Have you had an iPhone, iPad, or MacBook for a few years and feel like your battery doesn't hold the same amount of juice as it used to? That's because it doesn't. The lithium-ion batteries that power your devices deteriorate over time, meaning the battery can't charge to its full capacity.
If you think your battery is dying more quickly than it used to and want to be certain, there's a neat app you can download on your Mac that will tell you how it's doing. It's called coconutBattery and here's how it works.
Easy to use
The whole process of using coconutBattery is very straightforward. First, you'll need to download the app on your Mac. Second, you'll need to plug in your iPhone or iPad to your Mac — if you haven't done so already you'll need to allow your iPhone or iPad "trust" your Mac. Lastly, you just need to launch coconutBattery and a plethora of information will be at your disposal.
The process for checking your MacBook's battery is even simpler, you just need to load up the app and it will be right there.
Battery Information
Pictured above you can see the results from scanning my iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, and iPhone 8 Plus with coconutBattery.
If you look at the far left picture, you can see that after about 207 charge cycles — a charge cycle is the use of 100% of the battery's capacity — my iPhone 6s Plus is only able to charge to just under 90% of the original battery capacity.
Overall, all my phones are in pretty good shape, I wouldn't really worry until my phone hits about 80% charge capacity. Due to the nature of my job, I tend to upgrade my iPhone every year, meaning I'm not likely to run my batteries into the ground. This is probably true for most people who choose to upgrade their hardware every year or two; however, if you're one of those people who choose to wait a few years to upgrade their phone, this information could be handy in letting you know when it's time to replace the battery.
Of course, most people probably don't replace their iPads every year, so coconutBattery can really help you determine if your iPad battery is up to snuff or not.
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What do you think of coconutBattery?
Let us know in the comment down below!
Updated July 2018: Updated for macOS Mojave.
