Apple to add ‘Clean Energy Charging’ feature to iOS 16 that will decrease iPhone’s carbon footprint

Apple is planning to release an update to iOS 16 later this year that will optimise iPhone charging times for when the grid is using cleaner energy sources.

Dubbed ‘Clean Energy Charging’, the feature is intended to decrease the carbon footprint of the iPhone, according to Apple.

It will only be available to users in the US initially, but could roll out elsewhere at a later date.

The new feature comes amid fears the war in Ukraine could impact power grid capacity this winter, as Russia withholds gas supplies.

Apple revealed the Clean Energy Charging feature in the footnotes of a press release announcing the availability of its iOS 16 operating system.

iOS 16 brings a host of new features, including a redesigned lock screen and the ability to edit and ‘unsend’ messages.

However, some features did not make it into the day-one release of iOS 16, such as iCloud Shared Photo Library, which will allow up to six users to contribute to a single iCloud library.

iCloud Shared Photo Library was first announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June, and was supposed to be part of the initial iOS 16 release on September 12.

A few days before the launch, Apple quietly added a note to its website revealing that the feature would be delayed until ‘later this year’.

By contrast, the Clean Energy Charging feature, which will presumably be released as part of the same iOS 16 update later this year, has not previously been announced by Apple.

The company did not reveal any details about how the feature would work in its press release, other than it would ‘decrease the carbon footprint of the iPhone by optimising charging times for when the grid is using cleaner energy sources’.

This may mean offloading iPhone charging to a time when power grids are less constrained and more clean energy capacity is available.

The news comes amid fears that millions of Britons could be asked to limit their energy use this winter to head off blackouts by avoiding using gas and electricity at peak times and turning off the lights on days when the wind doesn’t blow.

Kathryn Porter, from consultancy Watt-Logic, said it was possible households could be asked not to use energy-guzzling appliances at peak hours or eat their dinner at a different time.

In the US, tens of millions of people have been asked not to use washing machines, dishwashers and ovens between 2pm and 8pm because of the global energy crisis. Charging cars before 9pm is also not advised.

Away from the home, in Germany, street lights are being dimmed, traffic lights at quieter junctions are turned off, hot water and central heating is off in public buildings and monuments will no longer be lit overnight.

Ms Porter has said that it’s ‘very possible’ the UK will see plans for energy rationing, despite Liz Truss absolutely ruling it out.

She told BBC’s World at One: ‘Unfortunately, as each winter goes by, the risk of blackouts is increasing because we have been replacing thermal and nuclear generation with intermittent renewables. That makes us vulnerable in times when wind output is low.

‘We have had quite low wind output in July and August…Demand is a lot higher in the winter, so if we have those weather conditions in the winter, our system is going to get very tight and that raises a risk of blackouts.’

With similar schemes in California and Texas – Ms Porter expects that authorities could ask consumers to reduce their use of electricity during peak hours – although in the US all these schemes are not enforced in law. 

‘It is possible we will see something similar here this winter,’ she said, adding: ‘I think it would be more an appeal or request for people to have their dinner earlier or later, or avoid using large appliances like washing machines during peak hours. I think it would be voluntary rather than compulsory’.