I’m getting that too.. I normally end my day with about 60% of battery life, and now it’s at 58% and not even 3 PM..
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
watchos 7.4.1 severe battery drain
- Thread starter laszlo182
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If you haven’t already done the unpair / pair routine, give it a shot — solved the issue for me on my Series 4.
I had the exact issue on my Series 5 44mm after updating to 7.4.1. I tried unpairing it and re-paring it via the Watch app on my iPhone a couple times. The first time I restored the watch from backup. Since that didn't help, the second time I set it up as a new watch. I kept things super minimal and only installed 6 apps, but it didn't make a difference.
I finally fixed it by doing a Reset on the watch itself by going to Settings -> General -> Reset -> Erase all Content and Settings. After the watch reset, I paired it again and restored from backup. Now my watch is back to having around 60% charge remaining after a full day. In other words, I had to Reset/Erase the watch from the watch itself since unpairing from the Watch app on my iPhone did not help.
I finally fixed it by doing a Reset on the watch itself by going to Settings -> General -> Reset -> Erase all Content and Settings. After the watch reset, I paired it again and restored from backup. Now my watch is back to having around 60% charge remaining after a full day. In other words, I had to Reset/Erase the watch from the watch itself since unpairing from the Watch app on my iPhone did not help.
Unpair and pair fixed mine. Rather than 78% in the morning after 8 hrs it is at 92 again. After 21 hrs it is around 50%. No more 2nd charge in the afternoon.
I was wondering the same thing. I’m not about to do anything with it now that the battery is behaving.
The new update did something weird with the battery meter. I woke up this morning to 65% battery and put my watch on the charger, it got to 100% and notified me on my phone so I went and put the watch on.
About two hours later my watch said 81% on the battery complication so I thought I was having issues, but when I tapped the battery complication it said 99%. Swiping between screens, removing the complication and adding it and all that stuff never fixed it so I rebooted the watch and it corrected it and it's been fine since so far.
If you update, give your watch the old 'off and on' reboot just in case.
About two hours later my watch said 81% on the battery complication so I thought I was having issues, but when I tapped the battery complication it said 99%. Swiping between screens, removing the complication and adding it and all that stuff never fixed it so I rebooted the watch and it corrected it and it's been fine since so far.
If you update, give your watch the old 'off and on' reboot just in case.
I updated to 7.5 yesterday and didn’t notice this then, but when I woke up this morning around 4:45, by the time I was walking my dogs at 6:30am, the Watch (series 5) had already dropped down to 93% and I could literally watch it drop as I walked, even though nothing was actively running. I got to my desk and tried the full reset and by the time it finished the battery level dropped to 83%, even though it was on the charger the whole time.
Then as I let it charge and checked randomly where it was at, one time it had dropped further to 82%. Removed it from the charger, then replaced and it finally went back to normal charging. It seems like it solved the issue, as I’m still at 100%. Very strange indeed.
Then as I let it charge and checked randomly where it was at, one time it had dropped further to 82%. Removed it from the charger, then replaced and it finally went back to normal charging. It seems like it solved the issue, as I’m still at 100%. Very strange indeed.
I wish Apple would spend more time fixing these obvious bugs and less time arguing with game producers.
It's not the same people. It will be lawyers who are in court and the developers who are working on watch updates.
Awful battery life on my series 5. Only getting 7-8 hours. I just checked and after 59 minutes it was at 84%. Battery health is at 84%. I know I battery degradation affects battery life a bit, but I’ve owned the original Apple Watch, Series 3, and series 4 and never had it this bad. In fact I always had over the 18 hour battery life advertised.
Same with my Series 5. I think I skipped a few minor updates but I am now at 7.5 and I have around 10% less battery when I go to bed. Normally I had around 45-50% left and now it's down to low 30s. I have a pretty set schedule with activities etc. that never change so there is absolutely no question the update made it worse and it's not something I did.
Battery health seems also worse with 88% but I didn't check this regularly. I have the Watch since Christmas 2019.
Battery health seems also worse with 88% but I didn't check this regularly. I have the Watch since Christmas 2019.
Only thing that worked for me was not only resetting the watch but the phone as well. Could be a coincidence, but since clean installing the phone, my watch is back to normal. 80% to 73% after 12 hours plus 30-minute workout. I was ending the day at 40% after 12 hours.
After the clean install, did you restore from backup? I don't want to lose stuff like health data and such.
No, I set up as new because most app data is stored in iCloud anyway, which includes health. I believe previous versions of iOS didn’t store health data in iCloud but it now does, just like email, books, photos, Pages docs, etc. Only pain is having to go through all your settings again.
I didn't realize that all gets backed up in iCloud now. Mind if I ask, what did you have to set up after clean install and signing into iCloud? Only thing that comes to mind is settings, apps, and wallet, but I may be missing something. I may just do a clean install in that case, once I have some time.
I had to redownload purchased apps and adjust their settings as if new—such as AdGuard. That’s really just it. Even credit cards were ready to be added as part of the fresh set up process—just had to verify my debit card’s CVV. Mostly, it’s the pain of having to go through system and app settings like notifications, Control Center, Siri, watch faces. But as far as data goes, if it’s using iCloud, it’s all preserved.
You just want to double check your data is using iCloud under Settings > Your Name > iCloud.
Resetting my series 4 didn't help either. I guess I should be happy with 18-19 hours on a charge, but it still means charging 2x per day and I never had to do that prior to OS 7.4.1. Or I could give up sleep tracking.