After iOS 16 made available to the public. Apple confirmed that older iPhone models won’t be able to show the battery percentage directly in the status bar.
Apple says in a new support document that the iPhone XR, the iPhone 11, the iPhone 12 mini, and the iPhone 13 mini do not have the new battery percentage display. It doesn’t say anything else about why these devices won’t be able to use the new feature.
During the summer, Apple added the icon that shows the percentage of battery life to an iOS 16 beta. The new toggle, which is in Settings and Battery, lets users always see the percentage of their battery in the status bar. Hence they don’t have to swipe down to get to Control Center.
Where is the option
With iOS 16, users will once again be able to see at a glance how much battery life there is. Even though the way it is done leaves a lot to be desired, it does work. Users will just have to go to Settings > Battery and turn on Battery Percentage to use this amazing new feature.
That is, if you don’t have a certain number of iPhones. The Battery Percentage “feature” will not be added to the iPhone XR, the iPhone 11, the iPhone 12 mini, and the iPhone 13 mini.
Apple has put a small asterisk on its official support page for Battery Percentage to show that this is a small caveat. In a separate article, MacRumours was the first to notice the sneaky addition.
Apple hasn’t said why these models can’t use the new feature. Since two of the models listed are iPhone minis, it’s possible that size restrictions played a role.
Since the notch is going away, it shouldn’t be hard for future iPhones to show how much battery is remaining. But the fact that an iPhone that came out in 2021 can’t do something so simple is, at the very least, funny.