipping to customers until early 2024. So don’t expect it to get an early release this fall. But we’d be surprised if Apple didn’t take the opportunity to hype its next exciting advance in personal technology — even if businesses will likely be the only ones to foot the headset’s wallet-melting $3,500 price.

We could also see more announcements for Apple’s services, with new additions to Music, TV Plus, Fitness and iCloud.

What other products we’ll see Sept. 12 — and that will be available to buy before the holidays — is a bit tougher to determine. Here are our best guesses for what Apple will show off on its stage.

Reading the Apple tea leaves
As previously stated, we’re confident that Apple will follow tradition and release a new phone lineup (iPhone 15) and watch series (Apple Watch Series 9). The company could still throw a few curveballs within those lineups, though.

The iPhone 15 is heavily rumored to switch to USB-C this year across all models. Only the pricier Pro and Pro Max models will get a new A16 bionic chipset, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman said, while the standard iPhone 15 and Plus models will use the A15 chip that came in last year’s premium iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models. This follows Apple’s new tradition of only giving the top-tier models the newest mobile chipsets. On the upside, the standard models are expected to swap out the notch for the multipurpose Dynamic Island.

There’s been no hint of a new iPhone SE, with the third and most recent model of Apple’s affordable phone line launching in March 2022, so we wouldn’t expect a new one at this year’s fall launch event.

We expect to see the Apple Watch Series 9, though the latest rumors suggest we’ll only get new processors and fresh colors — but not the glucose monitoring that earlier leaks suggested might be coming. It’s not clear if we’ll get new versions of the Apple Watch Ultra or iPhone SE (second generation), which debuted and were refreshed last year, respectively.

It’s also a pretty safe bet to expect a new standard iPad, since the model has been refreshed every year since 2017. A new iPad Air is unlikely, as the line was last refreshed in March 2022. Similarly, new versions of the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models with M2 chips came out in October 2022. It has been two years since the last iPad Mini came out in 2021, but that series hasn’t been updated as regularly as other models in recent years.

Further down Apple’s product line, it’s harder to tell what might come and what may wait for early 2024 and beyond. We could see some unexpected launches, but with the Vision Pro taking the spotlight, it doesn’t seem like Apple needs much more than its darling headset to wow its faithful flock. That said, Apple built a reputation on last-minute surprises, so we’ll always hold out for One More Thing.

Sanitize your germ-ridden wristband now.

If you wear a smartwatch or fitness tracker daily, do you regularly sanitize the band? If not, this will convince you: a scientific study published in May examined 20 different smart wristbands and found 95% were contaminated with harmful bacteria that can cause infections.

The paper detailed how researchers tested smartwatch and fitness tracker bands worn by 20 random, anonymous people. The bands were rubber, plastic, cloth, metal and leather. As the paper pointed out, we wear our watches and fitness trackers while working out, swimming, holding pets, eating, using the bathroom, showering and sleeping, and yet we do not often sanitize them.

Of the 20 watch bands, researchers found that 85% had Staphylococcus aureus (Staph aureus), 60% had Escherichia coli (E. coli) and 30% had Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) bacteria present. Rubber and plastic bands had the highest rates of harmful bacteria on them, while metallic gold and silver bands had the lowest, as published earlier by 9to5Mac.

The researchers concluded that “wristbands, often worn daily without routine cleaning, may accumulate potentially pathogenic bacteria.” They labeled the issue as being “of public health significance,” adding that infections could be avoided if we sanitized our watch bands more often (or at all).

Luckily for us, they also researched how to clean the bacteria off.

How to sanitize your smartwatch band
Here’s how to clean your germ-ridden fitness tracker and smartwatch wristbands:

Take your watch off your wrist.
Grab either Lysol Disinfectant Spray or a 70% Ethanol cleaner, like those little alcohol wipes. The researchers also tested apple cider vinegar, but found it was not effective on Staph aureus, even after 5 minutes of cleaning.
Wipe your watch band. Then keep wiping. Lysol and 70% alcohol killed 99.99% of E. coli, Staph aureus and P. aeruginosa after 30 seconds of contact.
If you’ve got a plastic wristband, keep wiping for 2 minutes. The researchers found that 30 seconds of exposure to Lysol or 70% Ethanol wasn’t enough to kill harmful bacteria on plastic bands.
How often do you need to do this? The paper didn’t specify, beyond saying it should be “regular.”

