watchOS Update Coming Soon With Fix for Apple Watch Battery Drain

[MacRumors]

Apple is preparing a fix for an issue causing some Apple Watches to experience excessive battery drain after being updated to watchOS 10.1, the company said today in an internal memo shared with Apple Authorized Service Providers.

In the memo, which MacRumors obtained from multiple sources, Apple said the issue will be fixed in a watchOS update that is "coming soon." Apple did not provide any additional details in the memo, so it is unclear what the underlying cause of the issue is, how many customers are affected, and if every Apple Watch model is impacted.

There have been complaints about this issue from customers across the MacRumors Forums, Apple Support Community, Reddit, and X since watchOS 10.1 was released in late October. The issue seems to affect a variety of Apple Watches, ranging from older models like the Apple Watch Series 5 to the latest Apple Watch Ultra 2.

"WatchOS 10.1 is killing the battery on my Apple Watch," wrote customer Martin Cooper on X. "100% to 50% in less than 60 mins."

Apple's developer release notes for iOS 17.1 said that update fixed an issue where "increased power consumption might occur" when an Apple Watch running watchOS 10.1 is paired with an iPhone running iOS 17, but evidently the Apple Watch battery drain issue has not been completely fixed, so a watchOS update will be necessary.

MacRumors recently reported that Apple is preparing to release iOS 17.1.1 for the iPhone, and it is likely that the Apple Watch battery drain issue will be fixed in a watchOS 10.1.1 update. However, it is possible that the fix might not arrive until watchOS 10.2, which is currently in beta testing and is expected to be released in December.

Article Link: watchOS Update Coming Soon With Fix for Apple Watch Battery Drain

 

[Schtibbie]

Maybe they’ll fix the broken optimized charge limit that was introduced in WatchOS 10 to non-ultra watches and still doesn’t work.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Glad I haven't experienced this problem and good to see Apples acknowledgment of the problem with a fix pending.

 

[jz0309]

If it improves the battery life of my Ultra 2 - even better
And yes, I know, loooong thread in the AW forum, so good a fix will come

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Hey Apple, how about you fix things before you release them with crippling bugs? Please and thank you.

 

[muziq]

Hey Apple, hurry up and fix this.... It's so much fun having this watch die 6 hours after turning it on....

 

[scrapesleon]

Hopefully they don’t break something else with another update

 

[usmaak]

Hopefully they don’t break something else with another update

You mean hopefully they don't break something else too badly. Because I'm sure that they'll break something or somethings.

 

[karlitos5]

hello everyone on my Apple Hatch ultra, if I've noticed, it drains my battery a lot.


hola a todos en mi Apple Hatch ultra, si lo e notado, me drena mucho la batería.

 

[andreagrandi]

To be honest my battery was worse only the first day after upgrading to 10.1
After that, it now lasts more or less how long it lasted with WatchOS 9.x (I charge in the morning, finish charging around 10:00 and keep it all day and night and when I wake up I have ~35% left)

 

[Kissmo1980]

AWU2 here.
Optimized charged limit is not working for me on 10.1
Battery life seems good. 19% down in 16 hours.
But hey - extra improvements are always welcomed 😊

 

[4odomi]

Apple is preparing a fix for an issue causing some Apple Watches to experience excessive battery drain after being updated to watchOS 10.1, the company said today in an internal memo shared with Apple Authorized Service Providers.

In the memo, which MacRumors obtained from multiple sources, Apple said the issue will be fixed in a watchOS update that is "coming soon." Apple did not provide any additional details in the memo, so it is unclear what the underlying cause of the issue is, how many customers are affected, and if every Apple Watch model is impacted.

There have been complaints about this issue from customers across the MacRumors Forums, Apple Support Community, Reddit, and X since watchOS 10.1 was released in late October. The issue seems to affect a variety of Apple Watches, ranging from older models like the Apple Watch Series 5 to the latest Apple Watch Ultra 2.

"WatchOS 10.1 is killing the battery on my Apple Watch," wrote customer Martin Cooper on X. "100% to 50% in less than 60 mins."

Apple's developer release notes for iOS 17.1 said that update fixed an issue where "increased power consumption might occur" when an Apple Watch running watchOS 10.1 is paired with an iPhone running iOS 17, but evidently the Apple Watch battery drain issue has not been completely fixed, so a watchOS update will be necessary.

MacRumors recently reported that Apple is preparing to release iOS 17.1.1 for the iPhone, and it is likely that the Apple Watch battery drain issue will be fixed in a watchOS 10.1.1 update. However, it is possible that the fix might not arrive until watchOS 10.2, which is currently in beta testing and is expected to be released in December.

Article Link: watchOS Update Coming Soon With Fix for Apple Watch Battery Drain

Personally I haven't experience this on my watch, although I did on my iPhone 13 Pro

 

[Howard2k]

FINALLY. Took them long enough, what a disgrace.

 

[Regbial]

So glad I read about this before I updated 😓 probably dodged a bullet

 

[dilop89]

A potential solution - for anyone who has the MobyFox app on their watch, uninstall it. This fixed the problem for me and many others (someone on Reddit figured it out). Don't know if its the only app causing issues or if it's a combination of 10.1 + certain apps. Either way, hope it helps and hope Apple's update comes quickly for everyone else.

 

[gotluck]

Still on 9.6.3 on my Apple Watch 5 LTE. I think I moved from watchos 8 to 9 at version 9.3. Will definitely stay a slow mover with new major watch updates.

 

[Fuzzball84]

Have they fixed the background glow on watch OS 10? The slight glow you can see in the dark when on Home Screen and swiping down or swiping up

It’s been on my watch since watch OS 9 and I’m tired of it.

 

[Fuzzball84]

And this battery thing is the reason I hold off on updates now, I’ve been with Apple so long that this is a yearly thing I expect now… I always used to update asap. Not anymore. They bring out a new version and battery life is one of the things that’s always affected. I’d rather hold off updating several months to ensure my purchase keeps on performing as it did when I bought it (except for the usual wear and tear and expected slow down with newer software).

 

[darngooddesign]

I wonder why the activity rings are white.

 

[icwhatudidthere]

10.1 also broke the heart rate complication. It’s still there but is now invisible. About 1300 people in an Apple support thread reported having the same issue.

 

[LambdaTheImpossible]

Back to the F-91W again it is!

 

[Account25476]

Every year, the same story...


Money, money, money Apple...

 

[metakube]

I was having this problem, but managed to fix it by removing the 3rd party apps I wasn't using. I don't know which were causing problems, but doing that fixed the problem immediately.

 

[jbachandouris]

Want the heart rate complication to work.

 

[darngooddesign]

Every year, the same story...


Money, money, money Apple...

Do you think Apple was just going to give new watches away?