Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Watch OS 7 Battery Life

mnsportsgeek said:
Thanks, I will give my watch a few days to stabilize and then give hand washing a try.

I think it’s a cool feature even if the internet thinks it’s stupid.
Click to expand...
I use the hand washing feature every day. And even though I know how to properly wash my hands, I appreciate the gentle reminder to not get in a hurry, as well as being reminded to wash my hands when I get home.

If you use a watch face with a lot of complications, don’t expect the kind of battery life i have been getting.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gymratjudy and Never mind
Did another unpair and clean install on my watch yesterday. So far with 4 hours of it being off the charger I’m down to 60%.

I don’t think this is a coincidence. Apple did some bs since sales are down due to this pandemic.
 
Canyda said:
My first full day with my S6 yesterday finished with 54% battery when I went to bed.
Click to expand...
Today, watch off charger at 7 am, did a 2 hour hike that I tracked using Fitness app, and watch currently at 80% nearly 5 hours later, which seems excellent to me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apple_Robert
SR 7 said:
Did another unpair and clean install on my watch yesterday. So far with 4 hours of it being off the charger I’m down to 60%.

I don’t think this is a coincidence. Apple did some bs since sales are down due to this pandemic.
Click to expand...

iOS 7.0.1 - Unpair/re- paired, off charger yesterday at 5 AM and now is 2:55 PM, almost 22 hours with 15% left. Few phone calls, texting a bit, couple heart rate monitoring plus a couple blood 02 checks.

Some watch Complications take a battery hit than others. Test this out
 
Last edited:
bluegt said:
Certainly not normal. I am getting 40 hours out of my Series 6 with the AOD and everything else on, others are getting similar results. For more details or some ideas for the S6 model specifically, refer here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/series-6-battery-life-how-long-does-your-s6-last.2256065/

I'd suggest: Unpair/Repair, Remove all 3rd party complications, discharge to 0% (let watch die), wait 5 minutes, then charge back up to 100%.
Click to expand...

I unpaired / repaired (setting up as new) a couple times on 7.0 and problem persisted. After 48 hours from 7.0.1 release I let my watch die and after a while, charged it back all the way up to 100%. I’m still using 3rd party app complications, My watch is now sitting at 96% battery (Usage time: 28 minutes / Waiting time: 2 hours and 11 minutes) Apple Watch Series 5 (1 year old - 95% battery health) using GMT watch face + 4 complications...) so far, so good. Let’s see how it goes from now and on...
 
Bazooka-joe said:
It can’t be a problem with the operating system if the majority some people are not having any issues. Everybody has the same release of the OS . It has to be with the individuals configuration of their watches.
Click to expand...

This I agree 1000%. Some individuals use more battery intensive complications than others and they want to blame the watch or the OS.
 
  • Like
Reactions: George Dawes and Apple_Robert
Never mind said:
This I agree 1000%. Some individuals use more battery intensive complications than others and they want to blame the watch or the OS.
Click to expand...
Using an app that hasn’t been properly optimized for the current OS or one that has an ongoing bug you may not know about can also lead to battery woes.

Since I took my watch off the charger at 2:20pm today, I have used 6% battery. That is very good thus far in my book.
 
  • Like
Reactions: George Dawes
Bazooka-joe said:
It can’t be a problem with the operating system if the majority some people are not having any issues. Everybody has the same release of the OS . It has to be with the individuals configuration of their watches.
Click to expand...

Explain why un pairing and then re pairing made a difference for my series 4 watch ?
I didn’t change any other settings on my watch.

After updating to iOS 7.01 it’s gotten even better.
 
  • Like
Reactions: compwiz1202
Bazooka-joe said:
It can’t be a problem with the operating system if the majority some people are not having any issues. Everybody has the same release of the OS . It has to be with the individuals configuration of their watches.
Click to expand...
Sorry that I have to object, but I‘m sure this is not true at all.

Of course it can absolutely be a problem with the operating system, even if the majority is not encountering it.

The vast majority of OS problems occur only within certain configurations and not for everyone. Just have a look around here in these forums and read some of the older complaints which were doubtlessly caused by the OS only (a good proof of this is if the problem has been fixed by an OS update later on) - you will find statements of people not having that specific problem in almost every case.

