Battery life horrible after WatchOS 8.7

To understand Apple Watch performance and its relation to your battery, see:

Apple Watch - Battery - Apple

Apple Watch Battery and Performance - Apple Support

“Battery life” is the amount of time your device runs before it needs to be recharged. “Battery lifespan” is the amount of time your battery lasts until it needs to be replaced. Maximize both and you’ll get the most out of your Apple devices, no matter which ones you own. See the "Tips for Apple Watch" section in:

Batteries - Maximizing Performance - Apple

If the battery drains too fast after an update, see all the replies to:

Battery Drain since watchos 7.4 - Apple Community

WatchOS 7.5 battery drain - Apple Community

FWIW, in some cases, unpairing the watch, completely erasing it, then pairing and restoring the backup will resolve the battery draining issue after an update. (Simply unpairing and pairing again may not work.)

Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Also, some people have found that simply waiting a few days after an update resolves the battery draining problem.

Salutations Michael Ginsberg, 

We’d ask that you begin by making sure your Apple Watch is charged to 100% before you start using it for the day and this article describes a few different ways to do that - Check your battery and charge your Apple Watch

Is the battery getting down to Power Reserve states or 0% at any point or are we moving from 100% to 50% more quickly than in the past? Are you seeing things even out as time passes after the watchOS update? 

Here are also a few tips to double verify, after the update, to be sure you’re getting the most out of the battery. Batteries - Maximizing Performance 

Adjust your settings.

There are a few ways you can preserve battery life on your Apple Watch:

• During running and walking workouts, turn on Power Saving Mode to disable the heart rate sensor. To do this, open the Apple Watch app on iPhone, go to My Watch > Workout, and turn on Power Saving Mode. Note that when the heart rate sensor is off, calorie burn calculations may not be as accurate.

• For longer workouts, you can choose to use a Bluetooth chest strap instead of the built-in heart rate sensor. To pair the Bluetooth chest strap with your watch, make sure the strap is in pairing mode, then open Settings on Apple Watch, select Bluetooth, and choose from the list of Health Devices.

• If you’re very active with your hands and your watch display turns on more than you think it should, you can prevent the display from turning on every time you raise your wrist. Open Settings on Apple Watch, select General, select Wake Screen, and turn Wake Screen on Wrist Raise off. When you want to turn on the display, just tap it or press the Digital Crown.

• Disabling Bluetooth on your iPhone increases the battery drain on your Apple Watch. For more power-efficient communication between the devices, keep Bluetooth enabled on iPhone.

Thanks. 

I have series 4, I usually have 2 full days of battery life with it. Until I update to watch OS 8.7, Battery can't last for even a day! Especially when I turn on sleeping mode (55% battery at 10 pm) and then when I wake up at 6 am, the apple watch is put on power reserve mode.

I tried repairs aw, set up as a new watch, etc...

Or is it the sign that Apple told me to buy the latest one (series 8)?

Apple Watch SE here only about 2 months old. I’ve got into a steady routine charging this device and usually end my day with 40-50% battery life.

I updated the night before last and that same day around mid afternoon I thought it was very strange to have got the 10% battery warning on my watch. I’d never seen it once so far in two months. Put it on to charge around 80% and finished the charge before I went to sleep.

Not even 10 am this morning I decide to check my watches battery out of curiosity, 14%.

Apple please fix this!!!!

Its so new take it back and get another.

Personally I went back to the store and got a substitution. Now I got a new one and now it last all day at least. It still last less than before but at least acceptable… good luck with you.

I have the same problem. I didn't download any extra apps on my watch. Only updated the software. I charged my watch to 100% this morning before putting it on. At 2pm it was showing 50% even though it would probably show that in the morning following day.

I think they are only able to say that iwatch 8 can hold battery for longer because they make the battery life shorter for previous versions when they update.

i am experiencing the same issues with my Watch SE. My battery was easily 50%+ when i would take it off each night.

Yesterday i got the 10% warning mid-afternoon and had to charge it to last the rest of the day.

Today, it was 100% when I put it on - 4-1/2 hours later I am at 64%. My watch has not done anything except tell time so far today, why is the battery draining so fast now?

new Watch SE, 2 days of use, 5 charge cycles, watch currently drains about 1%/minute with almost everything turned off. this was a replacement for a Series 3 that did not have enough storage for OS 8.7 install but i am starting to think that is a blessing.

Even if this isn't the most expensive model, you would think that for the $$'s paid that it would be a help and not the nuisance paperweight it seems to be. if it does not improve in the next couple of days i will return it and scrap the idea of "smart" watch altogether as it seems like a pad of paper might be more sensible. not impressed at all.

Same issue op Apple Watch 6.

Apple just released update 8.7.1 which only fixes an issue for Apple Watch3.

So I guess you’re right this is a sign they want us (with Apple Watch 4,5,6 or 7) to buy a new watch.

Same issues on series 7, 1 days and half before update, less than a day now… it is an issue to be solved…