Thinking about an Apple Watch - battery life?

[teh_hunterer]

Same. I've only ever had a "standard / regular" AW. Finally decided to splurge & try the Ultra 3 because the battery on my S6 would BARELY last til ~5-6 pm..... and that was with low power mode enabled all day, fully charging it overnight. :-(

I'm glad you like the Ultra but the standard one has gotten far better since the S6. You don't need an Ultra to get through the day.

I charge my series 10 in the morning. It's 7pm where I am and my watch is at 72%. It's done a full day of working and commuting, always on display is on, I don't attempt to save battery at all.

 

[CooperBox]

I remember those articles too - 6.5 hours was only if you were doing something battery intensive. Otherwise, with normal use, 18 hours was very doable (even with 30 mins to a few hours of exercise).

But you hit a great point. My Casio GW-5000U-1JF is an amazing watch. On a full charge it can last 11+ months without any light, or with normal use, last some 20+ years on the lithium cell. And it only cost me $216 + import duties. I wear it every now and then to keep it topped off. One of my favorite watches. If you aren't addicted to smart watches or need/want their features, there are way better alternatives.

That Picture Gallery thread is a GREAT thread 😀 https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...l-watches-only-no-smartwatches-please.150004/

As an Apple Watch Ultra 3 owner (I use 25-29% of my battery per day), makes you kinda re-think everything. lol. I have spent some time looking at what I get for what cost. It is not cheap to have an Apple Watch. But what I get for it is nice and makes my life better.

You certainly have good taste with a GW-500U. I was never really a fan of G-Shocks, but after seeing reviews of the watch I had to get one - it’s an outstanding timepiece!. Not to be confused with the more recent GW-BX version which imho is not in the same league.

 

[ignatius345]

I do shift work - sometimes I am up before 5am, and not going to bed till like 10pm. Realistically is any Apple Watch gonna make it that long? It would only be the GPS version if that makes any difference.

My Series 10 is good for that long, generally. Remember, too, that you can extend battery life quite a bit if you put it into Low Power Mode (also great on iPhone IMO). You could always buy one and see how it does on a work day, return it if it’s not adquate.

You mention the SE. I initially bought one to dip my toe into having an AW and eventually found it a bit limiting. It works fine, but the UI is quite slow to respond. I also found that having the watch face only available when I raised my wrist meant in practice that many times I went to glance quickly at my watch, nothing was visible because my wrist wasn’t raised enough or whatever. The always-on watch face made the whole thing much more useful to me as a watch.

 

[Nekronos]

Series 11 owner here. The battery gains are very real. Mine leaves the charger at 7am and gets back on it at 8pm with only 40% battery lost. I have the AOD turned on and track at least 2x 60 minute workouts during that time. I use Siri on it and other features during the workday.

I do not use it for sleep tracking, largely because evolution tells me when I’ve had a rough night and I find it uncomfortable to wear a watch at night. Yuck!

I also have the heart rate tracking turned off. I track my walks to work, not anything intense so as far as I’m concerned it’s just a waste of battery. Honestly it makes me anxious having it on too. Last time I kept it on it was spitting out warning signs of something. I checked with my Doc and everything was ok and he said that its readings were all over the place.

The battery gains on the S11 are very real and worth the money IMHO.

Heart rate readings can be all over the place if your watch is not properly fitted - if its loose or above the wrist bone it will not record accurate readings.

I can assure you heart rate readings are not a waste of battery, it can and does save people's lives. Seeing a Dr just provides a brief snapshot to your health and can easily miss health concerns that happen sporadically. Some things are only caught by chance and something such as a watch actively monitoring your heart for frequency, variability and rhythm can be a game changer.

Doesn't mean you need to stare at your watch measuring your heart rate but if your heart rate is spiking while at rest that's worth knowing.

 

[ignatius345]

I do not use it for sleep tracking, largely because evolution tells me when I’ve had a rough night and I find it uncomfortable to wear a watch at night. Yuck!

I bought mine specifically to track my (often rough) sleep and I’m sort of on the fence as to whether it’s worthwhile. It’s interesting to look at my average sleep stats, but I don’t know if I’m learning anything I wouldn’t be able to intuit from just how rested I feel. I will say, I did get more used to the sensation of having a watch on than I thought would, though.

 

[Henry762]

I'm glad you like the Ultra but the standard one has gotten far better since the S6. You don't need an Ultra to get through the day.

I charge my series 10 in the morning. It's 7pm where I am and my watch is at 72%. It's done a full day of working and commuting, always on display is on, I don't attempt to save battery at all.

Oh yes; I'm aware that the battery for the standard models has significantly improved since the S6!
I always loved the looks of the Ultra & was pretty certain the larger face would prove much more useful - and it has!
I also really love the automatic red night mode. 🤓 😎

And dang; that is pretty impressive battery!!!
Just the past few weeks, I feel my Ultra has taken a bit of a dive in the battery dept. I'm on WatchOS 26.1.

As I've commented in other threads; I had such horrific experiences with iOS 26 and iPadOS 26, that I'm no longer updating ANY of my devices, which includes my Apple Watch.

