Quickest way to degrade an Apple Watch battery?

[jz0309]

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.

totally agree with you.
there is something you could do though that might affect the displayed battery health (or not): let the watch run down until it shuts itself off, then charge to 100%, check health and repeat. when the chemistry in a battery is not fully used over time (eg always charging from 20% to 100% or so), there might be a "calibration" ...

 

[klasma]

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

Clearly, those folks are payed by Apple to obfuscate the conspiracy. Apple really is clever.

 

[jdb8167]

totally agree with you.
there is something you could do though that might affect the displayed battery health (or not): let the watch run down until it shuts itself off, then charge to 100%, check health and repeat. when the chemistry in a battery is not fully used over time (eg always charging from 20% to 100% or so), there might be a "calibration" ...

A follow up. When I posted this on September 28 I was at 81% battery health. This morning it was 79% and recommending service. I followed the above sequence and charged to 100% and down to 0% repeatedly over the last 10 days. I was expecting it to take at least a month or two, not 11 days.

Other things I did was make it a family watch. Turned the brightness to full. Turned off optimized battery charging. And put on the Snoopy watch face. Whenever I thought about it I went in to maps and chose a route. This apparently times out after a while so it doesn’t stick. The Snoopy face likewise probably didn’t have much affect since the animations don’t run when the watch is just sitting on my nightstand.

I also think this is a cautionary note for anyone who frequently lets their Apple Watch drop to 0%. While this quick drop might have been a calibration as @jz0309 suggested, I wouldn’t want to chance it. It seems letting your watch battery go to 0% is very bad for its health especially on an already aging battery.

 

[jz0309]

I also think this is a cautionary note for anyone who frequently lets their Apple Watch drop to 0%. While this quick drop might have been a calibration as @jz0309 suggested, I wouldn’t want to chance it. It seems letting your watch battery go to 0% is very bad for its health especially on an already aging battery.

100% this.

 

[Killbynumbers]

100% this.

I had two series 7 watches. When one needed charging, I put it on the charger and wore the other one. That one sits on the charger until the battery on the one I'm wearing gets down to 100 or so, sometimes lower. I did that for two years. Battery % on both is 94%.

I also have two series 4. Did the same exact thing day after day. Both watches are at 96%.

I did the same with the series 2 watches I had. I no longer have those so I have no idea what the % was on those. They last me two years when I upgrade. I've had watches turn off because it ran out of power because I forgot to switch watches before I went to work. Never affected the battery capacity.