Well when the watch is on cellular (no phone, no wifi) then yes, for sure. But are you saying cellular models are draining faster than non-cellular models even when the watch is relying on the phone or WiFi?
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Apple Watch Owners Complain of Battery Life Issues With Both Series 5 and Older Models With watchOS 6
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I was going to say the same - it’s better than its ever been actually. 13 hours in and I’m still at 79%!!
I am not sure if turning cellular off helps. It’s just the trend from the comments I have seen here and elsewhere. The base models seem fine; while it’s the higher end models (which take cellular capabilities bundled in as part of the price) which seem problematic.
I hope Apple can eventually resolve this with a software fix.
FYI, iOS 6.0.1 on S5 SS+cellular, tested today - I’m at 13 hours with 55% battery left, so it looks like the update helped quite a lot.
I used my Apple Watch series 5 from around 9 in the morning to 11 pm, with an hour of workout recorded. Battery still at 40%.
I was seeing poor battery performance since day 1 on my S5 44mm (GPS only). Delivered on day 1. I was seeing 30-40% after approx 14 hour days. And this was beyond the first few days after which things should settle down.
I'm now running 13.1.2 on my iPhone, and 6.0.1 on the S5. Today is the first day where I've actually seen 53% after 11pm. (put on the watch at 6:45am). No change in usage pattern. I don't do workouts. AOD is with Infograph Modular face. Noise complication is on.
Not sure what improved from one day to the next, literally. I'll see what happened tomorrow.
My previous S4 44mm would routinely have 70-80% in similar usage, on WatchOS 5.x. I only used WatchOS 6 for 1 day on the S4, as I sold it the day the S5 arrived, so I can't really compare.
It's not a deal breaker for me, even at 30-40% at the end of my typical day, but I can see how it can be for some who actually use it more for the fitness tracking & workouts.
I'm now running 13.1.2 on my iPhone, and 6.0.1 on the S5. Today is the first day where I've actually seen 53% after 11pm. (put on the watch at 6:45am). No change in usage pattern. I don't do workouts. AOD is with Infograph Modular face. Noise complication is on.
Not sure what improved from one day to the next, literally. I'll see what happened tomorrow.
My previous S4 44mm would routinely have 70-80% in similar usage, on WatchOS 5.x. I only used WatchOS 6 for 1 day on the S4, as I sold it the day the S5 arrived, so I can't really compare.
It's not a deal breaker for me, even at 30-40% at the end of my typical day, but I can see how it can be for some who actually use it more for the fitness tracking & workouts.
Definitely seeing significantly lower battery life with my new S5 44mm cellular model. On my S4 with watchOS 5, I'd still have 30-40% after 18 hours of wear and use, unplugging at 8am and plugging back in to charge overnight at 2am. Now, my battery's dead under the same usage load after just 12 hours.
The majority of comments in this forum seem to contradict what the article and this group of watch owners are claiming. Not saying I don’t believe them, it just seems odd.
Indeed. The battery life on Apple Watch 5 isn't good enough and might decrease five times faster on some apps.
Uh, what? LTE? 42 or 38mm?
my s3 LTE/38 doesn’t get anywhere close to that and never has.
no it’s the 14TH:
iPhone OG
iPhone 3G
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
iPhone 4S
iPhone 5
iPhone 5S
iPhone 6
iPhone 6S
iPhone 7 /7Plus
iPhone 8 / 8Plus & X (2 major different devices despite being released the same year; this would make 12 already)
iPhone XS /XSMax
iPhone 11 / 11 Pro = 14 by my count/imho
I’ve not had any battery drain issues with my S4 (either 6 or 6.0.1), but I have been having issues with charging - the watch is now super fussy about chargers (no longer works with my non-MFi slicecharge 3-in-1 which was absolutely fine until watchos 6), and it even didn’t like a brand new official charge cable being used in my old native union block (though that may have been due to proximity to the old slicecharge). It seems happy enough now at least with the SliceCharge Pro which does have a MFi watch charger.
I had exactly the same problem - previous S4 was doing almost 2 complete days still after a year of service, and the S5 was flat before the end of the evening every day. Searching online, I found a site that had a potential solution - shut down the watch and start it up again (on the assumption that some process was still going on from the transfer to the new watch). The result is that I am now getting almost the same performance from the S5 as I was from my previous S4.