Or you could just switch to a metal band, in particular one made of gold. And do not wear a plastic one if you’re germ conscious.

The lineup’s first major makeover in nearly half a decade will also bring M3 chips to the tablet, Bloomberg reports.

Apple reportedly plans to overhaul its iPad Pro lineup next year with OLED displays and a revamped Magic Keyboard.

The revamp — the first major makeover of the line of tablets in half a decade — is intended to reinvigorate consumer interest and clear up confusion in the lineup, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported Sunday. Gurman notes that the iPad generates the least amount of revenue among Apple’s major products.

The lineup will, for the first time, sport OLED screens instead of the Mini-LED display tech that’s also been used in Apple’s MacBook Pros, Gurman writes. The models are expected to come in 11- and 13-inch displays, slightly larger than the current 12.9 inches, he wrote.

The new lineup is also expected to be powered by Apple’s rumored M3 chip, Gurman writes. Apple launched its M chips to power the company’s line of MacBooks, Macs and iPads in 2020 after years of using Intel processors.

The tablets will also sport an updated Magic Keyboard that will help the iPad perform more like a laptop, along with the addition of a larger trackpad — addressing a complaint about the tablet, Gurman writes. The Magic Keyboard, which was announced in 2020, doubles as both a keyboard and an adjustable stand.

While Apple is expected to hold a launch event in the coming weeks that will likely focus on a new a iPhone and Watch, Gurman doesn’t expect the new iPads to be unveiled until the spring or early summer 2024.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple Watch Series 9 has the potential to be a noteworthy update with reports of better battery life, but rumors of the 2024 model are stealing the spotlight.

It can be hard for Apple Watch Series owners to know when is the right time to invest in an upgraded model. Year after year, Apple makes small improvements to the Series lineup — and older models hold up very well throughout the years.

But as Apple is expected to reveal the Apple Watch Series 9 in just a few weeks, the second-guessing and concerns about buyer’s remorse are amped up with lots of buzz around what Apple might be working on for 2024 and the 10th anniversary of its wrist wearable: The Apple Watch X.

The headliner feature of the X (pronounced “ten”) could be a form of blood pressure monitoring, as reported by Bloomberg. But it may not release as a tool that could replace a traditional measurement from a cuff — or could it?

In this week’s episode of One More Thing, embedded above, I highlight the rumors and reported features coming to both the Series 9 and Series X watches — and why you don’t have to have stress if you want to upgrade now.

The Series 9 is reported by Bloomberg to have an improved processor that could help boost battery life, and there’s buzz that a new pink color could be in the mix. (Apple is reportedly working on a blood glucose monitor for a future Apple Watch, but it’s not expected to be ready yet.)

As for the buzz on Series X, the report mentions potential design tweaks: thinner casing, new microLED display for the screen and bands that could attach differently, possibly with magnets. It also is expected to have a sensor for pressure monitoring. It’s a feature Bloomberg reported Apple was working on for years now, and it’s been challenging to test. To get a sense of the current development of wrist-worn blood pressure monitoring, we can look to how other companies are tackling the tech.

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 can track blood pressure outside the US, but you need to calibrate it with an actual blood pressure monitor cuff first.

The Omron HeartGuide, released in 2018, is a smartwatch that achieves a real measurement with an inflating cuff that pressurizes over the wrist. It received FDA clearance but costs a steep $500. CNET’s Scott Stein reviewed the Omron HeartGuide and found it to give measurements that matched up with the readings from his doctor. He said blood pressure monitoring could be the next big frontier for wearable tech, “but in its current form, it won’t be for everyone yet.”

So can it be done without a cuff? Maybe. Valencell introduced a clip-on finger-based blood pressure measurement device at CES 2023. It looks a lot light a portable pulse oximetry device, and Stein demoed it at CES by using his middle figure for a blood pressure spot check on the show floor.

The tech is still pretty tricky to get right, so it’s hard to say to what degree this tech could show up in a 2024 Apple Watch. I wouldn’t hold your breath for something that can replace a doctor visit from an Apple Watch. But when you tell me the Series 9 could include a better processor to squeeze out more battery life? Now that’s a feature people can get excited about now.

