TECHNOLOGY
SMARTPHONES
IPHONE
End the Charging Guesswork: iOS 26 Adds Live Time Estimates
It’s a universally frustrating experience: you plug in your iPhone, walk away for a bit, and return hoping for a significant charge, only to find it barely moved past a low percentage. Whether you forgot to flip a switch, used a slow charger, or just lost track of time, the uncertainty of “how long will this actually take?” can be genuinely annoying, especially when you’re in a hurry. Until now, knowing your iPhone’s precise charging time required guesswork or third-party solutions.
Apple is addressing this common pain point with a simple yet highly effective new feature coming in iOS 26, first showcased at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2025. This update introduces the ability for your iPhone to provide an estimated time until its battery reaches a certain charge level, visible directly on the Lock Screen and within the Settings app.
How the New Charging Estimate Appears
The beauty of this feature lies in its straightforward implementation. When your iPhone is connected to power, whether via a physical cable or a wireless charger, a discrete message will appear on the Lock Screen. Situated just above the clock and alongside your current battery percentage, you’ll see an estimate in the format “X% to [Charge Limit]”.
For instance, if your iPhone is at 22% charge, the Lock Screen might display “22% to 80% in 44 minutes.” This provides an immediate, glanceable update on your charging progress. The original testing of this feature demonstrated its accuracy, showing an iPhone starting at 22% at 7:11 PM and estimating it would hit 80% at 7:55 PM – precisely 44 minutes later, which it did.
The feature also provides a helpful visual cue if you’re using an inefficient power source. If your iPhone detects a significantly slow charger, a “Slow Charger” label will appear on the Lock Screen, alerting you to the reduced charging speed. Notably, this label doesn’t seem to appear when a fast charger is connected.
Viewing the Full Charge Time in Settings
While the Lock Screen provides a quick estimate up to a specific limit, it’s common to want to know the time required to reach a full 100% charge. Apple has included this detail within the Battery settings. Once your iPhone is plugged in, navigating to Settings > Battery will reveal the comprehensive charging status at the top of the screen. This includes the estimated time remaining until your iPhone reaches 100% capacity (or the maximum charge limit you’ve set).
Understanding Charging Limits and the Estimate
The estimated charging time displayed is closely tied to another new battery management feature in iOS 26: user-configurable Charging Limits. Found within Settings > Battery > Charging, this option allows you to set a maximum charge percentage for your iPhone, ranging from 80% to 100% in 5% increments. This feature is designed to potentially help preserve battery health over time by reducing the amount of time the battery spends at 100%.
The charging time estimate reflects this limit. If you have set your charging limit to 85%, the estimate shown in the Settings app will indicate the time required to reach 85%. However, it’s important to note that the Lock Screen display always shows the estimate “to 80%”, regardless of the higher limit you might have set in Settings. This seems to be a design choice, potentially prioritizing the most common limited charging scenario on the Lock Screen while offering full detail in Settings.
Part of a Bigger iOS 26 Update
The new charging time estimate feature is just one piece of a more extensive iOS 26 update unveiled at WWDC 2025. The operating system is set to receive a significant overhaul, including a major design refresh often referred to as “Liquid Glass,” aiming for greater consistency and a refined look across Apple’s platforms.
Beyond aesthetics, iOS 26 brings advancements to Apple Intelligence, enhancing AI capabilities across the system, and introduces updates to various built-in applications. The Battery settings page itself has been revamped to offer more detailed statistics on usage and introduces a new intelligent power-saving mode called Adaptive Power Mode. The charging time estimate seamlessly integrates into this updated Battery management suite.
Currently, this charging time estimate feature, along with other iOS 26 enhancements like the configurable charging limits and revamped battery stats, is available to developers running the iOS 26 beta. A public beta is expected to roll out shortly, with the full version of iOS 26 anticipated for release in the fall. This seemingly small addition offers a significant quality-of-life improvement, finally eliminating the guesswork from iPhone charging.