So - try shutting down your watch and then starting it up again.
The new Apple Watch Series 5 models come equipped with an always on display, a feature new in 2019. With the always on display, some element of the screen is always lit, even when the wrist is down.
It's a good way to keep an eye on the time or to keep track of a workout without needing to raise a wrist, but its use at this time requires compromising on battery life.
Though Apple says the Apple Watch Series 5 offers the same 18-hour "all day" battery life as the Series 4 model, a multitude of complaints on the MacRumors forums and the Apple Support forums suggest that's not the case.
A 36-page forum thread is filled with battery life complaints about the Apple Watch Series 5, starting from September 20, the day the device was released. MacRumors reader Radeon85, for example, said that he was seeing significant battery drain until he turned off the always on display.Several of us here at MacRumors have the new Apple Watch Series 5 with always on display and have indeed experienced our Apple Watch batteries draining much more quickly than the prior Series 4 models. Workouts, LTE, and other battery draining functions combined with always on can result in major drops in battery life. As described by MacRumors reader Yachtmac:Battery problems don't appear to be limited to the Apple Watch Series 5, which suggests that watchOS 6 is also perhaps impacting battery life. The Noise app may be one culprit, and some users have also cited cellular connectivity, though both Cellular and GPS models appear to be affected by battery life problems.
MacRumors forum member Michael says that since watchOS 6 was released, his Apple Watch Series 4 battery has been dying faster, a sentiment echoed by many other MacRumors readers who have noticed issues since beta. From MacRumors reader Canyonblue737:On the Apple Watch Series 5, battery life can be improved by disabling Always On under the Display & Brightness section of the Apple Watch app on iPhone, but on the Series 4, it's less clear what might be causing problems.
MacRumors readers have reported some fixes that have helped improve battery life on both the Series 4 and Series 5, such as force restarting the device or unpairing and re-pairing, but there does not appear to be a single solution that has worked for everyone.
Apple has already updated watchOS to version 6.0.1, and that update fixed some bugs, but according to the release notes, it did not address battery life. watchOS 6.0.1 may include some battery optimizations though, as there are some reports on the forums of improvements after updating. From MacRumors reader Haruhiko:Apple has also released the first beta of a watchOS 6.1 update to developers, and that update seems to include some battery fixes. We've heard reports from forum members that watchOS 6.1 significantly improves battery life, and in our own experience, we've also seen better battery life after installing the update. From MacRumors forum member Rogertoh16:watchOS 6.1 is still in the early stages of beta testing so additional optimizations could be added before the software sees a release, and many of the battery life woes associated with watchOS 6 and the Series 5 could be addressed soon.
Are you experiencing battery life issues either with the Series 5 or with an older Apple Watch updated to watchOS 6? Let us know in the comments.
Article Link: Apple Watch Owners Complain of Battery Life Issues With Both Series 5 and Older Models With watchOS 6
Dear MacRumors,
The facts are true. With "always on" display, my battery drained to 46%. The next day, I turned it off and started from 100% again. I used it as much or if not, even more. I ended my day with 75%.
Dear MacRumors,
The facts are true. With "always on" display, my battery drained to 46%. The next day, I turned it off and started from 100% again. I used it as much or if not, even more. I ended my day with 75%.
It also makes a huge difference what kind of wallpaper you have. I like to put as much as possible on there. I have 7 features on the screen. However, it should still work much better.
The facts are true. With "always on" display, my battery drained to 46%. The next day, I turned it off and started from 100% again. I used it as much or if not, even more. I ended my day with 75%.
It also makes a huge difference what kind of wallpaper you have. I like to put as much as possible on there. I have 7 features on the screen. However, it should still work much better.
no issues here, but i didn't turn on the hearing protection crap because i ride a sports bike. i wear earplugs when doing so, but i'm not going to have the watch tell me "warning you are seeing 114db of wind noise" every damn time i get on it.
as a result, it probably isn't constantly monitoring and processing audio levels... outside of listening for hey siri
as a result, it probably isn't constantly monitoring and processing audio levels... outside of listening for hey siri
I never buy Apple products on a Wednesday. It works for me.