14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has released iOS 16 to the iPhone 8 and newer, and one of the features that users seem to love the most is the battery percentage that’s coming back after such a long time.
The feature must be enabled manually from Settings > Battery > Battery Percentage, but if the setting is missing for you, it’s all because the device you’re using does not support it.
Apple is only shipping the battery percentage update to select iPhones, with the company confirming in a tech support document that “iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 mini, and iPhone 13 mini don't display battery percentage in the status bar.”
Needless to say, there’s no way to bypass this limitation and bring the battery percentage to an unsupported device, so unless Apple changes its mind and releases the feature for the said iPhones, there’s not much users can do.
“On iPhone 13 and other iPhone models with Face ID (iPhone X and later), the battery percentage appears in Control Center. Just swipe down from the top-right corner of your display. With iOS 16, you can turn on the battery percentage so it appears in your status bar. Go to Settings > Battery, and turn on Battery Percentage,” Apple explains.
Just swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen
Of course, the easiest way to see the battery level on a device that isn’t getting this feature is to simply swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen, as Apple itself explains.
This is something we’ve all been doing lately until the release of iOS 16 anyway, so for most users out there, it’s already something that has become a part of the daily routine.
It goes without saying Apple has remained completely tight-lipped on plans to release the battery percentage to the unsupported devices in a future update.