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Update killed my watch battery.

judyg951

judyg951

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
446
268
sunny So. Ca.
I updated the software on my SS 10 watch this morning and by 3:00 I was down to14% battery. Anyone else noticing this? I don't recall having battery issues with any other update.
 
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judyg951 said:
I rebooted both and will see how it does tomorrow. Thank you!
Click to expand...
This happens to some people on almost all OS updates, usually rebooting fixes it. It can take sometimes up to a week to see normal
Behavior again.
If it persists for several days, a un-pair/re-pair is often suggested. In such case it is highly recommended to setup the watch as new and not restore from backup. Hopefully you won't get to that point
 
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I'm a week into WatchOS 26 on my Apple Watch Series 8. Tonight marks the second night since updating that my Apple Watch battery has gotten down to zero. My watch is usually around 10% when I take it off for the night, so this is unusual for me. I've tried the restart process several times and it does not seem to help, but it's hard to say. WatchOS 26 is the likely culprit in my case.
 
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Same here. Series 10 and the battery has taken a hit.
I have re-paired it and still dead by the evening (off charger ~ 7am). Before the watch would be at 35% by the time I went to sleep.
 
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judyg951 said:
The watch was normal temperature when I updated it.. It is now at 80% at 10:50. I have been wearing it since around 6:30 so I will see how the day goes.
Click to expand...
did it drain again?

was the watch full battery since you took it off the charger?
 
TonyC28 said:
I'm a week into WatchOS 26 on my Apple Watch Series 8. Tonight marks the second night since updating that my Apple Watch battery has gotten down to zero. My watch is usually around 10% when I take it off for the night, so this is unusual for me. I've tried the restart process several times and it does not seem to help, but it's hard to say. WatchOS 26 is the likely culprit in my case.
Click to expand...
This morning I checked before I took it off the charger, and it was only at 34% after about 8 hours of charging. I use a third-party charger for my iPhone and Apple Watch. My phone chargers fine on it. Maybe WatchOS 26 doesn't like my charger?
 
This has happened to me before and restarting it didn't fix it. What did work was unpairing and then repairing it.
 
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26.0.2 has ruined my series 6 battery life. I know it’s an old watch but always got me through the day, until now. It’s losing around 10% an hour. Rebooted everything, and even took any third party complications off the current face (pedometer++) to no avail.

Next thing to try is a full reset and set up from scratch unless anyone else has any ideas.

Edit - I should add that 26.0 was ok, the .0.2 point release seems to be the cause.
 
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robotron2084 said:
26.0.2 has ruined my series 6 battery life.
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Wait till 26.6.1, it will be ok. /s

I had the same problem with WatchOS 10.0.x on my AW4. It ruined my watch battery life. I was unable to use my watch longer than 3 hours.

2025, WatchOS 10.6.1, the same AW4 works perfectly for a whole day plus ~30 minutes running workout.
 
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Battery drain is a problem post iOS/WatchOS 26 with all the minor updates done. Series 9. My daughter having the same issues. Battery drain is very quick and worse after any exercise/fitness function. Glad to know it;s just not me. Maybe Apple Planned Obsolescence at play here?????
 
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Wife’s brand new series 10, her old series 9 and my series 7 were great but once updated to 26 lucky to get half a day. It’s terrible. Tried rebooting, set up as new. No apps installed. Turned off background app refresh. Can’t even get 6 hours without it totally dying.
 
Watch OS 26 has killed my AppleWatch 7 battery as well. Re-boot, quit unused apps, etc, etc. Prior to update, ended the day with 28+% battery. Now dead battery by early evening. Not a happy camper.
 
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My watch Series 10 seems to be ok now, but my husbands 9 cannot make it through the day. He runs out of power by the late afternoon now. It's very frustrating. According to Apple 26 has created a huge mess and a lot of people are having problems with it. I wish they would fix it already.
 
I thought that a reset had fixed mine but it’s gone terrible again and can’t get through the day. No changes to settings or apps here, I just think it’s a rubbish update.
 
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Same thing on my Series 8. Started a week ago. I charge mine usually late morning and it is enough to last me to the next morning, but now I’m finding it dead when I wake up.

Does everyone who is having issues wear their watch to bed? I feel like sleep time is using more battery than before.
 
I have a replace/refurb Series 7 with 100% battery capability. Before 26.0.2, my battery would last 24 hours before getting to 10%. Today, my watch died while I was asleep (and wearing it). Just adding my two cents for the record.
 
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