Apple has obviously always had a problem with this percentage.
There are certain things regarding smartphones that we took for granted and that manufacturers are quick to send to oblivion. This was particularly the case with the jack port, the fingerprint sensor, Touch ID, or even the percentage of the battery displayed directly from the status bar. All disappeared from the iPhone, without explanation. The jack port has been dropped on all phones, Touch ID now only exists on iPhone SE (and maybe not for long), and, miraculously, the battery percentage seems to rise from the dead on iPhone.
Since the release of the fifth beta of iOS 16, on August 8, owners of an iPhone with a notch on which the iOS 16 beta is installed were surprised to see the battery percentage return. Not in any form, since it takes place within the logo of the battery, where it was installed to its left at the time.
Rather surprising choice for Apple, which has never known how to position itself in relation to this element of the user interface.
In 2007 and 2008, Apple rolled out the iPhone and iPhone 3G. Strangely, where all Android-powered smartphones show the percentage, only Steve Jobs’ iPhones don’t show how much power is left in the battery. There is then no control center, so it is impossible to access this information. Except for the hour, no other number appeared in the status bar, located at the top of the screen.
Fortunately, a few smart guys, jailbreak enthusiasts, manage to sneak into the bowels of iPhone OS 1 and 2 and unearth, in the lines of code, which activates the display of the percentage. We then understand that Apple refused to display this small number, while the code would have allowed it.
8 years of existence before slipping into oblivion
It will then be necessary to wait for the iPhone 3GS and 2009 for Apple to present what is an “exclusivity” in relation to the model. Battery percentage on iPhone was born, and it will live for eight years.
2017. Apple celebrates 10 years since the presentation of the first iPhone by Steve Jobs and unveils the iPhone X, a total game changer in the smartphone industry. The screen is borderless with a big notch for the TrueDepth camera. However, the space left to the right and left of the notch is not large enough to allow the display of network bars, WiFi, time and battery and its percentage. Apple must then make a choice, and it is the percentage that falls by the wayside.
Since then, radio silence on the side of Cupertino which has never really expressed itself on this subject. We thought then that the reduction in the size of the notch last year with the iPhone 13 would allow this long-awaited return, but it will not be.
The percentage totally “redesigned“
With the fifth beta of iOS 16, Apple is therefore bringing the percentage back, but in a different form. The number is inside the logo and unless it gets below 20%, the battery remains full in the image, which may confuse users. Apple finally found a solution for the percentage, and one wonders why it took so long. The iPhone X might very well have accommodated a layout of this type and satisfied all users. Strangely, not everyone is in the same boat and do not have access to this percentage.
With the iPhone 14, Apple seems to have reshuffled the cards. On the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, Apple has completely ditched the notch in favor of a little pill. This adds a lot of space in the upper part of the screen, and might therefore allow the return of the original indicator. However, we will have to wait for an official visual from Apple proving the thing before getting an idea on the subject and leaving empty-handed if Cupertino decides otherwise.
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