The 5 astonishing things your iPhone can still do even with a dead battery

Do you feel completely lost when you see the dreaded “low-battery” symbol on your smartphone?

If so, you’re not alone, with smartphones becoming the all-in-one tool for all sorts of day to day to tasks like paying for transport to replying to important emails.

In the past, running out of juice meant phones were almost entirely out of action, but a tech expert has revealed several tricks that work even with a dead battery.

Declan Somers from identified five features that rely on something called power reserve, a mode “designed to give you access to a few key features for up to five hours after your phone has run out of battery”.

“However, this only kicks in if the phone naturally dies, as manually powering it off will disable power reserve,” the expert added.

Here are some of the suprising things your phone can do in power reserve.

Make payments on public transport

Suprisingly your can still get you onto public transport even if it’s out of juice thanks to Apple’s Express Mode feature.

This means you can tap your to pay for the tube or bus without needing to unlock the phone or power it on.

“This feature, which is automatically enabled, allows you to breeze through barriers on the London Underground or other compatible transport systems. You can select the specific card you want to use for Express Mode in your ’s Wallet settings,” Somers said.

“This works strictly for transit payments, so don’t expect it to buy you a coffee or cover your groceries,” the expert added.

Unlock your car

If your car key is linked to your ’s Apple Wallet, you can unlock your vehicle even if your battery has seemingly run out, the expert says.

Power reserve enables this functionality provided the car key has been set up in advance.

You can check whether it’s active by pressing the side button on your while it’s “dead.” A small screen should appear, showing which cards or keys can be used with power reserve.

But Somers cautions people against overusing the feature “as every press will further drain the limited power reserve”.

Find your iPhone even when it’s dead

11 models or later can use its ultra-wideband chip to tap into Apple’s Find My network. This allows other active Apple devices nearby to detect where your phone is – even when its offline – and help locate it.

To enable this, go into Find My in your handset’s iCloud settings.

If there’s a message saying “ is Findable” when pressing the side button, it’s active. This feature requires at least a small amount of power reserve.

Check the time

Apple’s iOS 18 update introduced a feature that allows you to check the time in power reserve too.

“Simply press the power button, and the time will be displayed alongside the battery icon,” Somers said.

“If set up properly, it will also show the ‘iPhone is Findable’ message, reassuring you that your phone can still be tracked.”

Use your student ID or hotel key

You can use your student ID or hotel key if your phone is out of charge, as long as they’re linked to your Apple Wallet.

This is particularly useful for students entering dorms or guests checking into hotels, for example. As with transit and car keys, this relies on Express Mode and power reserve.

You can find more information on .