iOS 16's Clean Energy Charging arriving later in 2022
A future update to iOS 16 will make the iPhone even more environmentally friendly, with Clean Energy Charging prioritizing recharging at times when cleaner energy sources are available.
Apple has worked hard to reduce the carbon footprint of the company as a whole, and it's making its products work in a more environmentally-minded way. In an upcoming update due later in 2022, Apple will add a feature to iOS 16 called Clean Energy Charging.
According to Apple, Clean Energy Charging will try to cut down the carbon footprint of the iPhone created by recharging. To accomplish this, the feature will optimize the timing of charges for "when the grid is using cleaner energy sources."
The change is seemingly an expansion of the idea of the Optimized Battery Charging functionality that arrived in iOS 13. That feature protected the battery of the iPhone from prolonged charging and leaving the battery fully charged for long periods, by managing charging patterns.
Optimized Battery Charging would charge the iPhone to 80%, if it believes it will be left on charge for a long time, such as overnight. Before it expects to be picked up and used, the feature would restart charging so that it will reach 100% charge at the right moment.
It is unclear exactly how iOS would be able to know when "cleaner energy sources" are being used, but it is likely checking in with Apple's servers to determine the grid's status. It will also be limited only to the United States, which suggests there is some data sourcing at play.
Apple doesn't state when Clean Energy Charging will arrive in iOS, except it will be "later this year." It will be accompanied by other features, including iCloud Shared Photo Library, Live Activities, and Matter support for Homekit.
Read on AppleInsider
Apple has worked hard to reduce the carbon footprint of the company as a whole, and it's making its products work in a more environmentally-minded way. In an upcoming update due later in 2022, Apple will add a feature to iOS 16 called Clean Energy Charging.
According to Apple, Clean Energy Charging will try to cut down the carbon footprint of the iPhone created by recharging. To accomplish this, the feature will optimize the timing of charges for "when the grid is using cleaner energy sources."
The change is seemingly an expansion of the idea of the Optimized Battery Charging functionality that arrived in iOS 13. That feature protected the battery of the iPhone from prolonged charging and leaving the battery fully charged for long periods, by managing charging patterns.
Optimized Battery Charging would charge the iPhone to 80%, if it believes it will be left on charge for a long time, such as overnight. Before it expects to be picked up and used, the feature would restart charging so that it will reach 100% charge at the right moment.
It is unclear exactly how iOS would be able to know when "cleaner energy sources" are being used, but it is likely checking in with Apple's servers to determine the grid's status. It will also be limited only to the United States, which suggests there is some data sourcing at play.
Apple doesn't state when Clean Energy Charging will arrive in iOS, except it will be "later this year." It will be accompanied by other features, including iCloud Shared Photo Library, Live Activities, and Matter support for Homekit.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Should also be able to set our own rules around the 80/20 split of early and late charge.
I know I'm putting my phone on charge after a certain time it will be there until my alarm goes off it can get up to 20% just in case then wait till later for the 80%
The grid operator definitely knows what power source is energizing the grid on an hour by hour basis, at least, if not minute by minute basis. If you live in Texas ERCOT, the best time to charge is from 2 am to 6 am or so, when wind power is about 20% to 50% of grid, on average and depending on time of year. In a few years, it's going to be something like 30% to 70% wind at those hours, with solar+wind creeping towards 20% to 50% during the day.
iPhones know if it is being charged by a MagSage battery pack, if it is being charged by an MagSafe wired charger, if it it is being charged through Lightning from an external battery, and if it is being charged by a wall charger. Charging accessories are handshaken between the iPhone and the host charger. There will be edge cases, but for the big middle among millions of users of this sort of thing, it will be good enough.
One the one hand, the premise from the medium article (73 coal plants to charge 3.5b phones and induction charging is wasteful) is silly. It was basically a vehicle to dramatize his article. It's 10 to 20 Watts per person per 1 hour block of time. The power needed to charge phones will be amortised over a 24 hr day worldwide. It's a very small, <1% level, portion for a person's power consumption. If I did my math right, I use about 10 WHr per day for an iPhone 6.1" (only use about 70% of charge daily).
That is about 0.15% of the average electricity usage per person in my household. There's a lot bigger fish to fry in the efficiency and energy used in a household. Like, just unplug your Internet modem+router for 8 hours a day while you sleep. It's about 20 to 40 Watts. Across 8 hrs that is 160 to 320 WHrs. The energy of about 10 to 20 phone batteries. That's the smallest of the smallest of fries. Switching to LED lighting is big. 1 °F higher for AC or lower for heating is huge. Weather stripping is huge. An ICE vehicle uses about 1 kWHr worth of energy per mile. That's per mile. The energy for about 100 phone batteries. An EV is about 5x more efficient per mile than an ICE car.
On the other hand, Apple's clean energy charging setting will nick at the problem and should be lauded. The more push the better off we are. There's a perception that the renewable energy era is going to be expensive and scarce. It's going to be the total opposite. It's going to be so cheap and so local that it threatens the grid itself. You will be able to cut the power cord just like you can cut the cable cord. The incumbents - power generators and grid owners - will not appreciate that. Theoretically though, maybe grid energy prices will actually cheapen if they actually have to compete for customers. Renewable energy will be a big feature that they will have to offer.