How to Make Your iPhone Last Longer video [CNET]

Here are some steps you can take to maximize the longevity of your iPhone.

If you’re like me, you don’t buy a new iphone every year, which is why it’s all the more important for you to know how you can make your current iphone last as long as possible. Of course, don’t even worry. I’ve got tips for you. A new iphone is right around the corner, but I don’t upgrade annually because to be so real with you iphones are expensive and because the changes between models tend to be small anyway. So here’s what I do to make my iphone last longer and what you can do to first stay on top of I OS updates. They help keep packers and malware out of this thing, which is important because that stuff could slow your phone down and compromise your data. Apple guarantees at least five years of security updates. But you could get more. The iphone six, got almost eight years of them. For example, your phone may also prompt you to install them, but I’ve linked an article below on how to do it. If it doesn’t, you should also keep your apps up to date. So they align with whatever version of I Os you’re on. You can automate this in settings by scrolling down to app store and toggling on app update. Not having enough storage, makes it hard to do the things you probably use your iphone for the most. I can’t take photos. I can’t upload tiktoks for my job and I can’t download those very important security updates I was just talking about. So this is your friendly reminder to delete any apps, photos, et cetera that you don’t need and back up anything you want to save. You can see taking up the most space by opening settings, selecting general and then iphone storage, you may even see tips on how to free up some space right away. My fellow C Netter Patrick Holland also has a wonderful, very comprehensive video on how to back up your iphone to icloud or your computer. It’s linked on screen and in the description, surfing the web clogs your cache and slows your phone down. So you should clear your cache about once every month or two to speed things up. Again. If you use Safari, open settings, scroll down to Safari and then down to advanced tap website data, then remove all website data and select remove now and voila cash cleared. Now, warning if you clear your cash in Safari on your iphone, the caches of any other Apple devices signed into your icloud will also be wiped. So you’ll need to sign back into any websites you were logged into on those devices if you use chrome or Firefox, you can clear your cache by going into the settings for those apps. You can see how your battery is doing in settings by scrolling down to battery and selecting battery health. But if it’s in bad shape, you probably already know that being said you can just replace the battery instead of the entire phone if you want to do it yourself. I fix it sells kits and third party batteries. I’ve seen the kits cost as little as $15 for older models like the iphone four or up to $60 for newer model. My colleague Andrew Langson did a battery replacement himself and found it to be quite easy. You could also get your battery replaced at an Apple authorized service provider or the Apple store. The oldest iphone they currently replace the battery for is the five S and the cost estimate is $70. Well, the estimate for replacing a 15 pro max battery is $100. So it could be less expensive to replace the battery yourself. Third party repair shops are another option, but they vary in legitimacy. So be sure to do your research if you decide to go that route. But ok, replacing the battery is a lot of work and there are things you can do to make it last as long as possible before it gets to that point, charging your phone right to 100% can strain the battery. So there’s a setting that learns when you typically plug your phone in to charge and you unplug it so that it doesn’t finish charging until right before you usually take it off the charger. This setting should be on by default, but you can check in the settings app by scrolling down to battery then tapping charging optimization and making sure optimized battery charging is selected. Apple says that to prevent irreversible heat damage to your iphone battery, you shouldn’t expose it to temperatures above 95 °F. So don’t keep your phone in direct sunlight on a hot day or in a space that heats up easily like the car. Speaking of heat, if your phone gets hot when you charge it, take the case off before you plug it in, so that heat doesn’t get trapped and damage the battery and refrain from using processor intensive apps like games while your phone is charging because that combo could also cause your phone to get too hot. Ok? Now, maybe you’re thinking of upgrading within the next year, but your battery is really struggling. Here are a few quick settings. You can turn off to save some juice. In the meantime, there’s a smart data feature that switches between four GLTE and five G based on how you use your phone. But staying on four GLTE can help you save battery. So to turn off five G open settings, select cellular tap, cellular data options and voice and data and select lte location services can of course be very useful or even crucial to have on. But turning them off in moments when you don’t need them for safety or navigation can help you save battery. Just open settings, select privacy and security and toggle off location services. Your phone is also always searching for wi Fi networks while you’re out and about by default, which can eat into that battery, but you can toggle Wi Fi off in the control center or in settings. If you have the haptic keyboard on that vibrates as you type, it could also be draining your battery. Apple says haptic feedback quote might affect the battery life of your iphone to turn it off open settings, select sounds and haptics scroll down to keyboard feedback and turn off haptic. The always on display can also be a battery drain but you can toggle it off in the display and brightness section of the settings app. Your phone automatically changes its brightness based on how much light it senses to turn that off open settings, scroll down to accessibility, select display and text size and scroll down to toggle auto brightness off. I love my lock screen widgets. So I’m very sad to say that they can also drain your battery to get rid of them. Press down on your lock screen, tap, customize, select the lock screen, wallpaper, tap the widget box and then tap the minus buttons or just press down to switch to another widget free lock screen. Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments below and feel free to share any tips you have on making your iphone last. You can also check out C net.com for even more advice on this stuff. Thank you so much for watching.