Apple outlines iPhone battery recalibration plans for iOS 14.5

In an iOS support document, Apple reveals that it is planning to take steps to recalibrate the batteries of iPhone 11 handsets.

The move by the company comes after an iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max bug led to inaccurate information being given about battery health. With a fix due to rollout later in the spring, Apple is advising people to hold off from taking their handsets in for repair until a software update allows for recalibration.

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Apple says that recalibration of battery health reporting will come in iOS 14.5. The company explains the bug that will be addressed by the update: "Symptoms of this bug include unexpected battery drain behavior or, in a small number of instances, reduced peak performance capability. This inaccurate battery health reporting does not reflect an issue with actual battery health".

Recalibration is not an instant -- or even particularly quick -- process. While it is taking place, users will see the following message within Battery Health:

Your battery health reporting system is recalibrating Maximum Capacity and Peak Performance Capability. This process may take a few weeks.

In the support document, Apple explains:

Recalibration of maximum capacity and peak performance capability happens during regular charge cycles, and this process might take a few weeks. The displayed maximum capacity percentage will not change during recalibration. Peak performance capability might be updated, but this might not be noticeable by most users. If a previous degraded battery message was displayed, this message will be removed after updating to iOS 14.5.

When recalibration is complete, maximum capacity percentage and peak performance capability are updated. The recalibration message will also be removed, indicating that the process is complete.

If the recalibration of battery health reporting indicates that your battery health has significantly degraded, the battery service message will appear. 

In a small number of instances, recalibration might not be successful and a new battery service message will appear. If this occurs, an Apple Authorized Service Provider can replace the battery free of charge to restore full performance and capacity. This does not indicate a safety issue and your battery can still be used.

While we don't have an exact release date for iOS 14.5, it should be landing in the coming weeks.