But since nothing is official, we’ll have to wait to see what Apple actually unveils next month. Apple hasn’t given any clues yet, but it’s widely expected we’ll see the Series 9 the same day Apple reveals the iPhone 15 — and pundits are pointing to Sept. 12 as the day that could happen.

This year’s premium iPhones may drop gold and purple in favor of chillier colors — and sell the phones in titanium too.

A new iPhone 15 rumor suggests the two premium phones, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, will come in a pair of new signature colors: gray and blue.

In addition to traditional black and silver, in most years, Apple changes out the more unique colors for its phones. Last year’s iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max came in gold and purple hues; this year’s premium handsets will come in “Titan Gray” and a dark blue, unnamed sources told 9to5Mac.

The rumor also suggested that the higher-end phones will be offered in titanium (like the Apple Watch Ultra) instead of stainless steel.

This follows another leak earlier this week suggesting what colors Apple’s cheaper iPhones could come in. An Apple leaker who goes by @URedditor on X (formerly Twitter) posted (formerly tweeted) that this year’s baseline iPhone 15 will come in a range of colors: pink (in a rose gold or blush gold hue), green, blue, yellow, black and possibly even orange. The leaker noted that “we should see at least some of these,” suggesting that several may not make the final list.

Last year’s iPhone 14 came in five different colors at launch — midnight (black), starlight (silver), pastel purple, light blue and a special red hue for Project Red — with yellow arriving back in March this year.

Apple hasn’t publicly announced when its iPhone event will be, but since its fall showcase typically lands in the middle or end of September, we’re likely only weeks away from all the products about to be revealed by the tech giant. A new range of iPhones will top the event, but we also expect the Apple Watch Series 9 and possibly new models in other product families, like iPads or AirPods.

A newly published patent suggests that the Apple Watch could transform its color to match any object you want.

The Apple Watch currently boasts customization features such as colorful watch straps and changeable watch faces. But the Apple Watch of the future could someday give personalisation a futuristic twist.

A patent from the tech giant, published Wednesday, proposes giving you more control over the design of your watch face by enabling it to match almost anything you want. In theory, this could mean holding an object of choice over the Apple Watch display (say your T-shirt), pushing a button to activate the sensor and then witnessing the watch face color change to match your hue of choice.

More specifically, a future Apple Watch could have a color sampling sensor behind the display, according to the Electronic Devices With Color Sampling Sensors patent. It could determine the color of an object by shining different lights on it and seeing how much light is reflected back, according to the document. The device then uses the “corresponding light reflectance data” to adjust the color of its display to match the object.

Currently, the Apple Watch lets you change the color of elements such as the hour and minutes hands, for example. But you can’t change every single element on the Watch face, nor do all faces have the ability to change color.

“The color may be … matched to the color of an external object such as a watch band, a piece of clothing, or any other suitable external object,” the patent filing says. “This color sampling process may allow the user to customize the appearance of [the Watch] display so that the color scheme on display … matches with the user’s watch band, clothing, or other item.”

The patent also suggests that the color sampling sensor could be used on other jewelry worn by the user, such as rings, necklaces, earrings or bracelets. As with any Apple patent, it doesn’t guarantee the tech giant will release such a feature, but it shows that the company is interested in exploring it.

This patent was filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office in August 2020, but just published on Wednesday. In a similar vein, Apple has previously been granted a patent for a color-changing Apple Watch band that could be controlled with an iPhone app.

The rumor mill is buzzing about a significant upgrade to the iPhone. But don’t expect a foldable device from Apple this year.

Apple is weeks away from its annual fall event, where the next iPhone, which we’re unofficially calling the iPhone 15 series, is set to be unveiled. Although we don’t expect to see a foldable from Apple just yet, the rumor mill is buzzing about the next iPhones departing from their traditional design in a meaningful way.

Some of the big questions people are asking are: Will the iPhone 15 get a USB-C port? Will the iPhone 15 series have slimmer bezels? Will Apple increase iPhone prices in 2023? Will the Pro models receive bigger upgrades?

