Y'all also had bright full-screen watch faces? I only use them sparingly but many AW users say these take too much battery. If you want to maximise it do not have coloured background ones.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
11.4 battery drain AWu2
- Thread starter Bost85
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I am experiencing the same issue. After update to 11.4 my AWU2 battery drains visibly faster. For example: I took off of the charger today at 9AM and after one hour battery lost 3%. LTE is off. No changes in the configuration or setup. I rebooted my phone and the watch several times since 11.4 was installed. Overall, I see that my battery lasts at least 0,5-1 day less than before the update.
It’s clearly the new software 11.4. There is no logic to appear out of nowhere and hopefully they will fix it ☹️
But it's not, or everybody would be having the same problem.
I charged my AWU2 Thursday night, taking it off the charger at 11:00 pm before I went to bed. I wore it all night and woke up at 4:30 am on Friday and it was at 99%. I played golf, using the GPS for almost 4 hours, and was at 72% afterward. When I went to bed Friday night my watch was at 56%. I wore it all night and all day today (Saturday), did an indoor walk and just usual use (checking notifications, etc.), and it was still at 22% when I put it on the charger at 9:45 pm - two days after it was last charged.
Without the GPS usage on Friday, I could have easily gone a full 3 days between charges. I use AOD with the Modular Ultra face, cellular is activated but rarely turned on because I'm almost always in range of my phone. Display is set to full brightness and I don't ever use low power mode for anything at any time. I've noticed absolutely zero difference in battery life with 11.4.
It definitely is. Just because you don’t have the issue doesn’t mean others shouldn’t. Why are so many people complaining about rapid battery drain after the update? These are bugs introduced by updates that don’t always affect everyone. With so many variables involved, I understand why that would be the case.
I took my watch to an Apple Genius, and they themselves admitted it was likely a bug. Unfortunately, they couldn’t do much about it unless I paid out of pocket for diagnostics and “repair”—I’m out of warranty.
Update …. So since two weeks and after watch and phone restarts my apu 2 battery has been restored back to the standard days I had 3+ days.
With the new 11.5 again the same issues
overnight drain and one day less battery and booting time 1:40 minutes.
With the new 11.5 again the same issues
overnight drain and one day less battery and booting time 1:40 minutes.
Last edited:
I’ve had this issue since basically 11.x.. now certainly with 11.4 as well. I could easily do THREE DAYS of AWU2 use, with 2-3 hours or tracked outdoor and indoor workouts with phone nearby. Now it’s only 2.5 days. I’m going to try and shut off Live Activities - which I hardly ever use or look at other than the pop-ups when they start.. see if that gets it back to historical three days use and battery life. Battery condition is still 98% reported after ~ 18 months of daily use?
I've found that my AWU2 gives me 10-20 hours less battery since going to watchOS 11, I wish I could go back...
So, shutting off live activities made ZERO difference for me at least.. same ~ 60 hours now on 11.4 use vs 72 hours prior. Battery health is still only 98%, so that can’t be making much impact.. While I didnt use the swipe up from the bottom live activities much at all, I DID use the tap the indicator in the center top of the screen, for things like timers, workouts, other.. I didn’t know that that notification indicator was TIED to the live activities feature, so if it doesn’t use any MORE battery life at this point I might as well turn it back on.
How about since many Apple Watch Ultra users run or track workouts for a long period of time, do low power mode on it or shut off AOD? Will it help with battery life?
So I did extensive testing when these devices came out on battery life and which elements drain battery the most. AOD is top of the list with ~ 15%.. so it’s been off since the beginning for me at least. All those elements which I found to be battery drains have still been off, so this change from ~ 72 hours of usable life, with 2-3x workouts in that time frame (I’m actually doing less due to a health issue) should remain stable all things being equal. Only change has been the upgrade to 11.x, where 15% less battery life has been occurring.
Post in thread 'Ultra Battery life'
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ultra-battery-life.2361649/post-31753869
Post in thread 'Ultra Battery life'
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ultra-battery-life.2361649/post-31654108
AOD is taxing battery, no doubt.
And it’s even worse in sunny conditions (brightness is higher)
For very long runs (8h and more), with a « not brand new » watch, it’s better to turn AOD off.
For long workouts, we need less data, we are not looking at the watch every 100m like in a short and fast race.
I notice my Ultra2 (more than one year and a half and quite heavy usage) had lost some battery life. I feel it, it’s not related to os version, it’s battery wear (87%).
For now, it’s still OK for my type of runs (I have a ~8h race on Sunday).
It’s a shame that we can’t decide when to change battery at Apple.
And it’s even worse in sunny conditions (brightness is higher)
For very long runs (8h and more), with a « not brand new » watch, it’s better to turn AOD off.
For long workouts, we need less data, we are not looking at the watch every 100m like in a short and fast race.
I notice my Ultra2 (more than one year and a half and quite heavy usage) had lost some battery life. I feel it, it’s not related to os version, it’s battery wear (87%).
For now, it’s still OK for my type of runs (I have a ~8h race on Sunday).
It’s a shame that we can’t decide when to change battery at Apple.
Completely different battery life perspectives y’all but great tips! @tivoboy what type of workouts do you do on your ultra? Do you do long runs or cycling like Rbart or do you hike, fish or walk ?
Another AWU2 user here. Also noticed a 10-15% increase in battery usage per day. I used to be able to get 3 days easily, now not so easy (I have AOD off and what not).