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My AW 7 battery doesn’t last long enough for my marathon - help

Tb87Bln

Tb87Bln

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 10, 2016
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Hello smart people,
I could need some input and ideas…

I own a AW series 7 (non cellular) with battery health 84% with Apple care+ till end of November…
I run with my Apple Watch (track/manage my run with the regular workout app by apple) and I plan on doing a full marathon end of September (24th), but my AW battery won’t last long enough for me to track the whole marathon… (after finishing a half marathon I had less than 50% battery left so it won’t work… and I doubt that enabling the low power mode would be enough to get me through…)

Now I don’t really know what to do…

With a battery health of 84% I can’t get a new one with apple care.
The “new” Apple Watch 9 might not be available before the marathon or arrive in time
I certainly don’t wanna buy a man (old) AW8 just a couple days before the AW9 hit the shelves…

If there wasn’t the marathon I probably would keep my AW7 and either wait till battery health drops below 80% for a new one or buy a AW 10/x next year…
(but with the rumors about a new connection between band and watch next year I might wanna stick to the old system for longer because I wanna use my bands as long as possible… so I had to buy a AW9 this year…)

Any smart suggestions or ideas for my dilemma?
 
I do a fair bit of hiking and cycling with my S7- I’ve found low power mode can get you a couple of % per hour better battery consumption and might be enough to get you through. I’ve done many activities in excess of 5 hours elapsed time and haven’t run out of juice, usually not using low power mode. My battery health is currently showing 85%. The always on display chews a fair bit of power out in the sun!
 
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Okay, battery saving techniques…which are there?
Low power mode obviously, set display brightness to low, listen to music with iPhone,…
Anything else I haven’t thought of? (I want to track my race so I need the workout app and GPS)

An AW ultra would help but is out of my price range and I don’t want to switch to Garmin…

I already run a marathon in 2017 with my AW 2 without a problem but it was only one year old at that time and not 2…

It really is bad luck that the battery health is to good for a replacement and to bad to last long enough for a marathon…
 
I would turn on Low Power Mode first, and then Fewer GPS and Heart Rate Readings (as a last resort) in the Workout app.

Personally, I’d hate to be without heart rate data while racing (because when I go past a certain point I know I need to dial back my pace) so I’d likely get a Polar Verity Sense and wear it on my arm if I had to turn off the AW sensor.
 
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Tb87Bln said:
Okay, battery saving techniques…which are there?
Low power mode obviously, set display brightness to low, listen to music with iPhone,…
Anything else I haven’t thought of? (I want to track my race so I need the workout app and GPS)

An AW ultra would help but is out of my price range and I don’t want to switch to Garmin…

I already run a marathon in 2017 with my AW 2 without a problem but it was only one year old at that time and not 2…

It really is bad luck that the battery health is to good for a replacement and to bad to last long enough for a marathon…
Click to expand...
disable as many radios as possible - Bluetooth, wi-fi, cellular, and any unnecessary synching with messaging services. Try to disable as many notifications as possible.
 
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If there’s an Apple Store near you, have them check the watch as you explain your dilemma.

The 80% figure is when they will replace the battery with no other requirements, but it’s not the only condition for battery replacement.

The watch should last you for a full marathon without being in a crippled mode. There could be something else draining the battery, and that something could be either hardware or software.

Regardless, the store should be able to help.

Phone support theoretically could, too, but I’d leave them for a last resort, only if you’re in the middle of nowhere.

b&
 
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Tb87Bln said:
Hello smart people,
I could need some input and ideas…

I own a AW series 7 (non cellular) with battery health 84% with Apple care+ till end of November…
I run with my Apple Watch (track/manage my run with the regular workout app by apple) and I plan on doing a full marathon end of September (24th), but my AW battery won’t last long enough for me to track the whole marathon… (after finishing a half marathon I had less than 50% battery left so it won’t work… and I doubt that enabling the low power mode would be enough to get me through…)

