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

So glad I read about this before I updated 😓 probably dodged a bullet
You absolutely did.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Regbial
Read the posts here and on other sites like Reddit. Many people have oft claimed that poor battery life is normal when doing an upgrade, because the watch needs time to index and do other background tasks. And after a day or so, things will be fine. And yes, sometimes that's the case, but it clearly wasn't here.

Apple has made no official claims, if that's what you were getting at. But it's not hard at all to find people making claims on this site and others.
Yeah, an Apple Support tech recently told me indexing is a normal thing that occurs after updates but once that finishes, things should go back to normal. She also told me the battery life of her Apple Watch 4 has definitely been reduced. I was lucky to find someone who understood tech. Apple Support people these days generally just read scripts they're given. They have no technical analytical skills.
 


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.

watchOS-16x9.jpeg

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
My ultra has version 10.2 (beta) - no change as it still drains fairly quickly.
 
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)
I’m charging mine 2 times a day. I used to be able to get by only charging my series 7-45 once a day, right before bed.
 
i noticed the battery life on my series 7 45mm was getting a little worse. Not terribly so, but i would have to charge in less than 24 hours, battery life at like 20%, whereas before it would be around 35-40% in the same timeframe. I chalked it up to degraded battery health (at 86% now) and it prompted me to take a shot at the ultra 2 with the extended holiday return window.

battery life on the ultra 2 hasn't been up to what i would expect either - after 24 hours i'm at about 55%. Not bad, enough to last about 2 days before fully dead, but i was kinda hoping for a little more than about 30% better than a 2 year old series 7

seeing this news that it could be software related gives me some hope on improvement and glad i have the extended return window to see how it does post update. Looking forward to it
 
  • Like
Reactions: delsoul
Yeah, an Apple Support tech recently told me indexing is a normal thing that occurs after updates but once that finishes, things should go back to normal. She also told me the battery life of her Apple Watch 4 has definitely been reduced. I was lucky to find someone who understood tech. Apple Support people these days generally just read scripts they're given. They have no technical analytical skills.
I once had a "Genius" in a London store insist that the rubbish battery life on my 6S was caused by me having lots of apps installed on the device.
 
  • Like
Reactions: zecanard
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)
Yes, is there any indication of why only some people are having drain? My series 8 with 40 apps, max complications, etc isn’t excessively draining at all with my iPhone Pro Max 15.
 
watchOS 8.8.1 had a crippling effect on my AW3's battery life. Tried all the recommended steps, hard resets, unpairing and re-pairing, key down the back of the neck etc but nothing solved it - then the upgrade to iOS 17.1 a couple of weeks ago seems to have made a huge difference. It's not quite what it was before 8.8.1 but it's back to not needing an intra-day top-up to get through.
 
Please let this happen fast. I regret upgrading my phone and watch. Battery doesn't even last a day now
 
AWU2 battery was great before 10.1.1 and now it’s a disaster. Thanks, Apple. You get worse and worse as your newest updates release. Computers, phones, and now the watches…Apple can’t seem to get it right anymore
 


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.

watchOS-16x9.jpeg

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
It is not fixed as I write this. I am using the 10.3 Beta on iphone and watch and the problem persists. My watch will drain from 100% to zero in 2-3 hours
 
Just spent over an hour on the phone with Apple Care. She screen shared by iPhone and ran diagnostics on my watch.
Nothing wrong with it.
Apple is sending a box to send the watch back to Apple.
If I had known this was a known issue, I would keep waiting for the update.
In the mean time the watch dies so fast that it is useless.
Why bother sending it in?
Original SE.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: Green Valkyrie
Just spent over an hour on the phone with Apple Care. She screen shared by iPhone and ran diagnostics on my watch.
Nothing wrong with it.
Apple is sending a box to send the watch back to Apple.
If I had known this was a known issue, I would keep waiting for the update.
In the mean time the watch dies so fast that it is useless.
Why bother sending it in?
Original SE.
This is dumb, as there is no fix yet. They did the same to me. Replaced my watch with a brand new one that has exactly the same issue. They are being disingenuous by pretending that they don't have an issue, yet I have spoken to 3 tech support people who say they are aware and are waiting on a fix
 
Apple wanted me to send my watch to them.

I did and I got it back today.

Out of the box I paired it to my iPhone.

20 minutes later is went from 50% to 40%.

Now the battery is dead.

What am I supposed to do???
 
  • Angry
Reactions: k1121j
Apple wanted me to send my watch to them.

I did and I got it back today.

Out of the box I paired it to my iPhone.

20 minutes later is went from 50% to 40%.

Now the battery is dead.

What am I supposed to do???
I had the exact same experience. I tweeted @Apple and they replied saying it had been rectified in update 10.1. Hahahaha. Their techs know it wasn’t and told me they don’t have a fix yet.
 
It is not fixed as I write this. I am using the 10.3 Beta on iphone and watch and the problem persists. My watch will drain from 100% to zero in 2-3 hours
I tweeted @Apple and they replied saying it had been rectified in update 10.1. Hahahaha. Their techs know it wasn’t and told me they don’t have a fix yet.
 
Apple wanted me to send my watch to them.

I did and I got it back today.

Out of the box I paired it to my iPhone.

20 minutes later is went from 50% to 40%.

Now the battery is dead.

What am I supposed to do???
Complain till they give you a new one I had a 2011 MBP that flickered and it look a lot of complaining, videos and more complaining.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.