Yes for all Apple Watches until model year 2022. AW8, SE2 and Ultra only use their own GPS no matter if there is an iPhone nearby.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
My AW 7 battery doesn’t last long enough for my marathon - help
- Thread starter Tb87Bln
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Yes for all Apple Watches until model year 2022. AW8, SE2 and Ultra only use their own GPS no matter if there is an iPhone nearby.
Are you allowed to bring your iPhone with you? I know it seems silly but it will allow the watch to last longer.
My series 6 cellular with about 87% battery health has gone over 7 hrs with just the watch, low power mode enabled, medium screen brightness and using wrist based HRM with no music.
The biggest suggestion for the S7 might be to just have your iPhone near by in a flipbelt or something - For the S8/Ultra it uses internal GPS antenna always but for S7 it will use the iPhone GPS if it's nearby.
I have run 10 marathons and I think 6 or 7 of them with normal Apple Watches (S2, S4, S7) and now Ultra. Have always been okay - first many years with iPhone nearby
The fine print matters. The OP is doing more than just 'exercise'. Apple may consider a marathon to be much much more than just mere 'exercise' and thus not covered under it's warranty of 'not fit for purpose'.
I think 16% battery degradation in less than 2 years is pretty extreme though. My AW is coming up to 4 years old and is on 78%. I’d certainly be complaining about that at the very least.
My question would be, are you streaming music from the watch? That's a huge battery drain, in my experience. If you are, try a long run without streaming music (if you can muster the courage 😆), and see how the battery reacts. If this is your first marathon, I can promise you it'll be quite the experience with or without music. Try to focus on and enjoy the experience of being in and around nature for multiple hours: the sights, the smells, the sounds, (the pain!) 
Good luck!!
Good luck!!
Turn off raise to wake, turn off Always on Display, put it in theatre mode (Which turns off the display all together). I did a 10.5 hour walk with AW6 (I think) and had 37% battery left (watch used GPS from the iPhone) Apple Watch Marathon and Long distance walking battery life – Greg Hilton's Website
Agree with Kitenski. Keeping the watch face off as much as possible will save you a lot of battery life. I'd start with some of the tips listed above and try them to see which ones help the most. Make sure cellular is off as well. And like mentioned, don't stream music. If you have to listen to it on your watch, make sure to download the playlist beforehand.
My Apple Watch Series 4 has 72% battery health and has gotten me through multiple Marathons, last one Chicago October last year. I did a really slow time too, over 5 hours.
I will see you in Berlin and am pretty sure my watch will again last me the whole marathon!
Good luck, you got it
I will see you in Berlin and am pretty sure my watch will again last me the whole marathon!
Good luck, you got it
I don't know about the SE, but my 6 has made it through a couple trail marathons. I turn off BT and AOD.
I'm one of the few that run without music...
Last edited by a moderator:
How long do you think you're marathon will take? Apple lists
Good luck on your marathon!
Up to 12 hours outdoor workout with GPS
I assume your marathon will take less than 4 hours. So I'd look into the settings and shutdown non-essential elements for the workout.Good luck on your marathon!
Apple Watch - Battery
Find out more about the battery life of Apple Watch. Learn about charge time, power reserve, and other battery metrics, too.
www.apple.com
Interesting that it didn't last for you. I ran my last marathon with my GPS Series 7 and it had a solid 20% battery left after the race, and I used my AirPods for about 3.5 hours until they died. I have always-on display turned off, and I did not have my phone with me. For time reference I finished in 4:29.
I know others have said to get an Ultra, but I think that with the right setup (mainly AOD off) you can get a marathon out of it. In my experience I find that keeping AOD turned off my battery lasts MUCH longer both in exercise and day-to-day use.
My last long run was 18 miles with the same AOD off, AirPods on setup and I had close to half of my battery left after I was done. This was last week. My battery health is a bit higher than yours, but I think if you change those settings (if you haven't) you may be surprised with how much of a change you see.
I know others have said to get an Ultra, but I think that with the right setup (mainly AOD off) you can get a marathon out of it. In my experience I find that keeping AOD turned off my battery lasts MUCH longer both in exercise and day-to-day use.
My last long run was 18 miles with the same AOD off, AirPods on setup and I had close to half of my battery left after I was done. This was last week. My battery health is a bit higher than yours, but I think if you change those settings (if you haven't) you may be surprised with how much of a change you see.
@6SpeedPourover With AOD off, does the watch require a button press to see your stats? Or does it function like the AW0-4 where you have to raise your wrist to get the screen to turn on?
When you turn AOD off, the newer watches work exactly the same as the ones without AOD. So make sure you have "raise to wake" set to on, and the watch will turn on when you raise your wrist.
Like the person above me said as well, it's just raise to see the screen and it'll turn off when you lower it. I almost always just leave AOD off. I've accidentally left it on for a few runs and my battery is just destroyed afterward.
To me t's a battery suck, and I don't care how my watch face looks when I'm not looking at it. I've never had an issue with it turning on when I raise my wrist in exercise or other situations.
If you're really concerned you could use theater mode as others have suggested, then you'd have to press a button. This could limit accidental wrist-raised detection and save even more battery.