We won’t know for sure until Apple throws the next iPhone event, which will probably be in September. But here are some of the biggest and most credible rumors to give you an idea of what to expect from the iPhone 15 series.

iPhone 15 design: Hello USB-C, goodbye Lightning
This one has been circulating around the rumor mill for years now, but in 2023 the switch from a Lightning Port to a USB-C port could finally happen. That’s likely driven by pressure from the European Union, which has been pushing for a common charging standard for years. In 2022, the bloc managed to pass legislation requiring Apple to equip its iPhones with USB-C ports by 2024 if it wants to sell them in the EU.

If that happens, the question is whether Apple will switch all iPhone models to USB-C or just those sold in the EU. Apple already modifies iPhone models regionally, as it has done with the iPhone 14: The US version has an electronic SIM, while other variants retain the SIM slot. However, there are good reasons to move all iPhones to USB-C moving forward, according to Avi Greengart, analyst at Techsponential.

“There are larger ecosystem, security, and accessory considerations with the power/data connector, so I think it is more likely that Apple moves all iPhones [globally] to USB-C in the iPhone 16 timeframe to comply with European regulations,” he told CNET in an email.

According to seasoned Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models will receive USB-C ports this year. Perhaps a complete transition could happen next year with the iPhone 16.

Read more: Your Next iPhone Will Probably Need a Different Charging Cable

iPhone 15 design: Dynamic Island expands to all models
Apple is likely to continue selling four iPhone models with the iPhone 15 lineup. Rumors point to a generally similar design across the board, except that the iPhone 14 Pro’s shape-shifting cutout, known as Dynamic Island, is set to make its way across all models.

That rumor comes from display analyst Ross Young, who also said in a September tweet that he’s not expecting base iPhone 15 models to have a higher refresh rate like Apple’s Pro iPhones because the supply chain can’t support it. Gurman also still expects this to pan out as indicated by the Jun. 30 edition of his Power On newsletter.

Read more: iPhone 14 Pro’s Most Eye-Catching Feature Feels Like It’s Winking at Something Else

iPhone 15 design: Skinnier bezels
According to Gurman, Apple’s expected to use a new manufacturing technology called “low-injection pressure over-molding” to make the Pro iPhones. This is the same method that’s used for some Apple Watch models. It will help Apple reduce the size of the bezels by fractions of a millimeter, which would in turn allow for an ever-so-slight increase in screen real estate.

iPhone 15 design: Easier repairability
The interiors of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are also slated for a redesign that will make them easier to repair, according to the latest edition of Gurman’s Power On newsletter. Gurman says the inside parts have been changed to match the ones in the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, which received the internal changes last year.

“This is the iPhone 14 reborn as a beautiful butterfly — a midframe in the middle, accessible screen on the left, and removable rear glass on the right,” iFixit wrote in a post last September after the iPhone event.

Interestingly, Apple didn’t discuss this internal redesign in its keynote, but the change was spotted by repair experts at iFixit, who said it was evident that Apple went back to the drawing board to rework the internals and integrate them seamlessly into its iPhones.

iPhone 15: Upgraded ultra wideband
According to noted Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo, the iPhone 15 will run on an upgraded Ultra Wideband processor, which Apple calls the U1 chip, to better integrate with the company’s new AR headset, the Vision Pro. UWB is a short-range wireless communication standard often used to track down the location of objects. It can pinpoint your Apple AirTag or unlock your car as you walk up to it with your phone. In a recent post on Twitter, Kuo said this is all part of Apple’s broader strategy to “build a more competitive ecosystem for Vision Pro.”

iPhone 15: Wireless charging upgrade
According to a May report by ChargerLab, a power specialist website with a steady track record, all iPhone 15 models will support 15-watt wireless charging using the Qi2 open standard. If this turns out to be true, it’ll mean the iPhone 15 could open up a whole new world of wireless charging devices that can replenish the device at its full speed. Apple had previously limited open wireless charging standards to 7.5W, leaving the full 15W charge speed for Apple MagSafe licensed accessories.

iPhone 15 camera: Periscope-style telephoto lens arrives
Noted Apple observer Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with TF International Securities, forecasts that the iPhone 15 Pro Max will receive a periscope-style telephoto lens. This sort of telephoto lens allows for higher optical zoom levels, with Kuo forecasting a 6x optical zoom could arrive in the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The optical zoom on the iPhone 14 Pro Max is limited to 3x, which lags rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s 10x optical zoom. This rumor was recently bolstered by well-known leak source and Twitter user Unknownz21, who stated that the Pro Max model will come with the special lens.

