iPhone battery at 80% health: should I sell now or wait?

Quick answer: if your iPhone is hovering between 80% and 85% battery health, the sensible move is to sell it now. Below 80%, almost every reputable buyer in Australia (us included) can't take it. Each month of normal use chews through roughly 0.5 to 1% more, so the difference between "sell this week" and "sell in three months" can easily be the difference between $400 and zero.

Why 80% is the cliff (not a soft slope)

Apple's own definition: a battery is considered "consumed" once it falls below 80% of its original design capacity. Below that line, iOS warns you "Your battery's health is significantly degraded" and the phone may throttle peak performance during high-load tasks (camera, gaming, demanding apps).

From a buyback perspective, this matters because:

• The phone can no longer be sold as a "good refurb" - the resale market expects at least 80%
• The next buyer needs the battery replaced before they can confidently use it, which means our cost goes up by ~$100 to fit a genuine Apple part
• A buyer who isn't tracking battery health will get a worse experience and request a refund

So 79% isn't "a little worse than 80%" - it's a different category of phone entirely.

Checking your battery health (30 seconds)

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Battery
3. Tap Battery Health & Charging
4. The percentage shown next to "Maximum Capacity" is what every buyer checks

If it shows "Service" anywhere, the battery is already below 80% and we (and most reputable buyers) can't take it.

The math: what waiting actually costs

Rough numbers for an iPhone 13 Pro 256 GB in good cosmetic condition:

• 91% health: ~$680 offer (small bonus for healthy battery)
• 85% health: ~$640
• 81% health: ~$610
• 79% health: $0 from us, ~$200 from a parts buyer (huge cliff)

If you're at 82% and use your phone normally, you'll likely cross the 80% line in 2 to 6 months. That's potentially a $400+ swing on a single phone. Selling sooner protects the value.

What about replacing the battery instead?

Apple charges $109 to $159 AUD to replace the battery on most iPhones (iPhone 11 through 16, prices vary by model). A successful replacement brings you back to ~100% health and resets the warning.

The math only works if:

• You're keeping the phone for at least another 12 months (otherwise you spent $150 for a brief value bump and a phone that still depreciates)
• The phone is recent enough that the replaced battery + the rest of the device justify the cost (mostly iPhone 13 onward)
• The replacement is done by Apple or an Apple Authorised Service Provider - anything else = "non-genuine parts" warning in Settings, which we (and most buyers) flag as a deal-breaker

For older iPhones (11, 12) at 80% health, just sell. The battery replacement cost eats most of the value bump.

The honest summary

At 90%+ you have time. At 85-89% you're fine for the next ~6 months. At 80-84% you're on the cliff edge and the smart move is to grab a quote while you still can. Below 80%, your options narrow to private sale (Gumtree, parts buyers) or paying for a battery replacement first.

Either way, the quote at /sell takes 60 seconds and locks in for 7 days - plenty of time to think it over.