Ultra Fast Charging

[newellj]

I rather use 5w and save battery health

I almost always do the same for the same reason, but every so often I need a big charge *right now* and it's nice to have the ability to rapid charge, which is surprisingly fast (maybe because I mostly use old 5W iPhone adapters 😉 ). I've had no troubles with AW7 or AWU using the rapid charge pucks.

 

[A1000]

So I charged my AWU on using an Apple 20W brick and the fast charge puck 28% to 69% took 1h15m so doesn't seem to be fast charging. It will be interesting to see if WatchOS 9.02 changes anything.

 

[andyw715]

I use UGreen 20W PD charger (amazon) and get 10-100% around and hour for the Ultra.

 

[Wackery]

I use UGreen 20W PD charger (amazon) and get 10-100% around and hour for the Ultra.

team ugreen, yay

 

[tmoerel]

I’m getting 20% in an hour with a 60w anker charger.

The speed is driving me crazy!

A lot of PD chargers are buggy and will not detect the device connected properly. It is 99% probable that your charging cable is OK but that your power supply is not working well with it.

 

[msackey]

Edit: There is an 18w brick and 20w brick that look almost identical. It's possible that they might be trying to charge with an older 18w brick. I remember when the MagSafe charger for iPhone was released there was a big deal made about having to upgrade your old 18w chargers to the new 20w to get fast charging. I remember how much it ticked me off to have to do that!

I came to this threading going to ask the same question, whether charging with the Apple 18w brick will provide the same ultra charge as that of Apple 20w brick.

To the original poster, the 18w and 20w brick looks exactly the same. You'll have to look at the printed words on the brick to see whether yours is 18w or 20w. My 18w brick came with my 2020 iPad Pro 11-inch. So far, I have found that it doesn't seem like my Ultra is charging that fast even with my 18w brick. Maybe I should buy one of the other Apple bricks to see if it would charge faster.

 

[msackey]

My AW Ultra had a fast charging problem, too. It charged as slow as 20% per hour, no matter which charger and cable I used. Apple support told me, this is not expected behavior and the watch will need to be exchanged. Unfortunately, my replacement will not be shipping for up to three weeks. This leaves me with no AW Ultra for the moment.

I think, that‘s pretty disappointing. Since Apple seems to have a problem with fast charging on their AW Ultra, they should at least be speeding up the process to replace defective watches.

Oh yikes. I hope I don't have the AW Ultra fast charging problem. That would be a bummer.

One odd thing about my Ultra that I noticed: when I set it up for the first time, the screen asking for what region/language I am choosing first had "China" listed on the top, then everything else below it was alphabetized. I live and bought the Ultra in the US. Why would the Ultra present "China" as the top choice? At first, I thought the version of the Ultra I have was intended for the Chinese market, but when I looked at the model number, it is the one intended for the US market. Of course, this doesn't mean there isn't something messed up with the internals.

 

[mar12]

watchOS 9 reintroduced the fast charging bug that came around 8.1 and was fixed eventually in watchOS 8.6 I think. I'm having the same issue on an S7. Would suggest just waiting for updates unfortunately

 

[msackey]

watchOS 9 reintroduced the fast charging bug that came around 8.1 and was fixed eventually in watchOS 8.6 I think. I'm having the same issue on an S7. Would suggest just waiting for updates unfortunately

I think I am actually glad to hear that the bug is not hardware related (e.g., problem with the Apple Watch Ultra), but more likely to be software related. I would very much hate to have to return my Ultra and go through the hassle of not having an Apple Watch to use. Plus, I'm currently not in the US and can't return my Ultra easily.

(*For example: I learnt that while I can purchase an Apple product in Canada and have the item's warranty still valid in the US, I can't however return it in the US even if it's within the window period; it's only allowed in the country from which you purchased the product. At least that's what I was told.)

 

[Mr.C]

I think I am actually glad to hear that the bug is not hardware related (e.g., problem with the Apple Watch Ultra), but more likely to be software related. I would very much hate to have to return my Ultra and go through the hassle of not having an Apple Watch to use. Plus, I'm currently not in the US and can't return my Ultra easily.

(*For example: I learnt that while I can purchase an Apple product in Canada and have the item's warranty still valid in the US, I can't however return it in the US even if it's within the window period; it's only allowed in the country from which you purchased the product. At least that's what I was told.)

Correct. If you want to exchange or get a refund within the 14 day period it has to be at a store in the country it was purchased. However if you want it serviced or replaced under warranty due to a fault this can be done anywhere they have stores.

 

[A1000]

So I'm just off the phone from Apple Support who ran diagnosics which showed no problem with the watch. They want me to go into an Apple store to test the watch on another charger but there are no appointments tomorrow and they can't book for next Saturday as it is over 7 days out. They didn't want me to leave the call without a resolution yet their systems wouldn't allow me to do what they say I have too🤣 And when I try to book a Genius Bar appt for a watch it just takes you to support which says you can only mail in as they don't service or repair in store🙄

Sounds to me increasingly like a software issue or a faulty fast charge puck?