Now I don’t really know what to do…

With a battery health of 84% I can’t get a new one with apple care.
The “new” Apple Watch 9 might not be available before the marathon or arrive in time
I certainly don’t wanna buy a man (old) AW8 just a couple days before the AW9 hit the shelves…

If there wasn’t the marathon I probably would keep my AW7 and either wait till battery health drops below 80% for a new one or buy a AW 10/x next year…
(but with the rumors about a new connection between band and watch next year I might wanna stick to the old system for longer because I wanna use my bands as long as possible… so I had to buy a AW9 this year…)

Any smart suggestions or ideas for my dilemma?
Click to expand...
Hmmm 🤔… Run faster!
 
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… or get a real running watch?… i charge my Garmin like every other week with a weekly mileage of 90-120km. It’s more adapted for endurance sports, although not for general smartphone stuff.

All the normal vendors (garmin, polar, etc., etc.) are probably good enough. You get more physical buttons (touch is a nightmare with sweat), magnitudes better battery, loads of workout/pacing/intensity utilities that you can setup on the phone or watch.

Apple Watch (even ultra) is mostly an endurance sport watch from a marketing perspective, for entry level practitioners or Apple enthusiasts. With that said I spend a lot of dough on Apple stuff, would love another gadget from them, but the watches aren’t great for this.
 
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Tb87Bln said:
Hello smart people,
I could need some input and ideas…

I own a AW series 7 (non cellular) with battery health 84% with Apple care+ till end of November…
I run with my Apple Watch (track/manage my run with the regular workout app by apple) and I plan on doing a full marathon end of September (24th), but my AW battery won’t last long enough for me to track the whole marathon… (after finishing a half marathon I had less than 50% battery left so it won’t work… and I doubt that enabling the low power mode would be enough to get me through…)

Now I don’t really know what to do…

With a battery health of 84% I can’t get a new one with apple care.
The “new” Apple Watch 9 might not be available before the marathon or arrive in time
I certainly don’t wanna buy a man (old) AW8 just a couple days before the AW9 hit the shelves…

If there wasn’t the marathon I probably would keep my AW7 and either wait till battery health drops below 80% for a new one or buy a AW 10/x next year…
(but with the rumors about a new connection between band and watch next year I might wanna stick to the old system for longer because I wanna use my bands as long as possible… so I had to buy a AW9 this year…)

Any smart suggestions or ideas for my dilemma?
Click to expand...
how long does your battery last during a "normal" day?
some suggestions:
. check background app refresh and disable for all non-essential apps
. turn AOD off during the run
 
I have same issue as OP — Series 7 Hermes with battery health of 83% (seems even worse). Fortunately I’m doing the monthly AC+, so I’ll get it swapped whenever it hits 80%. Will probably upgrade to S9 anyway.
 
Low power mode should do it. I’m running a marathon in 3 weeks with my S7 41 and I did 20 miles last week-it took me 4.5 hours and I had 30% left. I don’t carry my phone with me, so I used the watch for activity tracking (obviously) and listening to a book for about 1.5 hours and the rest of the time I just ran with no audio.
 
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Ahiqar said:
Low power mode should do it. I’m running a marathon in 3 weeks with my S7 41 and I did 20 miles last week-it took me 4.5 hours and I had 30% left. I don’t carry my phone with me, so I used the watch for activity tracking (obviously) and listening to a book for about 1.5 hours and the rest of the time I just ran with no audio.
Click to expand...
I’m at 87% battery health btw
 
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BenGoren said:
If there’s an Apple Store near you, have them check the watch as you explain your dilemma.

The 80% figure is when they will replace the battery with no other requirements, but it’s not the only condition for battery replacement.

The watch should last you for a full marathon without being in a crippled mode. There could be something else draining the battery, and that something could be either hardware or software.

Regardless, the store should be able to help.

