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One of the best iOS 16 features might not work on your iPhone

Updated Sep 20th, 2022 9:28AM EDT
iPhone 14 Pro at Apple's September event.
Image: Apple

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At long last, Apple finally brought the battery percentage back in iOS 16. Unfortunately, even if your iPhone supports iOS 16, it might not have this new feature.

As spotted by MacRumors, Apple recently updated a support document on its website which explains how to find the battery percentage on a number of iPhone models. On an iPhone 13 and other models with Face ID, you can see the battery percentage by swiping down to open the Control Center. The percentage appears in the top right corner.

After you install iOS 16 on an iPhone with Face ID, you can also make the battery percentage show up in the status bar. In order to do so, go to Settings > Battery, and hit the toggle next to Battery Percentage. This will make the battery percentage appear inside the battery icon in the status bar. But you might not see this toggle on your iPhone.

According to Apple’s support site, “iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 mini, and iPhone 13 mini don’t display battery percentage in the status bar.” I still use an iPhone 11 as my daily driver, and the feature simply doesn’t appear on my device, even after updating.

As of now, Apple has yet to offer an explanation as to why this is the case. It’s also unclear if any of these models will ever support this feature. If you own any of the models listed above, you’ll have to upgrade to see the battery percentage in your status bar.

Here are all of the devices that do support the new battery percentage feature in iOS 16:

  • iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone SE (third generation)

At the very least, we hope Apple explains why some models aren’t included.

UPDATE | 9/14: The first iOS 16.1 beta brings the battery percentage feature to the iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 11, and iPhone XR. It will likely be at least a few weeks until this update rolls out to everyone, but at least we know it’s coming.


More iPhone coverage: For more iPhone news, visit our iPhone 14 guide.

Jacob Siegal
Jacob Siegal Associate Editor

Jacob Siegal is Associate Editor at BGR, having joined the news team in 2013. He has over a decade of professional writing and editing experience, and helps to lead our technology and entertainment product launch and movie release coverage.

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