Others not having the same problem never proofs anything at all. It can just be an indication for the true nature of the problem and its root causes.
In this specific case, many people having problems just since they upgraded to watchOS 7 and at the same time almost no one complaining about similar issues suddenly occurring on watchOS 6.2.8 or older doesn‘t really point towards 3rd party software or configuration issues - or what else is your conclusion?
In terms of possible workarounds for this problem, it would nevertheless be interesting to know more about the circumstances which make it occur - and which maybe help to make it (at least temporarily) disappear until the bug has been fixed.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ferretex
I updated my series 5 to iOS 7.0.1 as well as my iPhone. The battery is back to normal again. I didn't have to re-pair and I still use the watch to unlock my MacBook Pro.
 
Series 4 updated to 7.0.1 last night after 6 days on os7 and watch dying by mid afternoon (vs os6 when my battery never died before I went to bed). Put watch on at 9am and just got into bed at 2am with it at 50%, so huge improvement! But, lots different about today...
1) 7.0.1
2) away from home for 8 hours
3) 4 hours driving with phone as sat nav (so no notifications to watch)

so it could be 7.0.1, but need a day at home tomorrow to see if the issue with os7 is something to do with home (MacBook auto unlock, WiFi...).
 
I literally left my watch as new. I didn’t add anything because I’ve been unpairing 10x a day hoping it works.
This is an apple **** show.
 
SR 7 said:
I literally left my watch as new. I didn’t add anything because I’ve been unpairing 10x a day hoping it works.
This is an apple **** show.
Click to expand...

Then why don’t you return it get another one? I am on my second day checking the battery usage, and this time I have 4 complications that I used throughout the day and I’m now at five hours with 91% left on my battery.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: deeddawg
One thing that seems to have changed is the watch uses a lot less power when the screen isn't on My S5 was 3%ish / hour no matter what. This watch seems to power down much better.
 
enduro0125 said:
Explain why un pairing and then re pairing made a difference for my series 4 watch ?
I didn’t change any other settings on my watch.

After updating to iOS 7.01 it’s gotten even better.
Click to expand...
I dont know as I am not a WatchOS developer but probably because unpairing and re-pairing resets the watch and gets rid of any unknown bandit processes running in the background. Many people have found that unpairing the watch eliminates issues.
 
SR 7 said:
I literally left my watch as new. I didn’t add anything because I’ve been unpairing 10x a day hoping it works.
This is an apple **** show.
Click to expand...

... and you’ve not yet returned/exchanged your apparently defective watch because...???
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Never mind
TheGeneralist said:
Sorry that I have to object, but I‘m sure this is not true at all.

Of course it can absolutely be a problem with the operating system, even if the majority is not encountering it.

The vast majority of OS problems occur only within certain configurations and not for everyone. Just have a look around here in these forums and read some of the older complaints which were doubtlessly caused by the OS only (a good proof of this is if the problem has been fixed by an OS update later on) - you will find statements of people not having that specific problem in almost every case.

Others not having the same problem never proofs anything at all. It can just be an indication for the true nature of the problem and its root causes.
In this specific case, many people having problems just since they upgraded to watchOS 7 and at the same time almost no one complaining about similar issues suddenly occurring on watchOS 6.2.8 or older doesn‘t really point towards 3rd party software or configuration issues - or what else is your conclusion?
In terms of possible workarounds for this problem, it would nevertheless be interesting to know more about the circumstances which make it occur - and which maybe help to make it (at least temporarily) disappear until the bug has been fixed.
Click to expand...
Sorry but i don't buy that. My watches battery life is good. I only have two third party apps on it. My battery drain is well within Apples parameters. They is no way that Apple would release WatchOS if it was causing a battery drain issue
 
  • Like
Reactions: Never mind
Bazooka-joe said:
I dont know as I am not a WatchOS developer but probably because unpairing and re-pairing resets the watch and gets rid of any unknown bandit processes running in the background. Many people have found that unpairing the watch eliminates issues.
Click to expand...

So you have no facts to back up your claim.
 
Update! The 7.0.1 update zapped my battery the first day, but things have been back to watch OS 6 levels since. I have no idea what stabilized and stopped hogging energy, so I can't offer any suggestions, unfortunately.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ferretex
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back