Apple added battery percentage back to the iPhone's status bar with iOS 16 — here's how to enable it
You can see your iPhone's battery percentage again with the latest version of iOS. It's not perfect, but it's supposed to get better with future updates.
Antonio Villas-Boas
- With iOS 16, Apple reintroduced a feature that lets you display the exact percentage of your battery in the status bar.
- Battery percentage is supported on almost all iPhones with FaceID notches.
- The next big iOS 16 update will further improve the feature.
When Apple introduced the notch back in 2017, it enabled a modern edge-to-edge screen design that did away with large borders.
While iPhones looked sleeker as a result, the FaceID notch cramped the space at the top of the screen, which led to the unpopular move of removing the battery percentage status meter that showed the exact percentage of your battery in the status bar. Apple apparently heard the complaints, and that's all changed with iOS 16.
With iOS 16, Apple has revived the status bar percentage indicator so you it's always present on your status bar. Here's how to enable it.
How to show iPhone battery percentage in iOS 16
Antonio Villas-Boas
The battery percentage option is off by default, so you'll have to enable it yourself.
1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone
2. Scroll down and tap Battery.
3. From here, toggle the battery percentage option to On. You can disable the feature by toggling the option to Off.
You'll now see your iPhone's battery percentage inside of the battery symbol, which is different to how you may remember it, where the battery percentage was to the left of the symbol.
Which iPhones can show battery percentage?
Almost all of Apple's iPhones with notches and FaceID support the battery percentage option, except for the iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, and iPhone 13 Mini. Otherwise, these iPhones support the battery percentage option:
- iPhone X
- iPhone XS and iPhone Max
- iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone Pro Max
- iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max
iPhone battery percentage in iOS 16 isn't perfect, but it's supposed to get better in iOS 16.1
Antonio Villas-Boas
Currently, the battery symbol with the battery percentage inside appears as if it's fully charged until you get to 20% battery life, at which point it turns red.
The next big iOS update, iOS 16.1, will supposedly tweak the battery symbol to reflect how much battery life is left — like it does when the battery percentage indicator is disabled.
iOS 16.1 will also apparently include battery percentage support for the remaining notched iPhones that don't currently support it, including the iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, and iPhone 13 Mini.