Ever since the debut of the iPhone X in 2017, Apple fans have lamented the missing battery percentage in the status bar. With the introduction of the TrueDepth module and all the cameras and sensors that enable Face ID, the status bar got cut in two with a lot of missing space in the middle.
So on all iPhones with Face ID and a notch (everything but the iPhone SE), Apple has eliminated the ability to show your battery percentage on the status bar. You have to swipe down to Control Center to see your battery percentage. Now, with iOS 16, everything changes.
How to turn on Battery Status indicator on iOS 16
iOS 16 includes an option in Settings > Battery to display battery percentage in the status bar once again.
They said it was just too complicated. That the technology simply wasn’t there yet. But Apple has shown what true innovation is by making the battery icon just a touch bigger and putting the battery percentage number inside it. Just like everyone has been asking them to do for the last six years.
Why doesn’t my iPhone have Battery Status indicator?
Unfortunately this feature is not available on the iPhone XR, iPhone 11, or iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini. Our guess is that the phones with LCD displays and mini phones don’t have enough resolution to make the small black text as clear as Apple would like it to be, but you never know what would change in the future. Here is the full list of supported phones:
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XS
- iPhone X
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Of course iOS 16 is full of much bigger features. A customizable lock screen! Cut the subject out of any image instantly! Edit and unsend Messages! But it’s often the very smallest things that make people happiest. We get the feeling that, as hundreds of millions of iPhone users update their iPhones to iOS 16, you’re going to see a lot of happy social media posts about the battery percentage returning to the status bar.
Unfortunately there are quite a few others complaining that their phone doesn’t get the feature.
If you don’t want to install iOS 16, or your iPhone isn’t able to run iOS 16, you can still check battery percentage by following the steps in this article: How to show battery percentage on iPhone.
Author: Jason Cross, Senior Editor
I have written about technology for my entire professional life - over 25 years. I enjoy learning about how complicated technology works and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.