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Apple Watch Battery to Support Five Hours of Heavy Usage, Will Last All Day With Mixed Use

Alright, look everyone.

I'm a fan of most Apple products. I own an iPhone 6 and a MacBook Pro and am very happy with both devices.

But I honestly cannot comprehend spending $350 on a device that only allows 5 hours of heavy usage per day without a recharge. Even if that figure eventually gets better with daily usage, and a few weeks of charging and discharging, as batteries tend to do, it still doesn't look like it will get me through a full day.

And say what you will about people who choose to use their devices more often than others, but as a tech professional, I'm constantly getting text messages and emails. I'd have to say that in the course of a 10 hour work day, I could easily spend 5 hours total using my watch in a heavy usage manner.

That doesn't mean I have no life, or that there's something wrong with me. It just means I'm a busy guy, and I'm probably the kind of person who would use the watch a lot and deplete the battery.

I get that Apple is going for a premium smartwatch with a great screen and all these features, but if I have to keep worrying about being close to a charger all the time, it's not going to be worth it for me personally, and I'll probably wait for the second gen of Apple watches.
 
What about the LG G Watch?

LordVic said:
given that there is no cellular antenna I can't imagine that they will be selling it like an iphone / ipad

thats not to say they won't sell it, but you likely wont find subsidized carrier pricing.
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I asked because they do that now with Android Watches (LG G Watch)
 
FieldingMellish said:
Do you know how weighty that watch is gong to be on your wrist all day? It's humongous.
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It will probably find itself in the middle of the pack based on watches I currently wear. If someone is buying this because they love watches, which I think most who will buy it do, it won't be considered heavy or humongous.
 
spectrumfox said:
The size is the whole point of the device! ;D

Apple would have never made bigger iPhone's without Samsung's success with the Note line. Samsung's phablets directly influenced the iPhone 6+.
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You don't know that for sure. Who could predict it? Phones got smaller and smaller for YEARS. Then, there was interest in larger ones.

Apple took their time coming out with one, and I think that they really needed to do it by the time they got to the 5 series, but hey... they have them now and people LOVE them.

So, from a sales and marketing standpoint, Apple is doing just fine. All ideas are borrowed here and there from other people, companies, etc. A wholly original thought is pretty unlikely at this point in human evolution.
 
spectrumfox said:
Alright, look everyone.

I'm a fan of most Apple products. I own an iPhone 6 and a MacBook Pro and am very happy with both devices.

But I honestly cannot comprehend spending $350 on a device that only allows 5 hours of heavy usage per day without a recharge. Even if that figure eventually gets better with daily usage, and a few weeks of charging and discharging, as batteries tend to do, it still doesn't look like it will get me through a full day.

And say what you will about people who choose to use their devices more often than others, but as a tech professional, I'm constantly getting text messages and emails. I'd have to say that in the course of a 10 hour work day, I could easily spend 5 hours total using my watch in a heavy usage manner.

That doesn't mean I have no life, or that there's something wrong with me. It just means I'm a busy guy, and I'm probably the kind of person who would use the watch a lot and deplete the battery.

I get that Apple is going for a premium smartwatch with a great screen and all these features, but if I have to keep worrying about being close to a charger all the time, it's not going to be worth it for me personally, and I'll probably wait for the second gen of Apple watches.
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So, what you're saying is that you're busier than the CEO of the wealthiest tech company in the world?

Okay.

I dunno. I think you're bashing it without giving it a chance. Which is fine and maybe you sit this one out and next gen rolls in and you think the numbers look to be more in line with what you would expect from a device. Or, maybe you see more of these out in the wild and get read numbers from real humans that you trust and decide it's worth your money.

Who knows?

It's still an interesting product, for sure.
 
For anyone who need more 5 hours of heavy use as a "Must Have" it's either the wrong product -- you need a dedicated biking, hiking, triathlon, whatever watch OR you have too much time on your hands (no pun intended).

Charging it every day is less painless with its inductive charger than charging a phone everyday and that hasn't stopped anyone from buying iPhone 6 and 6+s as fast as Apple and push them to stores. Non-issue except for those that never intended to get one and need a negative talking point.
 
b166er said:
If I need my phone to use the watch, why would I store music on the watch? I would already have my phone on me and I can get all my music from there. Plus how would I listen to the music stored on the watch?
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You don't always need the phone with the watch. Like when you go running. And Bluetooth headphones.
 
MacRumors said:
[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]

...

Article Link: Apple Watch Battery to Support Five Hours of Heavy Usage, Will Last All Day With Mixed Use
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If I can't watch Netflix for 14 continuous hours on the iWatch then I won't even consider purchasing one.

Of course I wasn't considering purchasing one anyway since I no longer use an iPhone, nor do I have any desire to go back to wearing a watch on a daily basis nor do I have any desire to be "iWatch Guy".

Bring on the new MacBook Air, an updated ATV and a 27" Cinema Display refresh... that's where my money is headed.

picture.php
 
spectrumfox said:
Alright, look everyone.

I'm a fan of most Apple products. I own an iPhone 6 and a MacBook Pro and am very happy with both devices.

But I honestly cannot comprehend spending $350 on a device that only allows 5 hours of heavy usage per day without a recharge. Even if that figure eventually gets better with daily usage, and a few weeks of charging and discharging, as batteries tend to do, it still doesn't look like it will get me through a full day.

And say what you will about people who choose to use their devices more often than others, but as a tech professional, I'm constantly getting text messages and emails. I'd have to say that in the course of a 10 hour work day, I could easily spend 5 hours total using my watch in a heavy usage manner.

