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Is improved battery on AW8 an immediate buy?

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satchmo

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Aug 6, 2008
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And if so, what does that improvement need to be?
If current AW gets 18 hours, what do you need to see from the AW8?

Hopefully it will substantial and not just a few more hours.
Is a 50% improvement to 27 hours possible?

Will the larger rugged model do even better?
 
AW has been 18hrs since it launched, every model. There’s not a whole lot of room to increase battery size and SOC efficiency has been offset in the past by addl sensors, AOD, larger screen etc… my expectation for AW8 is 18hrs, maybe, maybe 20hrs…
And for that rumored egged model, who knows…
 
jz0309 said:
AW has been 18hrs since it launched, every model. There’s not a whole lot of room to increase battery size and SOC efficiency has been offset in the past by addl sensors, AOD, larger screen etc… my expectation for AW8 is 18hrs, maybe, maybe 20hrs…
And for that rumored egged model, who knows…
Click to expand...

Yes, but there’s also been mention of a low power mode that hopefully will bring significant change.
 
satchmo said:
Yes, but there’s also been mention of a low power mode that hopefully will bring significant change.
Click to expand...

Since the chip is rumored to be the same as in the last 2 models I wouldn't expect any major changes in battery life.
 
HDFan said:
Since the chip is rumored to be the same as in the last 2 models I wouldn't expect any major changes in battery life.
Click to expand...

Again, low power mode rumour (for the rugged model) could make a difference this time.

And if Apple hopes to truly go after the hard core athlete, an extra 2 hours won’t sway them away from Garmin.

Frankly the only way to achieve that might be switching to a MIP display. Hard to fathom though.
 
satchmo said:
Again, low power mode rumour (for the rugged model) could make a difference this time.

And if Apple hopes to truly go after the hard core athlete, an extra 2 hours won’t sway them away from Garmin.

Frankly the only way to achieve that might be switching to a MIP display. Hard to fathom though.
Click to expand...
Yet Garmin gets 10 days with the Epix amleod screen, which is brighter or the same as Apples. I don't get why Apple is stuck on 18 hours.
 
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96 hours or more would be an instant buy for me.
48 would be a probable buy.
 
HDFan said:
Since the chip is rumored to be the same as in the last 2 models I wouldn't expect any major changes in battery life.
Click to expand...

I’m hoping (highly speculatively) that they’re talking about the same chip manufactured on a smaller node. Even then, it would not be a miraculous change.
 
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for me, in 6.5 yrs of AW (S0, S3, S4, S7) battery life has never been an issue, I might have had 5-10 days during that time when I hit 10% or less, never turned off cause of battery at 0%.
So, (improved) battery life is not a deciding factor for me.
 
I don’t know enough about the internals compared to other watches, but I hear about Garmin smart watches lasting 3 days or so with seemingly very similar features…

Maybe the cases are enough larger that they can fit much bigger batteries?

I do wish I could get a solid 2 days on my Apple Watch.

My series 7 battery is at least 15% worse than my year old 6 was. Sometimes I can’t get my watch charged in time at night to put it back on for sleep tracking, even with the high speed charging. 😕
 
Wizec said:
I don’t know enough about the internals compared to other watches, but I hear about Garmin smart watches lasting 3 days or so with seemingly very similar features…

Maybe the cases are enough larger that they can fit much bigger batteries?

I do wish I could get a solid 2 days on my Apple Watch.

My series 7 battery is at least 15% worse than my year old 6 was. Sometimes I can’t get my watch charged in time at night to put it back on for sleep tracking, even with the high speed charging. 😕
Click to expand...
Turn off AOD. It makers a big difference with battery life.
 
Howard2k said:
I’m hoping (highly speculatively) that they’re talking about the same chip manufactured on a smaller node. Even then, it would not be a miraculous change.
Click to expand...

Apple_Robert said:
You won't see 50% improvement in battery with the series 8. At best, you might see an hour or a little more.

