The 'Absolute Worst Thing You Can Do' To Your iPhone's Battery: Fast Apple Chargers, More

Your iPhone battery is sensitive to certain triggers – and exposing it regularly to these can cause it to degrade over time. Allowing your phone battery to dip down to zero percent before charging it is one mistake you’ve likely heard about, as is exposing your device to extreme heat or cold, especially as you’re charging your phone.

But as important as it is to keep your phone in room temperature and provide it with short bursts of regular charging , rather than waiting for it to die and then charging it all night long, there’s one battery mistake that’s considered possibly even worse.

According to one tech expert, this is the “absolute worst thing you can do to your iPhone battery.”

Using Fast Apple Chargers

Back in the day, when you bought your iPhone it came with a small charging brick that charged at 5 watts. Compare that to today’s Apple chargers, which provide 20 watts and are much faster. The problem with the faster charger is that, even though it saves you time, it’s going to heat up your battery when you charge it and “it will ruin your battery.” Using a slower Apple charger is key to helping prolong your battery life over time.

Using Knockoff Cables and Chargers

There’s nothing wrong with trying to save a little money on your iPhone charger and charging cables, but it’s important not to choose budget options over quality, functionality, and safety. Using knockoff Apple charging accessories can be another bad move for your iPhone battery because they aren’t designed to deliver the exact charge your phone model needs.

When you use cheap chargers and cables they can deliver a too-fast charge to your device that causes the battery to heat up rapidly. Since heat is the enemy of your battery, it’s easy to see why this is problematic. If you charge using these enough over time it can cause battery degradation.

It may not be dangerous, but the wrong accessories can also not deliver enough of a charge to your phone, leaving you with a phone that lacks the proper charge and takes longer to power up. Your best bet is to only purchase either Apple chargers and charging cables or Apple-certified accessories that live up to their promise of charging your device and model accurately, safely, and efficiently.