iPhone 15 design: Solid-state buttons come to pro iPhone 15 models
Kuo expects Apple to differentiate further between its base and Pro models in the coming years. One way he’s expecting that to happen is by way of solid-state volume and power buttons of the iPhone 15 Pro models instead of the standard keys present on today’s devices.

iPhone 15 Power: Increased RAM for pro models
According to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce, Pro models of the iPhone 15 lineup will get a bump up in RAM to 8GB from 6GB to complement the anticipated A17 Bionic chipset. Base models will continue to receive 6GB RAM, according to TrendForce. This rumor is also apparently backed up by a research report from analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong International Securities, according to a MacRumors article, which referenced Pu’s report.

iPhone 15 price: Up, up and away?
iPhone 15 prices are tipped to increase in the US for the first time in years. Last year, Apple already increased prices in select countries outside the US.

According to a MacRumors report, citing Barclays analyst Tim Long, the iPhone 15 Pro could cost $100 more than the iPhone 14 Pro, while the iPhone Pro Max price hike could be in the range of $100 to $200 more. A similar claim has been made by Jeff Pu, of investment firm Haitong International Securities, who explicity said the iPhone 15 Pro Max specifically is due for a price increase, according to another MacRumors report. This is based on the assumption that Apple will add more features and components to the Pro models, such as a new periscope camera, a titanium frame and a 3nm A17 Bionic chip.

US prices currently range from $829 for the entry-level iPhone 14 model (128GB) all the way up to $1,599 for the highest-end iPhone 14 Pro Max with 1TB of storage.

Another possibility is the upper limit of the price range could be pushed higher if rumors about a luxe iPhone 15 Ultra turn out to be true. The rumored Ultra model could potentially replace the iPhone 15 Pro Max next year, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote in September last year. This falls in line with predictions from Kuo, who expects Apple to differentiate further between the iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max models. However, in his June 30 newsletter, Gurman made no mention of the iPhone 15 Ultra. Other rumors suggest that the iPhone 15 Ultra will be a step up from the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Read more: What Apple Could Do With iPhone 15 Prices in 2023

iPhone 15 Ultra camera: Variable zoom
According to tipster Revengus, the iPhone 15 Ultra will feature a telephoto camera with a variable zoom lens, which is the camera setup rumored to feature on Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra. Variable optical zoom (continuous zoom) cameras aren’t commonly found on smartphones for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the size and design of phone cameras restricts the type of lenses that can be used.

iPhone 15: Launch and release timeline
Apple holds its annual iPhone event in September almost every year, so we’d expect the timeline to remain the same for the iPhone 15. New iPhones typically get released shortly thereafter, usually the Friday of the following week. Sometimes Apple will stagger release dates for specific models, especially when introducing a new design or size. So it’s possible that the iPhone 15 lineup will have more than one release date.

Here’s what we know:

Apple tends to hold its events on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Apple’s iPhone 14 event was held on Wednesday Sept. 7, while its iPhone 13 event was held on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
iPhone release dates are typically a week and a half after Apple’s announcements.
In general, new iPhones are released on a Friday, around the third week of September. For the iPhone 13, preorders began Sept. 17 and the phones went on sale Sept. 24.
Looking for more iPhone advice? Check out our iPhone upgrade guide, our list of the best iPhones and our roundup of the best cases for your iPhone 14 or 14 Pro.

If you were part of the settlement back in 2020, you’re about to get around $65.

iPhone owners who were part of a class action lawsuit against Apple, alleging it deliberately slowed down its old iPhones to get people to upgrade to the latest model, will finally be getting their payout. A judge has cleared the way for the payments to proceed, as reported last week by SiliconValley.com.

The settlement received preliminary approval in March 2020. The window for being part of the settlement has long passed, but according to SiliconValley.com, there were around 3 million claims. Those people are now awaiting their $65 check, more than three years later.

The payouts were slowed down by two iPhone owners who objected to some of the terms of the settlement but who have just lost their appeal in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, according to the report.

