watchOS 7 Battery Drain

I am sure it is software. As it was for me on a different issue last year when after an update my watch started to burn the back of my wrist leaving a round red mark where the sensor sits. It started after an IOS update, was reported; it went after another update was quickly rushed out; all was good until October when after another update it started again and after reporting went following another rushed out update. Not a word from Apple about the problem.

DaveH I also had my Series 5 watch replaced a few weeks ago and it was better but also still not great. The only thing that seems to have helped was turning off a lot of the apps in Background App Refresh.

Just to add my bit since my last post a while ago.

I was finding it impossible to update from 7.0.1 to 7.0.2 - ended up having to send my series 4 in for service, even though it was only a week old. Apple reinstalled the OS and sent the watch back to me running 7.0.2 and today I’ve been monitoring after basically just pairing without any other alterations. No mods to notifications, nothing turned off or disabled....just straight out the box paired with default configuration.

ive used the watch very lightly today from 10.30am until now at roughly 10.30pm - 12 hours of use, email notifications etc etc and the watch started the day at full 100% charge and now it’s sat at 80%, thus dropping about 1.6% per hour, which I feel is acceptable and probably the norm.

I have two apps installed - stocard and tunein radio. Other than that, bog standard.

I’m still seeing my watch showing about 40% of my idle time as active. Currently off charger 4hrs 21min, usage 1:48. This happens even with background app refresh off. Still have a process running that’s consuming by battery.

When the screen detached due to battery swelling on my AW0 (Original), even though out of warranty Apple essentially gave me a new watch (battery, screen & stainless steel case!) for $89. It's been working great since.

Just a quick update from my side, watchOS reinstalled by apple and S4 returned to me not long ago, been monitoring things over the last few days and without any particular workout usage, just using “as a watch” with notifications etc, my watch has lasted 13 hours now and battery is at 75%.............

only change I made from default shipping was to turn off breathe notification on the watch and news on the iPhone

I updated my Xs max first to 14.2, then my S4 to 7.1 and I think battery life for me may be a tad better, not much difference really. Been off the charger for about 12 hours and has gone from 100% to 80% with using as a watch without workouts, just normal notifications etc....

really odd why some users are experiencing unusual drain.

Since the update, my S4 battery life has gotten worse. Before the last update, it was draining around 7-8% per hour during normal wear and activity.

since the update, it’s between 9-10% per hour. The watch isn’t even lasting me a 10 hour shift at work now. Completely useless

Apple seem to be completely ignoring this issue. Time to shift to another brand of smart watch.

Battery life is better for me now, however apps are not syncing with the iPhone. No fitness data, no heart data or sleep data. Can’t even open those apps through the iwatch app on my iPhone.

this is getting tiring.

My problem seems to be some other bug. Maybe with Strava? So strange that if I used my Apple watch 4 for walking on Strava then it always works, but if I use if for running then I will often get a low battery message which stops Strava. When I get home I still have plenty of battery when I put the watch on the charger. In daily use the battery is fine. Anyway, as I already posted, I have a Garmin watch on order to use for running. The Apple watch was never that great to use for running even when it was working fine. I will still use the Apple watch for everything but running.

I have the same problem and have been refused warranty service and wonder if this is a one off or if others have this problem?

My Apple Watch 5 has, like many since OS7, had battery problems. However it had a further problem of cutting out during workouts at over 50% battery, and not restarting til on the charging base when it showed it still had that amount of charge. After a number of hours of discussion with advisers and senior advisers at Apple and two returns for supposed repair the outcome was that they said because the watch face had a scratch, which they referred to as ‘accidental damage’ and that is not a warranty repair I either had to pay the full out-of-warranty service costs (£326-44) or not have it repaired. The scratch is cosmetic and so fine I can’t photograph it and Apple were not able to provide any photos showing it. The watch is a wearable active device and inevitably is going to experience wear and abrasion.

So my question is whether this is a one off problem I need to deal with, or whether others have had the same problem of Apple refusing to repair a watch under warranty because they regard any scratch as ‘accidental damage’? If the latter, then I think this method of avoiding warranty claims is unjust and unfair.

Yes I had the same thing happen. In in Canada. My watch is under warranty until April. It it was refused surface at an authorized repairer because of abrasion to the thin plastic coating on the side of the watch. They insisted this voided the warranty even though I kept saying it was not the reason for the battery drain. I was told AppleCare would have covered it. But at the time of purchase I was told the extended warranty meant I shouldn’t bother with AppleCare.

Today was the swan song for using my Apple Watch 4 for running. I use the Strava app on the watch and have recently had many failures where the watch either really runs low on the battery, or thinks the battery is low when it isn't. Either way it stops recording my run. I have done the full reset of both the watch and my iPhone and nothing was fixed. Today I went for a 6.2 mile run and the Apple Watch did not even last 2 miles. I am now using a Garmin Forerunner 935 and it is great and reliable and overall a much superior watch for running. For other uses the Apple Watch seems to be working OK.

So not really much good for active sports and doesn’t come any where Apple’s claims for that purpose. Best that people should know. Wish I did before I bought into their claims as I got it for running and hiking

So, my battery drains quickly. I decided to unpair my Apple Watch with my iPhone.

watch then has a new face and my passcode is not working. Spend the next 4 hours with apple support, finally get the watch to just work again.

yesterday morning wake up, watch face is different and my passcode isn’t working again.

I left Fitbit due to problems with my last watch and very poor support and moved to apple. After I spend 4 more hours with tech support today, I might be ready to give up on apple.