Technologies

iPhone Batteries Will Get More Expensive Soon. How to Check Yours and Replace It

Starting in March, Apple is raising the price of phone batteries for all models except the iPhone 14.

Is your iPhone slow to charge? Does it have trouble maintaining a charge throughout the day, or unexpectedly shut down? If so, you might want to consider getting a new battery.

And you probably want to do it ASAP. Apple recently announced that starting March 1, you’ll have to pay $20 more to replace your battery through Apple’s existing services (except for the iPhone 14 models, since that price is staying the same).

So how do you find out if you really do need to replace your battery? We’ll show you how to check out your battery’s health via your iPhone settings, as well as what you can do to prolong your battery’s lifespan.

How to check on your iPhone battery’s health

Your iPhone battery becomes less effective over time, but you could also have a faulty battery on a brand-new iPhone. To quickly check if there’s an issue with your battery health, go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging. If you’re running anything below iOS 16.1, the latter will appear as just Battery Health.

At the top, you’ll see the maximum capacity of your battery, which should be 100%, or close to it, if you have a relatively new iPhone.

However, what you want to look at is Peak Performance Capability and the sentence underneath that. If you see Your battery is currently supporting normal peak performance, you don’t have any recognized battery issues and you shouldn’t need a replacement.

iOS setting to check your iPhone battery's health — Check what it says under **Peak Performance Capability** to learn if you need to replace your battery.

Screenshot by Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Do you need to replace your iPhone battery?

If you see any of the following messages, you may need to replace your battery, or at the very least make an appointment with Apple or an authorized service provider to check your battery out:

This iPhone has experienced an unexpected shutdown because the battery was unable to deliver the necessary peak power. Performance management has been applied to help prevent this from happening again, or You have manually disabled performance management protections.
This iPhone is unable to determine battery health. An Apple Authorized Service Provider can service the battery. More about service options.
Your battery’s health is significantly degraded. An Apple Authorized Service Provider can replace the battery to restore full performance and capacity. More about service options.

Depending on whether you have insurance (third-party or AppleCare Plus) or not, you may not have to spend any money at all to replace your iPhone’s battery. If your iPhone is new, you have at least a one-year warranty to replace a defective battery. If you do not have insurance, Apple charges an estimated $49 to $99 to replace your battery. Additionally, you can check out the Apple Service Programs page to see if any replacement or repair programs are available for your device.

An iPhone battery being replaced — You can even replace your own battery.

Andrew Lanxon/CNET

Is there anything you can do to prolong your iPhone battery’s life?

The quicker you go through your daily battery life, the quicker your battery’s overall lifespan degrades, so here are some tips to follow, according to Apple:

Update to the latest software available.
Adjust your screen brightness (manually or automatically) as needed.
Use Wi-Fi when available.
Enable Low Power Mode as needed.
Turn off Background App Refresh (overall or an on a per-app basis).
Turn off Location Services (overall or on a per-app basis).
Turn off Allow Notifications.
Turn on Airplane Mode when applicable.
When you charge your phone with your computer, make sure your computer is plugged in.

Two iOS settings to help keep your battery's health — You can toggle on auto-brightness (left) and prevent apps from refreshing in the background (right) to improve your battery life and lifespan.

Screenshot by Nelson Aguilar/CNET

If you need more battery-saving tips for your iPhone, check out eight ways to improve iPhone battery life, two iOS 16 features to disable to save battery and what happens if you keep your iPhone in Low Power Mode all the time.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Aug. 13, #1516: Did You Know This Word?

Here are hints and the answer for today’s super-difficult Wordle for Aug. 13, No. 1,516

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a pretty tough one. It describes a drink that most Americans have probably never tried before, and the letters aren’t super common, either. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: Start letter.

Today’s Wordle answer begins with K.

Wordle hint No. 4:Drink up

Today’s Wordle refers to a beverage.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer refers to a fermented milk drink with a sour taste, which originates from the Caucasus Mountains.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is KEFIR.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Aug. 12, No. 1515 was NOMAD.

Recent Wordle answers

Aug. 8, No. 1511: IMBUE

Aug. 9, No. 1512: NASAL

Aug. 10, No. 1513: MINTY

Aug. 11, No. 1514: SOUTH

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

Don’t be afraid to use our tip sheet ranking all the letters in the alphabet by frequency of uses. In short, you want starter words that lean heavy on E, A and R, and don’t contain Z, J and Q.

Some solid starter words to try:

ADIEU

TRAIN

STARE

NOISE

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 13, #794

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Aug. 13, #794.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

I loved the blue group in today’s NYT Connections puzzle. And if you’re a music lover who’s always found band names interesting, you might, too. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Fascinate.

Green group hint: Just a part of something.

Blue group hint: Think band names.

Purple group hint: Shape on a certain Hollywood sidewalk.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Captivate.

Green group: Excerpt.

Blue group: Member of a girl group.

Purple group: Star ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is captivate. The four answers are charm, entrance, rivet and thrill.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is excerpt. The four answers are clip, extract, passage and quote.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is member of a girl group. The four answers are Bangle, Chick, Go-Go and Supreme.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is star ____. The four answers are board, fish, gate and struck.

Toughest Connections puzzles

We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.

#5: Included «things you can set,» such as mood, record, table and volleyball.

#4: Included «one in a dozen,» such as egg, juror, month and rose.

#3: Included «streets on screen,» such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.

#2: Included «power ___» such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.

#1: Included «things that can run,» such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.

Technologies

Act Quickly Because the Beats Solo 4 Wireless Headphones Are 50% Off, but Not for Long

If you’re quick, you can snag the Beats Solo 4 headphones for just $100, with several colors to choose from.

If you’re looking at getting some shiny new headphones, and you want a serious audio upgrade, then you could be staring down at a nasty price tag. Thankfully, there can be some amazing deals here and there. Right now, that includes getting a pair of Beats Solo 4 headphones for half-price.

That means you can get these excellent headphones for just $100, and you can choose from a few different colors as well. These are excellent headphones, but the deal won’t last long, so we recommend snapping them up now if you want them.

As far as headphone deals go, you won’t want to miss this one. The Beats Solo 4 headphones have plenty going for them, including a 50-hour battery life, so you won’t need to reach for the charger that often. And when you do need to charge them up, a 10-minute charge gives you 5 hours of listening time. If you prefer to listen with a cable instead of wirelessly, you can do so with the Beats Solo 4, which includes support for high-quality audio.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

CNET’s audio expert David Carnoy rated the Beats Solo 4 highly in his full review last year but advised readers to wait for them to drop to $130 or so. The colors on sale for $100 include matte black, pink and blue, and all have custom acoustic architecture and updated drivers to offer the signature sound from Beats. If you’re a fan of bass, you won’t be disappointed. The adjustable earcups and UltraPlush cushions ensure long listening sessions are comfortable.

HEADPHONE DEALS OF THE WEEK

Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones (Navy):

$298 (save $50)
Soundcore Life Q20 Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones (Black):

$40 (save $20)
Beats Studio Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones (Black):

$300 (save $51)
Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless ANC Over-Ear Headphones (Black):

$299 (save $151)
Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e ANC Over-Ear Headphones (Black):

$220 (save $180)

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

Why this deal matters

The Apple-owned Beats brand is iconic, and this is your chance to put a pair of the company’s popular headphones in your tech bag at a huge saving. Getting anything for half the price is an incredible opportunity. Being able to pick your color sweetens the deal, but the limited-time nature of the deal does mean you need to act sooner rather than later.