Phone support theoretically could, too, but I’d leave them for a last resort, only if you’re in the middle of nowhere.

b&
Click to expand...
Yes, I guess I’ll try it and ask them for help… It can’t hurt and luckily I have an Apple Store that’s not far from work…

Richu said:
Hmmm 🤔… Run faster!
Click to expand...
Yes, that would be an easy solution…
But actually I have some trouble with my calves and have to run even slower than I have actually planned…

Richu said:
… or get a real running watch?… i charge my Garmin like every other week with a weekly mileage of 90-120km. It’s more adapted for endurance sports, although not for general smartphone stuff.

All the normal vendors (garmin, polar, etc., etc.) are probably good enough. You get more physical buttons (touch is a nightmare with sweat), magnitudes better battery, loads of workout/pacing/intensity utilities that you can setup on the phone or watch.

Apple Watch (even ultra) is mostly an endurance sport watch from a marketing perspective, for entry level practitioners or Apple enthusiasts. With that said I spend a lot of dough on Apple stuff, would love another gadget from them, but the watches aren’t great for this.
Click to expand...
I really don’t need a real running watch as the AW pretty much delivers everything I need (time, distance, pace, music)(besides 1-2h missing battery life after 2 years) and I love how everything synchronizes automatically…(my old polar running watch drive me crazy)
and having 2 different watches is to much trouble and stress for me (I don’t like the look of the true running watches for and regular office day)
 
Tb87Bln said:
Hello smart people,
I could need some input and ideas…

I own a AW series 7 (non cellular) with battery health 84% with Apple care+ till end of November…
I run with my Apple Watch (track/manage my run with the regular workout app by apple) and I plan on doing a full marathon end of September (24th), but my AW battery won’t last long enough for me to track the whole marathon… (after finishing a half marathon I had less than 50% battery left so it won’t work… and I doubt that enabling the low power mode would be enough to get me through…)

Now I don’t really know what to do…

With a battery health of 84% I can’t get a new one with apple care.
The “new” Apple Watch 9 might not be available before the marathon or arrive in time
I certainly don’t wanna buy a man (old) AW8 just a couple days before the AW9 hit the shelves…

If there wasn’t the marathon I probably would keep my AW7 and either wait till battery health drops below 80% for a new one or buy a AW 10/x next year…
(but with the rumors about a new connection between band and watch next year I might wanna stick to the old system for longer because I wanna use my bands as long as possible… so I had to buy a AW9 this year…)

Any smart suggestions or ideas for my dilemma?
Click to expand...
Order an Apple Watch Series 8 from the Apple Store, use it two weeks, then apply to return it, so you can use it for another two weeks, return it on the final day, and order a Series 9 in the meantime…
 
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May I ask are you tracking the marathon run just for fun/stats or do you need to track it because of health?

Because if it’s just for fun/stats you could also just leave the watch at home and enjoy your marathon without it ;)
 
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If the watch is under 2 years old and can’t track some exercise for a few hours, it’s not fit for purpose. Take it back to Apple and get them to replace it without going through AppleCare. The product is defective and not your problem. I wouldn’t be leaving their store until it is replaced under warranty.
 
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As others have said, I would get the Apple Watch Ultra to last you through a marathon. That's unfortunate to hear, though. I have an SE and I've been planning on training for a 5k, 10k, half, then full marathon over the next year or so. I guess I should start saving up for the Ultra.
 
Does the Activity app still use the iPhone for GPS tracking when it’s available?
 
Sami13496 said:
May I ask are you tracking the marathon run just for fun/stats or do you need to track it because of health?

Because if it’s just for fun/stats you could also just leave the watch at home and enjoy your marathon without it ;)
Click to expand...
This seems the most obvious answer to me too… I suspect OP doesn’t want to be told it, but it seems obvious that if you must* have such a device on you while running such a long distance, get a Garmin or Fitbit, or accept that you don’t need it for this one day of your life.

For myself personally, the solution is similar but opposite, my AW7 battery is also poor, so I just don’t run marathons! Or more than 1-2 miles at a time.
 
Use a chest or arm strap for measuring heart rate, connect it to the Apple Watch and let the rest do the Watch.
Measuring heart rate with the LED's does use alot of battery.
 
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