That doesn't mean I have no life, or that there's something wrong with me. It just means I'm a busy guy, and I'm probably the kind of person who would use the watch a lot and deplete the battery.

I get that Apple is going for a premium smartwatch with a great screen and all these features, but if I have to keep worrying about being close to a charge all the time, it's not going to be worth it for me personally, and I'll probably wait for the second gen of Apple watches.
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I see your points as a tech user and I can appreciate those points as I am also one who constantly received text, emails, call, and other notifications throughout the day. But your example means you would spend 30 seconds on your watch every minute for 10 hours. As I said in a previous comment, that kind of usage would be hard for anyone to do, even if trying to prove a point. I don't know what you do for a living so I can't say for a fact, but that just doesn't seem plausible.

My phone is always on me, and, like you, I have an iPhone 6. I wake up at 7, take my phone off the charger, and plug it back in at night when I go to sleep, usually around 11 or so. It gets me through the day. You're not going to be replying to emails and texts on the watch, even though you could with Siri. You're going to be using it to keep you informed, not to be the informant.
 
randymac09 said:
My phone is always on me, and, like you, I have an iPhone 6. I wake up at 7, take my phone off the charger, and plug it back in at night when I go to sleep, usually around 11 or so. It gets me through the day. You're not going to be replying to emails and texts on the watch, even though you could with Siri. You're going to be using it to keep you informed, not to be the informant.
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Why would Apple advertise all of these apps that will be available for the device if they don't expect you to be the informant?

If you were simply going to be informed, Apple would have stuck to simple apps like Email, Calendar, Notifications, etc.

But no, Apple WANTS you to use the watch like you would your iPhone.
 
5 hours ? I recently got a fitbit charge hr that lasts 5 days between charges and constantly monitors heart rate using leds. Not changing for something 3 times the price and a tenth the battery life
 
timborama said:
What happens after 1 year (~400 charge cycles), when the battery will no long hold a charge? There's been no mention of that.
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I charge my iPhone every day. My iPads every day. Never had a significant battery issue for the 2 years I keep them. I wouldn't expect anything different from the Apple Watch. However, I suspect Apple will have a $59 battery replacement plan, so why worry about it?
 
The first word that comes to my mind is...


Yeeesh!

Hats off to them releasing the product with those specs.
I wouldn't have gone to market without a min of 8 hours.
What is crazy, it should be much longer.

They gutted the health tech and still only get 5 hours???

Hurry up and release it to the sheep so you can get to work on the real watch, Apple Watch 2.0
 
sorry people the words "heavy usage" and smart watch should not be used in the same sentence.

the mission of the smart watch is to give you quick bites of info, freeing your hands and time to do more productive things.

no consumer should be that engaged with a smart watch when you have a smart phone in your pocket.
 
timborama said:
What happens after 1 year (~400 charge cycles), when the battery will no long hold a charge? There's been no mention of that.
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Maybe change the battery ($30-40 bucks right now for an Iphone around here if you don't do it yourself, maybe $15 if you do it yourself). Do people throw away their phones away after 2 years? The design seems to make it possible to swap the S1 chip, so I'd think it is also possible to more easily change the battery than in other Apple device.

If you used it enough for the battery to last a year, I'm thinking paying that $40 buck won't be much of an issue, since you really like you watch..

Every smart watch has the same issue under heavy use.

BTW, I kept my 3GS battery 5.5 years before changing it. Light to moderate use. Most people will not use the watch intensely all day and fully drain the battery each day (5h heavy use will probably not get you to zero exactly either). So, the battery lasting closer to 2+ years seems likely...
 
tresmith said:
sorry people the words "heavy usage" and smart watch should not be used in the same sentence.

the mission of the smart watch is to give you quick bites of info, freeing your hands and time to do more productive things.

no consumer should be that engaged with a smart watch when you have a smart phone in your pocket.
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Then why is Apple advertising all of these other apps that will be available for the Apple Watch, if its only supposed to be used for quick bites of info?

This makes no sense. Why not just get a Pebble that will last you a week on a charge?
 
I am trying to think of a use case that would even justify "heavy usage" I mean isn't that when you would just take out your phone and use it instead?

tresmith said:
sorry people the words "heavy usage" and smart watch should not be used in the same sentence.

the mission of the smart watch is to give you quick bites of info, freeing your hands and time to do more productive things.

no consumer should be that engaged with a smart watch when you have a smart phone in your pocket.
Click to expand...

mte! fiddling around trying to type messages from your wrist while your 5.5 screen iPhone 6 Plus is just a pocket away? I think not
 
With Watch you are going to receive more notifications as compared to iPhone. I am not sure about battery life of watch, but battery consumption of iPhone will surely increase! This may heavily affect battery life 4s, 5, 5c - iPhones with small battery.
 
spectrumfox said:
Why would Apple advertise all of these apps that will be available for the device if they don't expect you to be the informant?

If you were simply going to be informed, Apple would have stuck to simple apps like Email, Calendar, etc.

But no, Apple WANTS you to use the watch like you would your iPhone.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying this to be sarcastic, I genuinely want to know. What apps are they advertising that allows you to be an informant? Other than maybe the doodles feature where you can send drawings, the apps they offer on their site seem to be for personal use and information. They even mention getting out your phone to respond to emails.
 
spectrumfox said:
First gen Pebble watches could last a week with heavy usage and Samsung Wear watches could last a full day with heavy usage without a charge.

They started somewhere all right.
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um, no... pebble yes, samsung definitely not.
 
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