I plan on upgrading regardless because I don't mind spending 30 mins charging once a day.
Click to expand...

Here’s the thing I don’t understand though.

Why would Apple even enter the space if they can’t match what the competition is doing?

Typically they don’t go half-assed into something. They research and study the competition and usually succeed in besting them.

If it’s purely for profits, sure. They can count on the Apple faithful to buy a gimped out rugged watch and sell in the tens of millions.

But if it’s making the best sports watch in the industry, surely they know it must have battery life lasting multiple days, not hours.
 
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satchmo said:
Here’s the thing I don’t understand though.

Why would Apple even enter the space if they can’t match what the competition is doing?

Typically they don’t go half-assed into something. They research and study the competition and usually succeed in besting them.

If it’s purely for profits, sure. They can count on the Apple faithful to buy a gimped out rugged watch in the tens of millions.

But if it’s making the best sports watch in the industry, surely they know it must have battery life lasting multiple days, not hours.
Click to expand...
Nobody knows what Apple will release, all pure speculation at this point. Who knows, maybe they’ll introduce a battery pack that snaps right onto the watch that’ll be good for a few days (a la iPhone battery pack just for charging not to keep it on the watch)…
IF they release the rugged watch, they’re going to redefine that market segment…
 
Wizec said:
Tried that with my 6 and 7. No difference at all.
Click to expand...
Check display brightness, app settings, background refresh etc. when I got my S7 replacing my S4 I kept all those settings and I have AOD on, battery life impact is about 15% between those two, I’m typically at around 25–30% at the end of my day. I typically have 80+ minutes of workout minutes per day and I get work email and Trams notifications on my watch, a lot of those…
 
jz0309 said:
Nobody knows what Apple will release, all pure speculation at this point. Who knows, maybe they’ll introduce a battery pack that snaps right onto the watch that’ll be good for a few days (a la iPhone battery pack just for charging not to keep it on the watch)…
IF they release the rugged watch, they’re going to redefine that market segment…
Click to expand...

Of course this is all conjecture.
But if Apple is to redefine the sport watch market, it will need to surpass the current competition in both battery life and metrics. I'd love to see this, but I highly doubt it.
 
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With S7 charging is pretty quick, so I do nightly prior to sleep and I'm ready the following night around 10pm for a charge. (2 30-40min workouts with gps/music per day).

So it would be nice to be able to go from 100% on Friday night to Sunday night. That would do it for me.
 
Short answer is yes.

My Garmin goes 3 weeks. I am not expecting that but ...

My personal definition of acceptable is off the charger Friday morning, a couple of activities tracked during the weekend, and back on Sunday night without any sort of battery minding - 20% to spare as a bonus. Then? yes, its an immediate buy.
 
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Would it be an immediate buy for me? Yes. I just bought a 7 on the Prime Day sale, and I like having two watches on hand. But I don't expect it. And I wouldn't want the watch getting any bigger than the 41mm models I have. I'm a dude with skinny arms, so anything larger would look goofy.
 
I've had every apple watch since they were released and the best one for battery longevity between recharges was by far my Series 3. Back then I could easily go 2-3 days between charges. Take watch off charger Monday morning and I'll put it to charge Wednesday night with 10-20% left. Thinking about it, it still upsets me that apple removed the Usage/Standby metric which was super helpful but Apple givith and taketh lol...
 
My guess is since they added triathlon modes to the watch, they will at least make sure the battery life can last through an Ironman or something.

I would LOVE for the watch to last a weekend camping trip.

3-4 days with no activities
2 days with activities both days
12-14 hours for an ultra race.

There is no need to compete with watches that last a week. I have an Epix which supposedly lasts 6 days and it is a beast but I still wear my AW as a daily driver because of my lock in with the Apple ecosystem. The Epix is amazing but I still find myself wishing the AW could do even 1/4 of what it does. Funny how that works.

It is fun to speculate!
 
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