3 hours to charge a Series 7!

[fezzzer]

I've tested two different charging pucks this week (both stainless steel official Apple charging pucks - USB-A) on an Apple Watch S7 and the charge times are shocking!

The charge times (from a 0% battery charge to 100%) both times were 2h 53m 2s and 2h 58m 17s respectively (timed using stopwatch on paired iPhone and battery monitored using the battery widget).

I understand that the battery is marginally bigger than the Apple Watch S6, but that charged from 0% > 100% in circa 1h 30m so doubling the charge time is not representative of the increase in battery capacity.

Is this is software issue? It means using an old charger is no longer feasible to the point where my existing cables are now pretty much redundant (although my other half will now have a number of spares). Does anyone else still experience the same issue or has anyone else seen better charge times?

Fwiw - the fast charger works exactly as it should - I guess it's Apple's way of making me buy more new stuff!

 

[sasparilla1]

i noticed this too. But i think its a good thing. Now you have the choice to charge the watch slowly over night and preserve the lifetime of the battery or to use the fast charging puck wich is included with every series 7.

Maybe this is the reason why apple slowed the charging with the old pucks down?

 

[fezzzer]

If they slowed the charging down for that reason, they’d likely make it optional and do the same with previous generation watches. I doubt very much it’s deliberate for that reason

 

[FriendlyMackle]

If they slowed the charging down for that reason, they’d likely make it optional and do the same with previous generation watches. I doubt very much it’s deliberate for that reason

Curious…why don’t you use the provided new puck? Yes, it IS a pain, and you’ll need to purchase a 20w USBC charger - and the best price I’ve found (from a reputable brand where I won’t have to fear my apartment will catch fire?) is the Anker nano (or something like that) for $15 on Amazon. With a discount (offered onsite), I bought one yesterday for $12.50 or so.
Apple not including these adapters is actually a price increase, not to mention, seriously penny-pinching! I mean, a $850 device, and they can’t include a $15 adapter!? And obviously, the retail price of $12-15 means it would have cost them more like $5. I am definitely annoyed. But, while I did already have two different 20w usbc adapters, so i was able to test that the fast charging is real and useful, I bought one for the watch, since I need the others for different devices.

 

[fezzzer]

I use the included fast charging puck (and another I’ve bought) all the time but was travelling for a half marathon over the weekend and packed one of the older pucks to charge the watch as my newer ones were at work and at home.

Fast charging is great, slow charging less so ?

 

[FriendlyMackle]

I use the included fast charging puck (and another I’ve bought) all the time but was travelling for a half marathon over the weekend and packed one of the older pucks to charge the watch as my newer ones were at work and at home.

Fast charging is great, slow charging less so ?

Understood! And agreed. ?

 

[jaredwsmith]

Will be interesting to see what watchOS 8.1.1 changed -- its only release note was that it addressed issues relating to charging on the Series 7.

 

[techno-Zen]

I wish the animation was different when the watch ”fast charges”

 

[nikkisharif]

Will be interesting to see what watchOS 8.1.1 changed -- its only release note was that it addressed issues relating to charging on the Series 7.

I believe the update fixes the intermittent charging some people were having with their S7. I could be wrong, but I’ve seen a good amount of people complain about charging issues, so the timing seems right.

 

[fezzzer]

I’ll update with a test when my watch next hits 0% (I had to charge from 30% today otherwise it won’t last me at work )

 

[fezzzer]

Not looking any different so far, 47% charged and 1:23:00 in… still looking like it’ll be a full 3 hours post update.

So I’m assuming the bug didn’t ‘fix’ the slowness but the intermittent charging.

 

[fezzzer]

Pretty much the same (give or take) - 3
Hour charging time. I guess I’ll stick to the fast charger