Quickest way to degrade an Apple Watch battery?

[jdb8167]

My Series 6 Titanium battery is hovering around 80% and I want a free replacement while I still have AppleCare+. Apple won't do a replacement for free until the battery is under 80%. I'm not using the S6 Ti since I bought a new Series 9 Stainless Steel so I'd like to turn off the monthly AppleCare fee but I paid for 3 years so I should at least get a free replacement battery out of it.

Right now I have the watch running WatchOS 10, set to always on, Snoopy face, brightest display, and I'm letting it discharge during the day to completely dead and then charging back to 100% the next day. Can anyone think of a way to degrade the battery even faster? I thought about leaving the flashlight (torch for you Brits) on the highest setting but I don't want to risk damage to the OLED display.

 

[Smoothie]

One of Apple's recent Watch OS updates adjusted the battery health percentage. My Series 6 went from 82% to 85% after the update. Very clever of Apple.

 

[Sendeky]

You could also use the Maps app to really kill the battery. Disconnect it from your phone and it will kill the battery really quickly. Then charge it up and do it several more times

 

[jdb8167]

You could also use the Maps app to really kill the battery. Disconnect it from your phone and it will kill the battery really quickly. Then charge it up and do it several more times

Exactly the type of advice I was looking for. Cellular isn't on any longer since I switched it to the new S9 unfortunately so it will still use WiFi but that should help kill the battery even faster. Thanks.

 

[Howard2k]

One of Apple's recent Watch OS updates adjusted the battery health percentage. My Series 6 went from 82% to 85% after the update. Very clever of Apple.

What about the folks who reported that their battery percentage went down? How does that fit into your conspiracy theory?

 

[jz0309]

My Series 6 Titanium battery is hovering around 80% and I want a free replacement while I still have AppleCare+. Apple won't do a replacement for free until the battery is under 80%. I'm not using the S6 Ti since I bought a new Series 9 Stainless Steel so I'd like to turn off the monthly AppleCare fee but I paid for 3 years so I should at least get a free replacement battery out of it.

Right now I have the watch running WatchOS 10, set to always on, Snoopy face, brightest display, and I'm letting it discharge during the day to completely dead and then charging back to 100% the next day. Can anyone think of a way to degrade the battery even faster? I thought about leaving the flashlight (torch for you Brits) on the highest setting but I don't want to risk damage to the OLED display.

So this is an “edition” watch - have you actually contacted Apple re the battery yourself?
I know that Apples general rule is 80% but they might be more lenient on the edition…

 

[jdb8167]

So this is an “edition” watch - have you actually contacted Apple re the battery yourself?
I know that Apples general rule is 80% but they might be more lenient on the edition…

Yes it is the Edition. At least online there is no way to tell if they would charge a fee but since it says under 80% and I'm currently at 81% so I wouldn't want to test it. I suppose I could call them if I could just find one of those old fashion phone things.

 

[andyw715]

Put the flashlight on full brightness and stick it in your freezer or put it in a hot car while charging. Cold and heat age a battery fastest.

 

[jz0309]

Yes it is the Edition. At least online there is no way to tell if they would charge a fee but since it says under 80% and I'm currently at 81% so I wouldn't want to test it. I suppose I could call them if I could just find one of those old fashion phone things.

Or if an Apple Store is nearby…

 

[jdb8167]

Put the flashlight on full brightness and stick it in your freezer or put it in a hot car while charging. Cold and heat age a battery fastest.

The whole idea is to keep the watch in good shape and get a battery replacement. I don't want to degrade the OLED display or potentially cause damage with temperatures outside the stated environmental requirements.

 

[esternberg387]

Since you have AppleCare+ and therefore are eligible for an Express Replacement, you can always say something else is wrong with it hardware-wise. They'll send you the replacement before you send your current watch back, so that should work...

 

[GLS]

One of Apple's recent Watch OS updates adjusted the battery health percentage. My Series 6 went from 82% to 85% after the update. Very clever of Apple.

My ceramic S5 went from 81% to 78% immediately after updating to Watch OS 10. Battery life had been horrendous since January, but it kept hovering at 81% health. I had assumed that Apple would tag the watch as obsolete and I'd never be able to get a battery (watch) replacement.

As soon as I saw that 78% reading, I setup service for the watch. Received the replacement yesterday. I can get it to pair, but I cannot get it to update during the setup process, so off to the Apple Store I go. I'm guessing whatever version of watch OS on the watch is so old that it is incompatible with my phone.

