Clean Energy Charging comes to iPhone with iOS 16 beta 1

(Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)

Apple's new Clean Energy Charging feature is now available for developers with the first iOS 16.1 beta installed. That update will likely be released to the public within weeks, so you might not have to wait too long to try it out for yourself.

That is, assuming you're in the United States. At launch, at least, that's the only place you'll be able to use this particular feature.

Energy matters

Apple announced the new Clean Energy Charging feature when it released iOS 16 on Monday, saying that it would be made available via a software update before the end of the year. It now looks like iOS 16.1 will be that update, with the new beta including the option to toggle Clean Energy Charging on and off at will.

There’s also a new battery feature in iOS 16.1 called “Clean Energy Charging” pic.twitter.com/WPRhbs9aE1September 14, 2022

The text displayed beneath the setting says that "iPhone will try to reduce your carbon footprint by selectively charging when lower carbon emission electricity is available." It goes on to say that the iPhone will learn the user's daily charging routine so that it can be charged to 100% before it's needed.

Initial reports suggest that the new feature will be enabled automatically by default, although that might not be the case for everyone. It's also possible that Apple could change that behavior before we see the iOS 16.1 feature made available to all.

Potentially the best iPhone toggle for people hoping to reduce their carbon footprint, this addition is just one of the many that will arrive via iOS 16 updates before the end of the year. Support for Matter, Live Activities, and more is all slated to arrive soon enough, while the entire iPadOS 16 update will not arrive until next month. The same goes for macOS Ventura, too, with developers still testing beta versions for those ahead of the big public release.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.