See Also: Does the iPhone Have a Battery Aging Problem?

Apple had faced the lawsuit after admitting in 2017 that its iOS software had slowed down older iPhone performance. At the time, the tech giant apologized and updated its software, also offering replacement batteries.

However, Apple has always denied any wrongdoing and said the slowdown was only designed to protect iPhones from automatically shutting down during some tasks if it was old, very cold or on low power.

The iPhones included in the settlement were the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus or SE running iOS 12.2.1 or later. It also covers the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus running iOS 11.2 or later before Dec. 21, 2017.

Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment.

As another round of new iPhones nears, it’s time to take a closer look at how Apple’s batteries have withstood the test of time.

As happens nearly every year, September seems poised to bring about Apple’s latest batch of iPhones. The expansion of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max’s “Dynamic Island” cutout seems like a near lock for the entire iPhone 15 line, as does the long-anticipated switch from Lightning to USB-C for wired charging.

When trying to figure out if Apple’s latest and greatest is worth the upgrade, an easy check is to see if you need a new battery. As we learned not too long ago, Apple will slow down the performance of iPhones with weaker battery health in order to preserve battery life. The 2017 “batterygate” scandal led to the company paying a $113 million settlement back in 2020 after an investigation was launched by 34 states and Washington, DC.

This month, a different $500 million settlement from a class action lawsuit stemming from the same issue was cleared by a judge.

Assuming you don’t pay for the AppleCare Plus insurance program, replacing a battery on most recent iPhones dating back to 2017’s iPhone X, will run $89 from Apple (not including tax or shipping if you’re sending your phone in).

Those who pay for AppleCare Plus, which ranges from $149 for two years of coverage on a third-generation iPhone SE all the way up to $269 for two years of coverage on an iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max, can get a battery replacement from Apple for no cost if their battery’s maximum capacity falls below 80%.

Given the myriad of trade-in deals offered by Apple and wireless carriers, it may make sense to roll that money into what you’d spend on a new phone. Others, however, may be happy just replacing the battery and holding on for another year or two. Even if you don’t plan to upgrade this cycle, it is interesting to see how well recent iPhone batteries have lasted.

What is ‘battery health’ and a ‘maximum capacity’?

Lithium-ion batteries, like the ones found in most modern electronics, are finite resources that naturally degrade over time. As Apple describes on its website, these batteries work on what is known as “charge cycles” with one “cycle” taking place when you’ve discharged “an amount that equals 100% of your battery’s capacity.”

This doesn’t mean going from 100% to empty either. As Apple notes, “you might use 75% of your battery’s capacity one day, then recharge it fully overnight. If you use 25% the next day, you will have discharged a total of 100%, and the two days will add up to one charge cycle.”

As you use up cycles by using your phone, the amount it has diminishes. On a different support page, Apple says that the iPhone is designed to hold “up to 80% of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles when operating under normal conditions.”

While iOS doesn’t show how many charge cycles you’ve used, its “Maximum Capacity” section gives a peak into this metric.

Apple directed CNET to its various battery support pages when contacted for comment.

How you can check your battery health

Apple gives steps for checking your battery health, and on most iPhones it can be done by going into Settings, then Battery and finally, Battery Health (or Battery Health & Charging). A “Maximum Capacity” section shows how much of your battery’s original capacity remains relative to when it was new.

If your battery is still operating normally, you’ll see that it has “peak performance capability” with small text underneath confirming that it’s “normal.”

If you’ve had a battery-related unexpected shutdown, you still may see peak performance but also a note that says Apple is using “performance management” to avoid future shutdowns. You can disable this setting if you want, though it will turn back on if another battery-related shutdown happens.

If your battery isn’t healthy, you may see a message alerting you that a replacement is needed if you want to get back to full performance or battery life. If your phone is otherwise fine for your needs, that $89 upgrade could be enough to get you back to running at full strength for a few more years.

What we learned: Your mileage will vary

While by no means a scientific test, I polled 20 CNET staffers on Aug. 2 about their iPhones, looking at which model they used, when they purchased it and what its battery health was.