 

[jdb8167]

Since you have AppleCare+ and therefore are eligible for an Express Replacement, you can always say something else is wrong with it hardware-wise. They'll send you the replacement before you send your current watch back, so that should work...

They could still charge a fee if there isn't anything wrong with the watch couldn't they?

 

[jz0309]

They could still charge a fee if there isn't anything wrong with the watch couldn't they?

Yep, and also, with express they will put a charge/hold on your CC until they receive the watch, and, as you state above, if nothing is wrong with your old watch …

 

[jz0309]

Since you have AppleCare+ and therefore are eligible for an Express Replacement, you can always say something else is wrong with it hardware-wise. They'll send you the replacement before you send your current watch back, so that should work...

Bad advice, doesn’t work like that

 

[esternberg387]

Bad advice, doesn’t work like that

Maybe not all the time, but it certainly can.

 

[deeddawg]

The whole idea is to keep the watch in good shape and get a battery replacement. I don't want to degrade the OLED display or potentially cause damage with temperatures outside the stated environmental requirements.

When you do an advance replacement under AppleCare+ they ship you a refurbished (indistinguishable from new) watch and you ship your old one back to them.

My SBTi S6 dropped below 80% earlier this summer so I have direct experience doing this.

 

[deeddawg]

Bad advice, doesn’t work like that

Which part doesn't work like that?

I did a AC+ battery replacement. The put a hold on my credit card, shipped the replacement, I sent the old one back, they removed the hold.

 

[jdb8167]

Which part doesn't work like that?

I did a AC+ battery replacement. The put a hold on my credit card, shipped the replacement, I sent the old one back, they removed the hold.

If your watch still had 81% health, would they have done the same thing? My Series 6 still has 81% health, hence the question on how to degrade it to 79%.

 

[deeddawg]

If your watch still had 81% health, would they have done the same thing? My Series 6 still has 81% health, hence the question on how to degrade it to 79%.

Mine was below 80% and stated it needed battery service.

My comment you quoted was related to a tangential comment.

 

[jz0309]

Which part doesn't work like that?

I did a AC+ battery replacement. The put a hold on my credit card, shipped the replacement, I sent the old one back, they removed the hold.

below is the post I responded to, below in bold is the part I was referring to.
if you send the watch in saying xyzzy is wrong, and they don't find a fault with xyzzy - what then?

Since you have AppleCare+ and therefore are eligible for an Express Replacement, you can always say something else is wrong with it hardware-wise. They'll send you the replacement before you send your current watch back, so that should work...

 

[deeddawg]

below is the post I responded to, below in bold is the part I was referring to.
if you send the watch in saying xyzzy is wrong, and they don't find a fault with xyzzy - what then?

My reply was related to the following sentence, thus the query as to what you meant. Thanks for clarification.

While I'd not advocate misrepresenting the state of the watch, intermittent audio or shutdown/crashing problems are really difficult to disprove.

Another avenue may be for the watch to sit in the freezer for a couple days and see if there's any change to the battery %.

 

[jdb8167]

My reply was related to the following sentence, thus the query as to what you meant. Thanks for clarification.

While I'd not advocate misrepresenting the state of the watch, intermittent audio or shutdown/crashing problems are really difficult to disprove.

Another avenue may be for the watch to sit in the freezer for a couple days and see if there's any change to the battery %.

If AppleCare+ can't distinguish OLED degradation and/or condensation from sticking a watch in the freezer then using express replacement might work once I get the battery down below 80% but I still don't think I want to take a chance on getting a repair bill. AppleCare+ is costing me $5/month so I can go a while and still pay less than $100 battery replacement fee.

 

[jz0309]

My reply was related to the following sentence, thus the query as to what you meant. Thanks for clarification.

While I'd not advocate misrepresenting the state of the watch, intermittent audio or shutdown/crashing problems are really difficult to disprove.

Another avenue may be for the watch to sit in the freezer for a couple days and see if there's any change to the battery %.

this is from the specs for the S9:

• Operational temperature: 32°F to 95°F (0°C to 35°C)
• Nonoperational storage temperature: 4°F to 113°F (-20° to 45°C)

 

[deeddawg]

this is from the specs for the S9:

• Operational temperature: 32°F to 95°F (0°C to 35°C)
• Nonoperational storage temperature: 4°F to 113°F (-20° to 45°C)

They missed the "-" ahead of the 4°F. See below and also note that 4°F is -15.56°C

Oddly enough my Apple watches have survived years of outdoor activities in Georgia summers just fine with plenty of days well above 95F, as well as winter outdoor activities at temps well below 32F.





From https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204508