I can't believe all these people making excuses for Garmin. Now the only thing they can fall back on is "well an Apple Watch won't last a 10 day ultramarathon?". Garmin is being backed into a very,very specialized corner by Apple. My AW5 has been incredible for biking/surfing/running, all the health monitoring - I threw my Garmin in a drawer that I never open. The AW5 has survived through many heavy wipeouts in the ocean over multiple years now. An ultra is on my shopping list....
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Apple Watch Ultra: How to Get Up to 60 Hours of Battery Life
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Oh yeah, totally forgot that splits and segments aren't supported. Well that's kinda dumb! I can understand, in a way, why they aren't supported since frequent GPS tracking isn't supported so there's no accurate way for the Watch to know when, for example, 1 mile has passed.
This is kinda not tenable, it seems. If you're a runner wouldn't you want to know how many miles you've actually run rather than just an estimate? If it's just an estimate, well, then I can do that without my Watch. Hmm....the more I think about it, the more silly this seems.
I’ll give it a try and see if it’s usable for me with all those features dialed down… 🤷
My Parents have both an AW and do not have an iPhone.I just did the setup (is a feature since 2 years or so), they can call when in need, without having a phone.
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I love my AW Ultra, even though I use it with my old bands (not a fan of the new band design). The design is much better, the screen is finally flat and bigger. I don't use the cellular capability.
For battery life, I don't care. I generally wear AW to sleep and to work out. My workouts are never longer than 2 hours, but I'm sure it'd be an important factor for someone who goes on long hikes.
For battery life, I don't care. I generally wear AW to sleep and to work out. My workouts are never longer than 2 hours, but I'm sure it'd be an important factor for someone who goes on long hikes.
I used Garmin for running before AW came out. My experience with Garmin was less than ideal - taking forever to catch the GPS signal, routinely losing half a mile on a 3 mile run, absolute sh*tshow around software updates. Maybe things got better now, but I am sure not giving them another chance. AW has everything I need (run, gym, yoga) and then some.
I threw my Apple Watch in a drawer because daily charging was too easy to forget once I no longer had a work commute. The only features I miss are being able to reply to iMessages, and the automatic Mac unlock. For both products, the killer features (for me) are notifications, contactless payments, onboard music, heart rate and GPS.
I'm wondering if we'll get ads for iPads that have double battery life if we turn off wifi, cell, sound, don't play any games, and keep the screen at minimum brightness level
Let’s see. I’m going on a longer trip to San Francisco in 2 weeks. I’ll leave my charger and try this ultra low power mode. Sunday to Thursday.
Better battery life and the extra durability are why my next Apple Watch will probably be the Ultra.
Love how you have to explain how to get the advertised battery life (which includes severely limiting its use). Classic misleading advertising.
I have to comment on ambiguous commentary insinuating that your Instinct watch is mere superior. I unfortunately purchased one and it is literally the dollar store version of the GARMIN FENIX. One might confuse your interpretation of you confusing inferiority 1980s calculator graphics versus a high grade machine on your wrist. While sitting back on your monochrome watch, and pretending to get 20 days without the help from the solar edition (which you didn't mention) is the result of you turning off every feature including the functions people want out-of-a-smartwatch. One can retort with firsthand knowledge of trying to leave the Apple fanboy club and trying to throw mud at excited individuals that choose to use their cash flow into refined objects in lieu of making the mistake of the your dollar store watch. Reasonably conservative spending clouded my judgement for a few months while I couldn't decide on a Fenix 6 Solar or Apple Ultra. Mind you that the features of holding your arm out of the windows while you drive to charge your watch is a game changer for someone of your caliber; the ability to converse with loved ones while busy on my watch outweighed the need to pretend I am different and comment on a MAC forum and let everyone pat me on the back for my 20 day battery cycle. If you're employed or do activities that separate you from having your phone in your hand--you should try pretending you aren't impressed with Apple.
Well, the advertised battery life is 36 hours, and I don’t think anyone has any problem getting there with even ”everything” on, LTE, AOD, WO tracking, etc..
it's not mis-leading.
The features to turn off has no effect on using the device as you normally would aside from no AOD. It still tracks GPS and HR just not every sec. It measures it in stages.
With low power mode on i can get 73-74 hours. even with everything on i get more than what apple market which is 36 hours. I've gotten 36 hours right now with still 40% left.
Buy an ultra expensive smartwatch, then turn all the features off to save battery. Win? I already have a normal wristwatch, it works for a month and shows the time just as well - and cost considerably less even though it can survive in just as harsh environments as that one. Probably even better.
So I just ran a test on my Ultra. Low Power Mode..No workout stuff....84 hours with 11% remaining. I can't believe it! Moving on.....![]()
Apple Watch Ultra models recently gained new low-power settings that can extend battery life up to 60 hours on a single charge, or what Apple calls "multi-day adventure battery life." This article explains how it works and how to set it up.
![Apple-Watch-Ultra-Orange-Alpine-Loop-Action-button-220907_big.jpg.large_.jpg]()
When Apple introduced the Apple Watch Ultra in September, one of the touted features was that it boasts the best battery life of any Apple Watch, capable of reaching up to 36 hours during normal use. Given that successive Apple Watch Series models have only ever officially offered up to 18 hours ("all-day") battery life in normal use, it was pretty big news.
While watchOS 9 brought a new Low Power Mode to Apple Watch Series 4 and later models that also offers up to 36 hours of battery, Apple promised to bring additional low-power settings to Apple Watch Ultra in the fall that would extend battery life even further and make it capable of reaching up to 60 hours.
![ultra-battery-life.jpg]()
Since then, Apple has released watchOS 9.1 and the company has followed through on its promise, allowing Ultra owners to eke even more life out of their timepiece. The steps below explain how to enable it, but before you can make use of the new feature, you'll need to make sure your Apple Watch Ultra is updated to watchOS 9.1 or later.
In the Watch app on your iPhone, go to General -> Software Update. If you're not already up to date, wait for the update to appear, then tap Download and Install. Make sure your Apple Watch has at least 50% charge and is connected to its charger while the update process completes.
Get 60-Hour Battery Life on Apple Watch Ultra
To achieve the extended battery life, Ultra models must first have workout settings enabled for fewer heart rate and GPS readings. Here's how to enable them. (Note that these settings are also available on Apple Watch Series 8 and second-generation Apple Watch SE, but Apple has not stated that they will extend battery life on these models beyond the 36 hours offered by the system-wide Low Power Mode.)
- Launch the Settings app on your Apple Watch Ultra.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Workout.
- Toggle on the switch next to Low Power Mode.
- Below "During Low Power Mode," toggle on the switch next to Fewer GPS and Heart Rate Readings.
![apple-watch-ultra-60-hours.jpg]()
Apple says that with the above settings enabled, Low Power Mode preserves battery life only during walking, running, and hiking workouts, by reducing the frequency of GPS and heart rate readings (heart rate readings are reduced to once per minute, while GPS readings are reduced to once every two minutes) and turning off alerts, splits, and segments. In other words, this means that to get the full 60 hours of battery life, you'll need to enable Low Power Mode outside of workouts as well.
When set up in this manner, Ultra users can expect to get "up to" 60 hours of battery life from their smartwatch. This number is calculated based on 15 hours of workout, over 600 time checks, 35 minutes of app use, 3 minutes of talk, and 15 hours of sleep tracking, over the course of 60 hours, according to Apple.
Article Link: Apple Watch Ultra: How to Get Up to 60 Hours of Battery Life
