watchOS 9.4 to Recalibrate Battery Capacity on 44mm Apple Watch Series 6

[weather34]

I have had this S6 since April 2021 wear it daily 6am to 10pm have a daily workout for around 30 minutes measure my step’s daily charge nightly and on average by end of day it’s in the 70% range. My S6 is 96% capacity . Longest period without charging was approximately 3 days simply lost my charger lead . Not installed the new beta yet probably won’t see a requirement to do so until officially released. I did buy a an ultra in December but returned it just way to big for my use kind of like the simplicity of original design and didn’t really see any significant advantage use case over my S6

 

[zombietemple]

I might be misunderstaning what this recalibration does, but I don't see how this benefits owners of the S6. Recalibrating won't provide more battery life between charges. It will just change the number on the capacity percentage even though the battery chemistry remains the same. My launch S6 has been at 82% for months. I was hoping it would dip below 80 so I could get a replacement, but I'm sure the recalibration will delay that. Maybe Apple will recalibrate it to 100% so I feel like it's a new watch.

it’s a small benefit, but a benefit nonetheless. Recalibrating does in fact provide more battery life between charges because the software is now aware that there is more battery (albeit a small amount). You are correct there is no actual change in the battery chemistry, but the software is now aware of the increase and thus changes how and when to go into power save mode (as well as other software optimizations can be made). It’s all about software.

 

[moozeekfan]

Oh man…about two weeks ago my battery life went from 27-28 hours between charges down to 15 hours. Battery health is showing 82%, have no idea what happened. Hoping this update comes out soon!

 

[Sidhoah9]

Lucky me. Just upgraded to WatchOS 9.4. My S6 44mm battery has now gone from 78% capacity and needing a battery service to 82% and no longer needing a service. Here's hoping the watch can actually recognise additional capacity and it's not just a gimmick from Apple to avoid AppleCare support cases!

 

[wgaller]

My S6 44mm battery "jumped" from 81 to 82% after update.

 

[chrfr]

Mine went from 82 to 84%. It's still bad.

 

[r74199]

My day one series 6 is at 86%. Looking forward to see what it is after the calibration.

Wondering what other day one owners percentages are.

Before updating to watchOS 9.4 I was at 80%... post update I am at 82%.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

My S6 went from 84% to 86% after installing 9.4

 

[riskymoth]

Mine went from 83% to 86% - seems to have a fair bit more in the tank at the end of the day - although I might be imagining that...

 

[FHoff]

My launch month S6 went from 92% to 94%
Charge every night usually ending the day with 40 to 50 % left and AOD is on

 

[Caryhvb]

I took my S6 to my local Genius Bar last Sunday 3/26. My battery was at 78% and they sent my watch to the Service Center. The Service Center returned my “unrepaired” S6 on Friday 3/31 with the message:

“Your Watch is operating above 80% of capacity. We provide battery service only for Watches operating at less than 80% of capacity”.

It appears the Service Center updated my watch to Watch OS 9.4 on Wed when they received it and the battery level went up to 80% so they didn’t replace it. I guess they don’t read (or trust?) the Genius bar notes.

I went back to the Genius bar and complained but they couldn’t do anything except provide feedback to the Service Center.

When my battery level drops below 80% I get to repeat this who process again.