GoKawiilAdrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
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ZDNET's key takeaways
Excessive temperature is a key factor in premature battery wear.
Car charging is the perfect storm when it comes to overheating.
You can still charge in the car, but you have to take some precautions.
I've been tracking the battery health of my daily driver iPhones for so long now that it's practically second nature. It's like a weird hobby/habit that I've picked up. Every few days since I got my iPhone 17 Pro Max, I've been firing up the Settings app and taking a look at my battery stats. I'm particularly curious because, with this handset, I decided to throw caution (and Apple's battery care tips) to the wind.
Also: I spent 2 years charging my phone exactly how Apple suggests - here's where it's at now
Why? Well, I followed all the rules with my last iPhone. I turned on Optimized Battery Charging, was careful not to keep the phone on charge for hours on end, and even did my best to keep it cool. Despite doing all this, the battery barely lasted two years before it became so bad it was frustrating to use, and a handset I'd planned on keeping for three years got replaced after only two.
So, this time around I stopped caring. No charge limitation, no fancy optimizations. I just threw it on whatever charger or used any power bank that was close to hand.
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