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Watch OS3 Battery Life

Dormammu

Dormammu

macrumors 65816
Original poster
How is the battery on your Apple Watches holding up after the update?
My battery doesn't seem to be fairing too well. I only have things running in the dock, and none of them outside of messages is using my location.
 
Well... it is less than a day since most of us updated our watches. And, we are probably all messing with them more than usual to figure out the features. So, probably, few people will have any meaningful insights today. Give it another week, and check in.
 
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Aml216 said:
Do you use the workout app? Minimal notifications, or tons?
I'm at 60% and its only lunch time.
Click to expand...

i get a ton of notifications throughout the day. i only use the workout app once i get home from work which my battery is around 60% at 5pm. if i do a workout i end the day around 30% otherwise its closer to 50-60%.
 
Been on it a week and I'm already at 57% for the day (8.5 hours). Previously, I'd be at around 70-75% at this point. Love the update, just not the battery life!
 
battery definitely draining faster. For the first time ever my watch was draining at the same rate as my iPhone 6s+

I think the culprit is Pedometer++ which i have in my dock and as a complication. It now counts my steps in real time whereas in watch os2 it on updated when you went into the app
 
i think a lot of us are using the watch more with OS3, taking it for a test drive.

are you updating your apps on your phone too? if they have a Watch companion, it will use a lot of battery to update on on your watch over bluetooth. i probably updated 25 apps in the past 24 hours, half with Watch versions.
 
Couple of things to consider. Turn off background refresh for all apps you don't need updated immediately or aren't running OS3 yet. Does your dock have only OS3 updates apps.
 
Yeah, battery definitely an issue. Usually go to bed with around 50% but battery completely drained before the end of the day today. Sure I'm playing with it more as it's new, but not that much more...
 
Mine just hit 10%. It does appear to be taking a hit. However lets keep in mind that we are all 'playing' and looking more today. So it is hard to tell just how much different it is until a few days has passed.

EDIT: I guess I should have added 129 minutes of total exercise (most with Workout App). Also I'm an early riser and started at 4:30AM ET. Looks like I will just make it if I leave it alone since I'm still at 8%.
 
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I updated overnight. Mine was down to 60% about an hour after I put it on this morning (6am), but not sure if it was at 100% when I put it on - just assumed it was. 12 hours later I'm at 10%. Usually I'm still at about 50-60%. I suspect the update itself might not have allowed it to charge all the way. Will see how it goes.
Love the updates other than that.
 
My stats for today thus far including 21 work out minutes with the Watch at 68% battery still.

Usage: 1 hour, 34 minutes.
Standby: 6 hours, 35 minutes.
 
Well, I just got the 10% low battery warning. First day with wOS3. I have not seen that warming in months. Usually, I am at NLT 40% at bedtime, and I still have hours of daylight left.
 
My battery consumption seems normal now. I am convinced that the earlier comments about the drain being caused by all of the apps updating at once after the OS3 update is the culprit. I'm still playing around with it, but the battery is not draining anymore like it was this morning 🙂
 
It feels like a new product. I love Watch OS 3 but the battery is definitely draining faster. I charge my watch every night so it really doesn't matter very much to me.
 
BlueMoon63 said:
Couple of things to consider. Turn off background refresh for all apps you don't need updated immediately or aren't running OS3 yet. Does your dock have only OS3 updates apps.
Click to expand...

I actually don't have any third party apps so no need to worry there. I also turned off background app refresh on 75% of the items on the list (things I don't access often). We'll see how it goes
 
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I'be been on the Betas since day one and it has been better and better with each update. I will say that I don't see a difference. In battery life. I don't pay attention honestly. I never have a problem making it all the way until the end of the day. I have everything pushed from my iPhone to my watch and I use the work out app about once a day for about 30 minutes during my walk. That is about it though.
 
We are all playing with the new features and faces, so it's a bad time to judge battery life. I'm down to 19% as I type this. That's unusually low for me after 13 or 14 hours. Even after 18 hours I'm usually still at 25-35%. Have I been played with it a lot today? Yes. Yes I have! 😀

Sean
 
Mine wasn't bad. Wore it from 730am to 10pm and was 64%. Normally with a workout would be closer to 30-40 but I hadn't worked out.
 
Mine took a noticeable hit in battery life, but it's only been one day. After my morning run my watch is usually down to about 85%, but yesterday it hit 75%. At least the running interface is much better. I'm going to give it a few days and see how the new features effect battery life before drawing any conclusions.
 
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