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Apple Watch Impacts iPhone Battery Life... One Way or the Other

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Apr 12, 2001
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With the launch of the Apple Watch on Friday, the first wave of consumers have received their Apple Watches. Our forums are abuzz with activity surrounding Apple's newest device. While there were initial concerns about the Apple Watch's battery life, reports seem to indicate that the Apple Watch, itself, has no problem lasting a full day.

Apple-Watch.jpg
However, there have been mixed reports about the impact the Apple Watch has on iPhone battery life. The Apple Watch needs to be paired to an iPhone for full functionality. The iPhone connects to the Apple Watch via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to feed it data and notifications throughout the day.

Some users have found a notable improvement in iPhone battery life with the addition of an Apple Watch. This suggests the act of offloading notifications and quick interactions to your Apple Watch, could make your iPhone battery last much longer.
The best unexpected but /now/ obvious surprise to having the Apple Watch is plenty of battery life on the iPhone after a full day out! - Dan James (@Daniel277) April 26, 2015
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However, several other users have noticed a significant drain on their iPhone batteries in early usage with the Apple Watch.
Apple Watch battery life: 16-20 hrs. iPhone paired with Apple Watch: seemingly zero hours - Jacqui Cheng (@ejacqui) April 26, 2015
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Former Engadget editor Ryan Block had as similar experience and pinpointed the Apple Watch Companion app as the culprit. John Byrne also puts some blame on the Companion App, saying that force-quitting the app seemed to help at least a bit. A discussion thread in our forums provides similarly mixed results, with one user blaming his battery drain on checking email on the Apple Watch. Due to the inconsistency in reports, it seems that either a software bug or particular usage pattern could be a culprit.

Article Link: Apple Watch Impacts iPhone Battery Life... One Way or the Other
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/04/26/apple-watch-iphone-battery/
Well it is connected to the Watch and has to keep going backwards and forwards to receive data etc.
 
My iPhone 6 plus' battery never went to 0 throughout the day. Now I have to recharge at 8-9pm.
 
I'm having absolutely no issues with iPhone battery life.

It seems pretty much the same as it did without the Apple Watch.
 
This can only be fixed with a more efficient bluetooth technology which I don't see happening until version 2 at least.
 
i can confirm. my watch would outlast my phone if i didn't charge my phone intermittently throughout the day
 
Battery life on my 6 has definitely gotten better. Home and lock screen usage has gone way down.

Both the watch and my phone lasted a day of normal use with no problems. Neither dipped below 30%.
 
Well the watch uses the latest Bluetooth technology, so I doubt there would be a an improvement due to that.

Yes it is the companion app which is causing the drain, combined with, I suspect- people using their shiny new watches all the time! The watch relies on the phone for all its online functions, so the radios are being used regularly, especially if you are like me and can't leave the damn thing alone!

On the serious side, unlike the Pebble, the Apple Watch functions just fine without the companion app running, so just close the app when you are not using it. I was slightly alarmed at how quickly my phone battery was running down until I experimented with closing the app. Just shut it down when you are not using it. It's not difficult.
 
This is definitely proof that battery life of the two are directly depend on each user usage patterns. Nothing more and nothing less.
 
More relevantly, by 9:30pm with my Pebble connected my battery would be 10-20%. With my Apple watch connected it's 40%.
 
Battery life a little worse but have been installing AW apps a lot and stuff. Good tip about force quitting the companion app. Hope it helps.

Edit: although quick check in Usage shows Companion at 2% of my battery
 
I am finging minimal impact on my iPhones battery. However, I am not a "power user" like some people are.

Watch and phone easily lasting long day. I am still only charging my phone about two hous in the morning before work.
My phone is on all day, frequent use. Also it is on all night as I sleep with headphones on.

Strange the differing reportss.
 
Your watch is a mirror for your iPhone. It's just doing tasks the phone would normally do. In addition to that, the iPhone is on sleep mode more often, and the screen stays off when your doing tasks on the watch. So it really shouldn't have much of an effect.
 
I'm used to using bluetooth accessories with my phone, so that probably affects what I'm used to day-to-day, but I've been hitting 30-40% at the end of each day on my phone with the watch now.
 
Settings > General > Usage > Battery for a summary of the full impact the watch has on the iPhone battery.
 
I've gotten better battery life on my phone because my phone doesn't light up for every notification now
 
My battery life has improved as I am using my iPhone 6 much less. Absolutely loving my Sports Watch after 2 days of use.

I just experienced this, can some one let me know how this works? I left my iPhone at home, rode my bike to my gf's house with my Watch on, when I got to her house and inside (she has wi-fi) my Watch started dinging and I was seeing incoming texts and could send replies as well as emails too.

Is this because my iPhone has been on this network before? But how freaking cool is this? I can start leaving my phone home more often now and still be in touch/contact. Dang Apple!

P.S. My other watch, a Sports with black band which said 4-6 weeks, just got charged to my cc and is preparing for shipment! Wooohooo!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Shayanftw said:
And why exactly is anyone surprised?
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This is exactly why I am holding tight and waiting for the next 14nm iPhone before considering an Apple Watch.

The always on connection is a better hog, or at the very least battery life impacting to a noticeable extent

Going 14nm should give a huge battery life bump to the iPhone 6S and equalize any concerns about Apple Watch drain.
 
The Bogeyman said:
Yes it is the companion app which is causing the drain, combined with, I suspect- people using their shiny new watches all the time! The watch relies on the phone for all its online functions, so the radios are being used regularly, especially if you are like me and can't leave the damn thing alone!
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Sorry to be dense here. Do you mean the "Watch" app? How do you shut it off? Does it affect the operation of the watch?

Thanks
 
They need to polish up the software a bit, when I started using a Pebble, my battery life increased by about 20% because of reduced SOT.
 
bunnicula said:
I'm having absolutely no issues with iPhone battery life.

It seems pretty much the same as it did without the Apple Watch.
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Me too. I think the extra drain that the watch uses (which may not be too much) is compensated by the fact I've been looking at it (and therefore turning the screen on) less.

Maps directions turn by turn is particularly good on both as the phone's GPS but screen is not on, whereas the watch only needs to tap me at relevant points.

Overall, I'm very satisfied.
 
Well if we are to trust the battery usage stats in iOS 8 then the companion app for me has only used 2%.

Can't say I've noticed any ill effect. After a day's usage my watch is on 56% and my iPhone 24%. Been using them both a fair amount.
 
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