What version of WatchOS are you on and what has been your experience with it?

For example; I went thru several versions of iPadOS 26 that took my M1 11" iPad Pro down to maybe ~4-5 hours of battery life (if that). I'd just be SO pissed if I installed a WatchOS update & it had a similarly negative impact on battery life. 🤬

 

[martin2345uk]

OK so despite what I previously said I ended up getting an SE3 today 🤦🏼

I do like the Always On Display, I will give it a few days and see how I get on with it...!

 

[jz0309]

OK so despite what I previously send I ended up getting an SE3 today 🤦🏼

View attachment 2630210

I do like the Always On Display, I will give it a few days and see how I get on with it...!

Congrats and enjoy!

 

[teh_hunterer]

As I've commented in other threads; I had such horrific experiences with iOS 26 and iPadOS 26, that I'm no longer updating ANY of my devices, which includes my Apple Watch.

What version of WatchOS are you on and what has been your experience with it?

Oh I think life is too short to worry about that. I just update everything when it wants to update.

 

[Ctrlos]

Heart rate readings can be all over the place if your watch is not properly fitted - if its loose or above the wrist bone it will not record accurate readings.

I can assure you heart rate readings are not a waste of battery, it can and does save people's lives. Seeing a Dr just provides a brief snapshot to your health and can easily miss health concerns that happen sporadically. Some things are only caught by chance and something such as a watch actively monitoring your heart for frequency, variability and rhythm can be a game changer.

Doesn't mean you need to stare at your watch measuring your heart rate but if your heart rate is spiking while at rest that's worth knowing.

I appreciate it’s different for everyone. Just knowing it’s recording my heart rate makes me anxious as well which in turn spikes my heart rate and round and round I go. Not having it on is in my personal case ironically better for my heart!

I get a physician to check me out every 3 months and have a regular physical at work. If they ever found anything irregular I’d probably turn it back on.

I was once held up in hospital on a business trip because they thought my heart rate might be due to Lyme Disease but my regular Watch tracking showed that it was just naturally high which was another problem, but not one that needed an overnight hospital stay. I see how it can be beneficial, but after the irregular stats last time spooked me I feel safer having it off.

 

[Abazigal]

So I'm contemplating thinking about considering an Apple Watch.. the SE looks good value, the Series 11 look very nice, but my question is about real world battery life.

I do shift work - sometimes I am up before 5am, and not going to bed till like 10pm. Realistically is any Apple Watch gonna make it that long? It would only be the GPS version if that makes any difference.

If I'm gonna end several days with a dead watch then I guess it's pretty much a non starter so just doing some research here 😆

Thanks all!

An Apple Watch should comfortably last the day with around 30-40% to spare. You will definitely need to charge it daily. What I typically do is is wake up at 5 am, then switch on the charger while I go wash up. It's enough time to get back to full life (or almost full) by the time I am ready to leave for work at 6 am. No issues.

So a typical work day for me is more is closer to 6 am to 6 pm.

This is with a S10 watch that's still at 100% battery health (I guess not leaving it on the charger throughout the night helps with battery longevity?).

 

[Parowdy]

My Series 7 used to last be almost 2 full days when new. I still have it now, and it still easily gets through an entire day - maybe even a day and a half. You'll fine with your hours, especially with a newer series watch.

I also have the S7 in 45mm that I needed to replace last year because it’s it’s battery. Now my second one as already at 88% battery health.
Since when do you use your current model?

 

[Parowdy]

Yes, the Apple Watch is boring and has less innovation than Fitbit, Pebble or even Whoop.

That use those instead.
You can have an opinion, that doesn’t mean it’s worth much.

 

[Ifti]

I also have the S7 in 45mm that I needed to replace last year because it’s it’s battery. Now my second one as already at 88% battery health.
Since when do you use your current model?

I've had my S7 since it was released. It's currently at 81%

 

[ignatius345]

I’d like to see Apple’s take on a smart ring. I tried Oura, enjoyed the battery life and minimalism, but didn’t care for the software or subscription. Apple already has the software side taken care of, especially since workouts can now be created on iPhone without an Apple Watch at all, and can undercut the subscription.
(Yes, I’m aware insurance and/or HSA/FSA can be used for Oura, so it’s not exactly the same as other subs)

Same. I like tracking sleep, activity and other vitals but I don’t love wearing an Apple Watch to bed (and am iffy on it in general). A ring form factor seems ideal, but I'm not too keen on adding more software/subscription/privacy management into the mix.

 

[martin2345uk]

Well on my first full day wearing the thing I’m not far off going to bed and it’s at 61%.

I don’t wear watches when I sleep so I think the battery should be okay for my use…

 

[gummybear2026]

That use those instead.
You can have an opinion, that doesn’t mean it’s worth much.

It must be pretty boring if you are still rocking a Series 7 watch!

 

[curnalpanic]

Depends how you use it of course, but I don't think I've ever had my watch die within 24 hours of the last full charge. That is for a relatively new (2-3 years) series 9 non-cellular by the way. But a some point the battery will degrade so eventually you will need to replace it or charge several times per day. Took my old series 3 something like 4-5 years to get to that point.

