When Apple released iOS 16.1 on October 24, 2022, it introduced a new feature called Clean Energy Charging. Only available in the US, the fully optional feature aims to reduce the environmental impact of your iPhone by charging it when the electricity sources for your area are greener, as energy sources tend to be will change.
When Clean Energy Charging is enabled, your iPhone can get a forecast of future carbon emissions for your local energy grid and try to adjust charging to times of cleaner energy production. That means when you plug in your iPhone, it may not fully charge if your previous charging habits indicate that you won’t need to use your iPhone for a while (usually while sleeping) . It does not damage your iPhone’s battery or is intended to keep your iPhone’s charge below a usable level.
Even when turned on, however, Clean Energy Charging will not automatically limit your charging. It works with Optimized Battery Charging and Location Services to learn about your usage and charging habits to make sure you’re not stranded without a charge when you need it. For example, it won’t turn on when you’re traveling, and as Apple explains, several settings need to be enabled for the feature to work:
- Battery > Battery Health and Charging and be sure of that Clean Energy Charging is in.
- Privacy and Security > Location Services and be sure of that Location Services is in.
- Privacy and Security > Location Services > System Services and be sure of that System Adaptation is in.
- Privacy and Security > Location Services > System Services > Important Areas and be sure of that Important Areas is in.
All settings are turned on by default, but if you’ve changed your iPhone’s settings over time, you’ll want to check to see if they’re all enabled for Clean Energy Charging to work.
Apple
Clean Energy Charging: How it works
Throughout a typical day, electricity demand fluctuates, which often makes it necessary to supplement electricity from on-demand sources such as natural gas power plants. Energy sources such as solar and wind generate different amounts of electricity depending on the time of day and weather. Hydroelectric power is constantly changing with the times.
But it’s all predictable when you have the data. For example, you put your iPhone on at 10pm before you go to bed every night. Over time, Clean Energy Charging will detect that, based on your past usage history and current charge, it can wait a few hours until gas peaker plants decrease and most of your electricity comes from hydroelectric sources. . Then your phone will start charging a few hours later and make sure it is at 100 percent charge when you wake up.
Apple hasn’t disclosed how it gets information about “low carbon emission electricity,” but our best guess is that Apple may be working to get data from electric grid managers that show the combining energy sources that power the grid (for example, see the California. ISO supply trend page), or with a third-party source like Watttime that seeks to measure whether the electricity you use is powered by cleaner sources.
Clean Energy Charging: How to turn it off
Clean Energy Charging is turned on by default. If you want to turn it off, you can go to Settings, select BatteryTHEN Battery Health and Chargingand turn off the Clean Energy Charging toggle.