Following the latest iOS update, owners of AirPods and AirPods Pro should see an improvement in battery life over longer periods of time. This is only one of the many new features and upgrades currently in the process of rolling out to Apple customers, through the release of the iOS 14.2 upgrade for iPhone.
Apple only recently made the main iOS 14 upgrade available to the general public. Although each new operating system update always adds something new (or fixes something old), iOS 14 brought with it some major improvements and new features, including Home Screen widgets and the App Library. Since then, Apple has been releasing incremental upgrades with the most recent (non-beta) version being the new iOS 14.2.
Among the various changes listed, Apple explains that the latest iOS update includes “optimized battery charging for AirPods.” The changelog goes on to explain that the optimization results in a reduction in the time AirPods spend fully charged. However, the real purpose of the optimization is to slow down how quickly the battery ageing process takes place, and that's important.
AirPods, like almost all electronics, rely on a physical battery to supply power to the device. Typically, the battery starts off great, resulting in fast charges and long usage per charge. However, over time the battery will slowly degrade to the point where the performance and experience can be greatly affected. The more charge cycles a battery goes through, the quicker the degrading of battery quality can take place. This is where Apple hopes the optimization will improve the experience by limiting the amount of time AirPods or AirPods Pro continue to charge once they’ve reached a full charge.
Optimizing how a product charges is nothing new to Apple. For example, Apple recently released its iPhone 12 series and these devices come with an Optimized Battery Charging feature that’s enabled by default. One of the granular benefits of Optimized Battery Charging is that the software intelligently tries to control the charging process, and in some cases, stops charging altogether before the device reaches a full charge. Similar to the AirPods new improved battery optimization, iPhone 12’s Optimized Battery Charging makes these decisions to ensure the longevity of the battery. Essentially, this is the same feature that's now become available to the AirPods lineup.
Besides what’s technically happening beneath the service, the major takeaway here is that Apple is trying to guarantee the battery in AirPods and AirPods Pro continue to perform at a higher level over a longer period of time. Providing it works as Apple intends, that’s only likely to be good news for owners of the company' s popular earbuds.
Source: Apple
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November 06, 2020 at 04:59AM
