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avanpelt

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jun 2, 2010
2,951
3,861
Since installing watchOS 3.1 yesterday, I'm seeing significantly improved battery life on my Series 2. It's been off the charger for almost 14 hours and it's only down to 79%. Normally, at this point in the day, it would be anywhere between 50 to 55%. Needless to say, I'm very satisfied with 3.1 thus far. Anyone else seeing similar results?
 

julesme

macrumors 6502a
Oct 14, 2016
572
2,060
San Jose
Yes - this is a dramatic improvement to the Watch. MacRumors should have one of their editors provide an updated battery stress test. It's an opportunity for them to scoop the rest of the tech media, nearly all of whom reviewed S2 with 3.0 and concluded that battery life was unfortunately similar to S0 (there were a few notable exceptions, such as a recent update from 9to5mac that I linked below).

My own usage reflects an increase from around 24 hours battery life on 3.0 to well over 30 hours now, depending on watch face/complications, length and type of workout, music playback, etc. It's such a dramatic improvement with 3.1 that I would expect Apple to eventually change the language on its battery page, which currently describes having reached their 18 hour rating based on "pre release" software.

9to5mac:
https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/18/apple-watch-series-2-post-review-tidbits-battery-life-gps-more/

Apple Watch Battery Page:
http://www.apple.com/watch/battery.html
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,643
42,516
This is good to hear. Through the forums, a lot of members have mentioned how their Series 2 has struggled with battery life. Sounds like 3.1 has addressed some of these issues.
 

redsteeler

macrumors member
Dec 30, 2014
33
6
In 10 hours i lost 6% for sure this is more then nice. Light use. Today i will try with stress test / hard usage.
 
Last edited:

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,694
3,442
Seattle
My launch-day 2015 Series 0 Apple Watch is at 72% right now, after mild use. Been off the charger since 9am, and it's 9:45pm. I've not noticed any battery life difference from 3.0.
 

recoil80

macrumors 68040
Jul 16, 2014
3,117
2,755
After 3 hours my series 1 is 98%, huge battery life.
In the past that happened a couple of times when I rebooted the Watch, then battery life went back to normal so I'll have to wait a couple of day to see if there is a real improvement.
 
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AMTYVLE

macrumors 6502a
Sep 23, 2014
692
558
FL
Yes, I've noticed also! After about 15 hours off the charger, I was only at 74%. Apps also load faster then previous OS.
 

Resqu2

macrumors 6502a
Apr 23, 2011
857
287
I'm at 27 hours off charge right now, had a 5K run early yesterday then a 5K walk last night plus all the regular stuff and I'm at 57%. But to be honest I was getting great battery life on 3.0 so it's hard to tell if it's better or not.
 

numberfour

macrumors regular
Jan 27, 2015
230
165
This is wonderful news! Still waiting to receive my series 2, but glad to see apple improving the watch os
 

Manrico1

macrumors member
Oct 7, 2016
36
15
Crema, Lombardia
With my 42mm AW2 and 3.1 I'm at 66% of battery after about 25 hours, (I admit, very light usage today) but yes it has improved a lot for me.
Not that 3.0 was poor, I could do always 1 day with it but this is better.

I'm curious if there is any difference in battery between 38 and 42 mm. I read that the 42 has bigger battery but I could not find any review / comparison between them
 

StachStach

macrumors newbie
Oct 26, 2016
6
2
I can confirm that my 42mm S1 has very significantly improved battery life with watchOS 3.1. After waking up with a full charge and now over 8 hours into the day (30 minute workout included), my watch is still at 90%. I would estimate that while running watchOS 3.0 with a very similar day, I would be at 60% or a little less typically. Also, two nights ago I wore it while sleeping and the battery only dropped less than 10% during 7 hours of sleep. I think I will try going for 2 days and 1 night in between on 1 charge now to see if it can survive and record my heart rate while I sleep every other night.

VERY happy at the unexpected battery life gains with watchOS 3.1 !!!
Stach
 

AMTYVLE

macrumors 6502a
Sep 23, 2014
692
558
FL
Anyone think Apple improved battery life in 3.1 to roll out Sleep tracking activity soon?
 

berggren.anders

macrumors newbie
Apr 19, 2009
5
0

julesme

macrumors 6502a
Oct 14, 2016
572
2,060
San Jose
Anyone think Apple improved battery life in 3.1 to roll out Sleep tracking activity soon?

I wouldn't be surprised if there is an internal debate over priority of the following features: Sleep Tracking, Cellular, and Always On Display. From these forums I've noticed that some users find one of the above features to be a game changer while others consider the same feature to be completely non-essential. Hopefully Apple will add all three of these features as soon as possible. :)
 
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Targets R Us

macrumors member
Jan 13, 2012
36
32
Let's see how battery life is after a couple of days usage. As I recall, a number of folks have noted in the past that a reboot tends to provide a temporary(?) improvement.

-Jeff

p.s. my day one data point is that after 9-1/2 hours, there is 85% battery left.
 

recoil80

macrumors 68040
Jul 16, 2014
3,117
2,755
Anyone think Apple improved battery life in 3.1 to roll out Sleep tracking activity soon?

That's a possibility.
Last night since Watch was 60% I wore it to track sleep and this morning I woke up with 40%, a quick charge and I'm ready for a full day of usage (starting from 70%).
I have to say that I felt uncomfortable wearing the Watch in bed, so sleep tracking is not something I'm going to do with the Watch in the future.
 

StachStach

macrumors newbie
Oct 26, 2016
6
2
I can confirm that my 42mm S1 has very significantly improved battery life with watchOS 3.1. After waking up with a full charge and now over 8 hours into the day (30 minute workout included), my watch is still at 90%. I would estimate that while running watchOS 3.0 with a very similar day, I would be at 60% or a little less typically. Also, two nights ago I wore it while sleeping and the battery only dropped less than 10% during 7 hours of sleep. I think I will try going for 2 days and 1 night in between on 1 charge now to see if it can survive and record my heart rate while I sleep every other night.

VERY happy at the unexpected battery life gains with watchOS 3.1 !!!
Stach

Well, I ended yesterday with 70% and kept wearing thru the night and woke up with 60%. The potentially BIG catch is that after my workout yesterday morning, the watch stopped automatically taking regular heart rate readings. So I went all day without a single heart rate test, which usually run every 8 minutes or less.

Is anybody noticing this potential bug with watchOS 3.1?
-Stach
 

GC251114

macrumors 6502
Jul 28, 2015
428
234
Afternoon guys

Just to add my two penneth with regards to battery. This is my first Apple Watch so can't compare , however

42mm Series 2 running 3.1

After 30 hrs of moderate usage I'm at 44% left.

Must say , very impressed.

Cheers
 

MxChino

macrumors regular
Jul 27, 2008
108
50
Off charger since 730am. It's almost 9 now and I had an hour work out at the gym that I tracked, it's at 70%. Usually, I take people claiming better battery life with a grain of salt as it's usually just from the repairing of the watch to the phone. I think this is the real deal though.
 
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