 

[bthompson]

This continues to be an issue for me. I have two watches, both on 9.1 betas. The Ultra will not fast charge UNLESS it is connected to the iPhone. If I put on my other watch, connect it to the phone, the Ultra takes 3 hours to charge. If I connect it to my phone, it does charger much faster.

 

[A1000]

This continues to be an issue for me. I have two watches, both on 9.1 betas. The Ultra will not fast charge UNLESS it is connected to the iPhone. If I put on my other watch, connect it to the phone, the Ultra takes 3 hours to charge. If I connect it to my phone, it does charger much faster.

i think you may be onto something with this. When I’m charging my Ultra I usually put on my AW6 which then of course connects to my phone instead of the Ultra. I’ve just tried to charge my Ultra with it still connected to the phone and it went from 37% to 60% in 15 mins Which is in line with the fast charging claims. And that’s using the same power brick and fast charge puck as before that wasn’t working.

I‘m on watchOS 9.0.2.

I’m guessing this isn’t noticed much as most people don’t have more than one Apple Watch connected to their phone so their Ultra stays connected.

 

[Imnotsamiam]

Have found the same - when second Watch is connected the Ultra does not fast charge. Manually selecting Ultra to remain connected (in iPhone app), while wearing the second Apple watch, allows for fast charging of the Ultra. Am also on watchOS 9.0.2.

 

[bthompson]

Have found the same - when second Watch is connected the Ultra does not fast charge. Manually selecting Ultra to remain connected (in iPhone app), while wearing the second Apple watch, allows for fast charging of the Ultra. Am also on watchOS 9.0.2.

Yep to this. So weird. Why would it matter if it’s connected to the phone?

 

[A1000]

Yep to this. So weird. Why would it matter if it’s connected to the phone?

I did wonder if it‘s related to the geographical region limitations but surely it would use gps as you could connect through a vpn. Probably an undeclared software issue that will go away silently in a future update.

 

[cmontyburns]

I've got Ultra fast charging issues as well. It won't fast charge on an Anker 17W adapter (which I bought new for this purpose), an Anker 20W adapter (which I already had and which fast charges my iPhone), a Belkin 25W adapter (also bought new to try), and (most damning) the new Apple 35W compact dual-USB adapter that came with the M2 MacBook Air.

Will have to contact Apple tomorrow to see what they say.

 

[A1000]

Just to test the idea that fast charging doesn’t work if the watch isn‘t connected to a phone I tried a non-Apple PD charger which hadn’t worked before. Whereas previously I swapped to another AW while charging, this time I left the AWU connected and as if by magic Fast Charging worked with about a 23% increase in 15 minutes👍

 

[Zimmy68]

Now I know why Apple stopped alerting users when fast charge is active (on the iPhone). They want everyone to guess.
I have no idea if mine is fast charging or not. Doesn't seem faster than my S5.
It would be nice if the charge circle was a different color if fast charging was active.

 

[Wackery]

Now I know why Apple stopped alerting users when fast charge is active (on the iPhone). They want everyone to guess.
I have no idea if mine is fast charging or not. Doesn't seem faster than my S5.
It would be nice if the charge circle was a different color if fast charging was active.

But then that would make the problem clear, and then Apple would need to address the problem.

Welcome to Tim Cook’s apple

 

[Mike Boreham]

Edit: There is an 18w brick and 20w brick that look almost identical. It's possible that they might be trying to charge with an older 18w brick. I remember when the MagSafe charger for iPhone was released there was a big deal made about having to upgrade your old 18w chargers to the new 20w to get fast charging. I remember how much it ticked me off to have to do that!

That was true for the Magsafe but doesnt apply for watches. This Apple article says that both the 18W and 20W support fast charging on the AW7 and Ultra.

 

[A1000]

Issue reported through Apple support who will log it with the correct team

 

[bthompson]

Continues to be an issue on all RC beta watches and my iPHone. Ultra will not fast charge when I auto switch to my S7.

 

[Mezoxin]

I think apple watches are limited by their form factor and ability to dissipate heat to be able to fast charge , while using a cable that provides monitoring of wattage while charging my AW7 SS for example i notice that it charges in intervals , meaning that it sustains 2.8w for about 10 mins then it stops providing power to the watch although the charging icon is active, takes about a minute to cool then starts ramping wattage again

 

[newellj]

Yep to this. So weird. Why would it matter if it’s connected to the phone?

Just to test the idea that fast charging doesn’t work if the watch isn‘t connected to a phone I tried a non-Apple PD charger which hadn’t worked before. Whereas previously I swapped to another AW while charging, this time I left the AWU connected and as if by magic Fast Charging worked with about a 23% increase in 15 minutes👍

Continues to be an issue on all RC beta watches and my iPHone. Ultra will not fast charge when I auto switch to my S7.

This is super-odd. Is it possible that WatchOS is "outsourcing" management of rapid charging to the iPhone? That doesn't seem like it would make sense, but it would fit the facts that people are reporting.