 

[Fallforward]

Yeah... and will probably just end up using it to.. tell the time 😂

You might find additional uses. There are many, many items you can add to customize it to what matters to you. For example, my primary daily face also has day/date (you can lose track when retired), sunup/sundown time, weather data, current UV, and start fitness recording (like walk or hike). A secondary for hiking with things like elevation. It is set to silently notify me via haptics of various notifications. Altogether, a very useful set of custom options.

 

[Andy_2341]

I'm glad you like the Ultra but the standard one has gotten far better since the S6. You don't need an Ultra to get through the day.

I charge my series 10 in the morning. It's 7pm where I am and my watch is at 72%. It's done a full day of working and commuting, always on display is on, I don't attempt to save battery at all.

What is the battery health on your S10? Mine is at 93% after one year (a couple of nights of getting to sub 10% really did a number on it) and I can barely make it 14 hours on a charge, AOD on, with little interaction and trying to save battery. Updated to 26.5.

 

[Parowdy]

It must be pretty boring if you are still rocking a Series 7 watch!

It’s a perfectly good watch. Unlike some, I use my watch mostly as a traditional watch, with health features running in the background. I have all notifications not health related turned off, but there are some very useful features I can’t live without anymore.
The screen is adaptive and always visible and crisp even in the brightest or dimmest ambient light settings.
Having been able to use my watch as a media source and pay with it the couple of times I forgot my phone or when it was empty was incredibly fortunate.
The flashlight is super useful and the red one especially.
Being able to precisely fine tune my volume with the haptic crown is also insanely useful to me, but Raise to Speak to Siri is the single best feature, it’s a must have when cooking or cleaning, I love it. And being able to accept a call on the watch is sometimes a life saver.
Sleep and workout tracking are a no brainer.
I’ve often used the remote camera feature with my phone in weird places to look for something, when it works 10/10 feature.
And besides just turning on or off a Focus like Sleep that’s system wide, I can also run shortcuts from my watch on my phone with practically all the freedom shortcuts allows and technically can even run complex shortcuts and automations on my Mac.
Apart from battery life and watch 26 my S7 is a marvel of technology really and it does so much more than I could ask of a watch.

Can you do all these things as well with one watch?

 

[teh_hunterer]

What is the battery health on your S10? Mine is at 93% after one year (a couple of nights of getting to sub 10% really did a number on it) and I can barely make it 14 hours on a charge, AOD on, with little interaction and trying to save battery. Updated to 26.5.

Mine is at 90% battery health. That is definitely some odd battery behaviour. Are you using it on cellular without your phone being nearby all day or something? I do nothing at all to preserve the battery. AOD is on, I don't stress about the times I let it go below 10% or die, etc.

 

[Luis Ortega]

Yeah... I think maybe I am just suffering from a need for something shiny and new and maybe a watch isn't the most useful thing for me, I wouldnt be doing workouts or anything like that and will probably just end up using it to.. tell the time 😂

My watch 9 lasts for three days but I have all haptics and notifications turned off, always on is off and I use my watch primarily to tell time and do sleep tracking at night.

 

[Infuspeur]

I shift between two different homes during the week, and I have a charger at both. The charging time is very short, so during shower or eating I can easily charge it once a day. When I know I’ll not have access to a charger for more than a day, I activate energy saver mode. Thinking of buying d charger for in my car for even less charging stress.

 

[MacCheetah3]

I do shift work - sometimes I am up before 5am, and not going to bed till like 10pm. Realistically is any Apple Watch gonna make it that long? It would only be the GPS version if that makes any difference.

Well on my first full day wearing the thing I’m not far off going to bed and it’s at 61%.

I don’t wear watches when I sleep so I think the battery should be okay for my use…

I also have the S7 in 45mm that I needed to replace last year because it’s it’s battery. Now my second one as already at 88% battery health.
Since when do you use your current model?

A five-and-a-half-year-old Apple Watch SE can still make it through such a day. Today’s 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. (retail) shift with some brief outdoor cycling and walking afterwards.

Steps: 15,516 • Distance: 5 miles • Flights Climbed: 11


I don’t normally wear this watch for a full day anymore. It has been positioned as my “work" watch because it already has tiny spider cracks at the top of the display and some minor body damage — in other words, it has been smacked into, snagged on things, etc., at least a few times. I have a Watch SE 3 now for the typical day-to-day use (outside of work, that is). I use a Watch SE 2 for sleep tracking and auxiliary.

What is the battery health on your S10? Mine is at 93% after one year (a couple of nights of getting to sub 10% really did a number on it) and I can barely make it 14 hours on a charge, AOD on, with little interaction and trying to save battery. Updated to 26.5.

I politely recommend, stop reading the numerous tinfoil hat (battery) threads around here. They will set you far astray. I’m not stating your watch doesn’t (possibly) have runtime constraints. Rather, I can 100% guarantee, trillion-dollar bet it’s not because of that.