Apple watch series 4 battery drain about 15% per hour without any active app

I don't want to use a dark clock face though. The reason I bought the watch is to see all the complications I want to see. I have read that before but that defeats the point to me.

My screen is on the dim, I never use Walkie Talkie and I've already shipped it back to apple with no fix. They said they can't reproduce the battery issue on their end.

I'm having the same problem! It's rediculous for Apple to say that some background process is draining the battery but they have no way to tell what that process is. Really. This is a $400+ watch!

I bought mine on May 8, and on May 22, it alerted me that only 10% battery was left. That was before noon. I'd charged the watch to 100% and took it off the charger at 10pm the night before. I've turned off just about everything, and I can watch it drain while I'm sitting on my behind.

My brother's watch has 42% charge left on the second day after charging.

@TygerMane Have you tried reinstalling both phone and watch as new devices? I started having this same problem after the last update. I tried all the troubleshooting steps, turning just about everything on the watch off (including the screen), no extra apps installed, and my battery lasted no more than 6-8 hours. I have AppleCare+, so they did an express replacement even though they said the battery tested fine. The replacement started doing the same thing once I updated to the latest watchOS. In desperation, I finally wiped and reinstalled my phone as a new device, then paired the watch as a new device, and I now have 40-50% battery left after 12-14 hours. I still have lots turned off and no extra apps installed, but the watch is more usable now. I'm hoping the impending upgrade to watchOS 6 helps with battery life.

Go to the Watch app on your phone. General> Background App Refresh> Turn off Background App Refresh. If you're using a face with complications, those complications will still update, but all of the other apps on the watch will not refresh in the background. I was having this issue with my Series 4, battery would only last about 11-12 hours with me doing almost nothing on it during that time. Battery life has improved since turning off Background App Refresh.

I know you're replying to others, but this is basic info. I did all that and it made absolutely NO difference whatsoever. It seems that some people get 1.5+ days on their watch with everything turned on, while others like me turn everything off and still can't get through one day. Apple claims to have no diagnostic tools to tell what process(es) is/are draining the watch. I sold mine at a loss, so I won't be buying another till Apple can properly troubleshoot the very expensive paperweight they call a watch. This is the only Apple device I've purchased that I didn't love.

Wow, Tom030, thanks for your post!

I'm glad Apple is finally acknowledging there's a problem. I'm an IT pro, and I finally gave up, as Apple kept saying something software-related was draining the watch, but they didn't have any diagnostic tools to tell what it was! I had AppleCare+, so they finally did an express replacement. The second watch wasn't quite as bad, but still not useable for me. I finally sold it at a loss *with AppleCare+ thrown in.* I wanted it for the new health features, but it didn't stay charged long enough for me to use them much. I could get through the day if I turned everything off including the screen. Not much point in strapping an expensive brick to my arm. I'm now rocking a $200 Garmin that I only have to charge once a week. Not sure I'll ever risk an Apple watch purchase again after this fiasco.

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I've got a MacBook Air, an iPad Pro 11" and an iPhone XS 256GB. I've been very happy with all three devices. The AWS4 was an expensive mistake. If Apple had owned up to this issue earlier on, I might not have realized my loss.

Hi, I've had the same problem for months ...

100% battery, after a few minutes 80%, it takes me up to 6 hours, it's not possible !!

In these hours I do not receive phone calls without using it

I use it without, training, no application, sound notifications, only heart monitor active.

They made me reset, update, I solved nothing

Yesterday I called them for the second time, and after my protests.

Send courier to ship my S4 cellular for repair or replacement .....

I'm starting to be very disappointed with Apple ...

Just adding to the group for hopefully some more crowdsourcing on this issue - same issue - drains 100-0% in about 6 hours with no use - no apps running - screen dim - screen off - re-pair with no backup - its crazy - my old S3 lasted all day easily. Clearly something wrong - bought mine off Amazon one week ago.

I bought my S4 feb.13 and had no issues until about a week ago. I have had the S2 and still have a S3. Last week it suddenly started dying after about 6-8 hrs. Before I would put it on before I got out of bed and charge it when I went back to bed. Now I’m lucky if I make it home from work without it dying. I rely on my watch for medical reasons and now it’s pretty useless. The Apple store sent it off and it was received and sent back the same day saying they couldn’t replicate the issue. Well of course because they didn’t take the time to watch it drain without it even being used. Now i have to continue to make payments on a watch I can’t even use. Ridiculous.

After a day, today received emails from Apple sending my S4 because the problem cannot be replicated, so it is not repaired. I am really disappointed, they received email the product at 2.47 pm in test, and after 2 hours I receive emails that cannot be repaired. I sent a completely unloaded watch yesterday, how did they do the tests ??? Well, I think it remains for me to resell it and leave Apple.

Same problem here. Mines an LTE watch, but I have to charge it twice or three times per day.

I've tried everything mentioned here. A colleague at work bought the same watch, except no LTE and his has no problems.

Today his watch was at 90% at 2pm and mine had already got down to 37%

I have LTE off, WiFi off, background app refresh off, no apps installed, bluetooth on the phone 100% of the time not disconnected.

I'm bitterly disappointed with Apple watch. My samsung S3 watch lasts 4 day.

I've only had this a couple of weeks, maybe I can return it and get another one.

following up on my previous post

amazon sent me a replacement S4 - and I’m very happy to report it does not have the same issue as my first one just received a week ago. Battery on new one still 100% after an hour of no use - lost only ~10% after sitting overnight not on charger. So there is 100% something defective - whether it me hard or software - with my first one.

I had the very same problem and was ready to return the watch. My first generation watch which I had for years worked better!

For the past 4 nights I have reset my watch by pressing and holding the two buttons until the Apple logo appears then I charge it overnight. So far it’s held the charge all day and has over 60% battery when I charge it at bedtime.

These were good tips though, I had a battery drain issue once. I say “had” because it resolved itself after using tips like these. I eliminated all I could and gradually added things back. I was rather disappointed I had to make Minnie mouse’s bright red dress grey, but I’m back to a coloured dress now. Still though, it’s animated and is going to use more battery.

cutting down on notifications greatly enhanced battery longevity (for me). I had a weather app giving out too many alerts. I (thought I) wanted to know about storms forming in the pacific, but it was typhoon season in Japan and was going off all day, after each storm was upgraded. I turned that off to just be on my iPad app. I don’t use mail except for VIP mail.

Ive had my watch on half the day now and at 100%.. to say that it was really bad before.