Nine CNET staffers were rocking the iPhone 12 line (either an iPhone 12, 12 Pro or 12 Pro Max), with most having purchased their phones at least 30 months ago. Battery max capacity across the line was surprisingly consistent: Even the oldest devices still were displaying a maximum battery capacity of at least 85%.

My colleague Bridget Carey also polled her followers on Instagram.

Two staffers were using iPhone 13 Pros, and their experiences couldn’t be more different. CNET computer expert Lori Grunin has had her iPhone for nearly 20 months and her battery’s maximum capacity was an impressive 95%. Commerce editor Russell Holly was not as lucky, with his iPhone 13 Pro showing just 73% max capacity nearly two years after purchasing it.

Results were similarly mixed for the nine CNET users who have upgraded their devices to the iPhone 14 line. Some, like CNET’s iPhone reviewer Patrick Holland, still have 100% max capacity on his iPhone 14 Pro Max nearly 11 months later. My own iPhone 14 Pro Max, meanwhile, shows a battery max capacity of 88% over roughly the same period.

I don’t seem to be alone, either, as Wall Street Journal reporter Joanna Stern tweeted out on Aug. 11 that her iPhone 14 Pro battery was at a similar level. Comments to the tweet showed some other iPhone 14 users getting similar results.

Most of CNET staff’s iPhone 14 models were the iPhone 14 Pro, with the battery’s maximum capacity generally 92% or better over a time period ranging from 9 to 11 months.

As Apple notes on that support page, rechargeable batteries are made up of “consumable components that become less effective as they chemically age.”

To help prevent random shutdowns, as the battery degrades, the iPhone’s iOS software will automatically take steps including slowing down the processor when opening apps, limiting screen refresh rates and brightness and even preventing you from using the camera’s flash.

As for what you can do if your iPhone’s battery is weak, disabling some iOS features could help give you a boost. And if you don’t want to trade it in for a new model or head to a store to replace the battery, Apple has even added the ability for people to replace iPhone batteries at home.

Search Generative Experience will include coding tips and instantly viewable definitions.

Google’s AI-powered version of Search, called Search Generative Experience, is getting a major update in the Google App and soon in the Chrome web browser. SGE will be able to summarize web pages and also show you definitions of words you may be unfamiliar with, Google said in a blog post Tuesday.

Google’s new “SGE while browsing” can be enabled in the company’s experimental Search Labs section. It’ll use Google’s AI to generate a bulleted list of key points from information on the page you’re browsing. The feature is available in the Google App on both Android and iOS, and Google says it’s coming to Chrome in the days ahead. Google says this will work on some of the web pages you visit when you click the “generate” button at the bottom of the Google App. You’ll also see a list of questions the web page answers and be able to jump to parts of the page with the relevant information.

Recently, some publishers, including The New York Times, have told Google and other services that their articles can’t be crawled to feed AI engines. It’s uncertain exactly how the “SGE while browsing” feature will work with news sites like the Times, though Google’s blog post notes that the feature won’t provide key points for content marked as paywalled.

“‘SGE while browsing’ generates the key points of an article to help people find what they’re looking for more easily, it’s not training an AI model,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement. They added that Google would be working with publishers on how best content can be used to feed its AI engines, although what that may entail was abstractly worded.

The rapid rise of generative AI has, for the first time in a long time, created competition for Google in the information gathering space. Following the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT late last year, Google was quick to expand and promote AI among its products. At Google I/O earlier this year, the company announced Search Generative Experience, which integrates AI-generated answers into results, among other features.

There’s been a glut of companies releasing AI-powered tools and products this year, and some analysts estimate that generative AI could add $4.4 trillion in value to the global economy annually. The technology is expected to reshape everything from the way we work to how we get information. As adoption of generative AI tools has exploded, critics have voiced concern about the possibility of built-in bias and the potential to use these tools to spread disinformation.

At the moment, Google’s SGE isn’t open to everyone and requires people to sign up. There’s no timeline on when this version of AI Search will go live to the public.

Other features coming to SGE include having definitions integrated into AI-generated results. For example, if you search for “what is the most common element on the periodic table,” in the AI-generated result you can hover your mouse over the word “proton” and a pop-up will appear with the definition.

SGE will also provide answers to how-to coding questions and suggest code for common tasks. Code will also be color-coded, making it easier to identify elements.