Apple Ultra Watch 9.3 update battery drain (bleeding out)

If you want one clear solution...

1. unpair
2. restore the iphone to factory settings
3. set up iphone as new phone, no backup restore
4. pair the Watch

But it is an extreme measure as you need to take care not to lose too much data if you need to keep the phone that way

Apple Watch battery drain - the ultimate … - Apple Community

No battery drain on my Ultra, but then after EVERY OS update, I routinely Force Restart my devices and have never had battery drain on any of them, when others sometimes do.

Force Restart your Apple Watch and see if battery use returns to normal.

Press and hold BOTH the digital crown and elongated power buttons at the SAME TIME. Keep holding them until the screen goes dark and keep holding them until the Apple Logo appears, then let go. Sign back in when prompted.

try as described on the top … I have to wait until end of day to see if it helps :)

Press and hold BOTH the digital crown and elongated power buttons at the SAME TIME. Keep holding them until the screen goes dark and keep holding them until the Apple Logo appears, then let go. Sign back in when prompted.

I'm having exactly the same problem.

Usually i get at least 2 full days of use with at least 2 sports session each day, with streaming working from the watch connected to my airpods.

Since the update 2 days ago, it is lasting 1 morning, or less than 12 hours.

I have contacted the support and they performed a test ... the hardware is perfect, no problem with the battery itself.

They didn't say it is related to the update, but it is pretty clear to me.

They recommended a few processes like the reset mentioned above and the battery calibration: letting the battery drain out completely to then recharge to a 100%.

I don't think this will make any difference. This is clearly a software problem coming from the new OS

They are asking me to bring the watch to a store for service.

I'm pretty sure it will be useless unless they replace it with a new one running 9.2 or lower.

I'll keep you guys posted about it ... if anyone finds any other way, let us know here.

"...Not sure why some are having issues and others not - but any insight on a work around would be GREATLY Apreciated! ..."

Hopefully cellular is disabled.

Usually because of the software or other assets like sync'd photos, streaming, Live or photo shuffle watch faces, leaving walkie-talkie on etc

Another reason for all these workarounds to try...

Force restart your watch i.e. press and hold both the side button and Digital Crown for at least 10 seconds, then release both buttons when you see the Apple logo. 

Then Force Restart the paired iphone   Force restart iPhone – Apple Support (UK)

Try it for a day

Then make sure to turn off background app refresh and  check walkie talkie is not accidentally turned on. 

Try it for a couple of days especially if you sync photos to your Watch.

Then if still no better you can check for damaged or self-discharging battery... 

How to check your Apple Watch battery fo… - Apple Community

If it’s OK 

Unpair the watch and then pair it again. 

Unpair and erase your Apple Watch – Apple Support (UK) 

Set up your Apple Watch – Apple Support (UK) 

 If it still discharges unpair it and pair it again without restoring the backup. 

Check that the iPhone is not using any security apps or VPN that can affect apps on the Watch. You don't need any of them and they can be incompatible with iOS16 on the phone. 

see also 

Apple Watch - Battery - Apple (UK)

Batteries - Maximising Performance - Apple (UK)

This helped another user this week. Thet just need to find out what is wrong with their iphone setup because their series 7 ran for 18 hours afterwards

If it still discharges after all Watch resets it suggests it could be an incompatibility in the software in the Watch and the iPhone with the latest OS reeases. What I would do is

-Unpair and erase the Watch

-Backup the iphone

-Restore iphone to factory settings

-Set up the iphone as new without restoring the backup. Install only your essential email accounts, no extra software, no social media

-Pair the Watch to the iphone

-Run them both like that for 24 hours and see how long the battery lasts.

Only when that test is over can you repeat the first three actions then set up the phone but restoring the backup this time. 

If the Watch lasts longer the first time than the second time then it proves the iphone has bad software installed

Resources: (Allow a couple of hours)

Unpair and erase your Apple Watch – Apple Support (UK)

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support 

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support

Set up your Apple Watch – Apple Support (UK)

For the full procedure see below

If it still discharges after all Watch resets it suggests it could be an incompatibility in the software in the Watch and the iPhone with the latest OS releases. What I would do is

-Unpair and erase the Watch

-Backup the iphone

-Restore iphone to factory settings

-Set up the iphone as new without restoring the backup. Install only your essential email accounts, no extra software, no social media

-Pair the Watch to the iphone

-Run them both like that for 24 hours and see how long the battery lasts.

Only when that test is over can you repeat the first three actions then set up the phone but restoring the backup this time. 

If the Watch lasts longer the first time than the second time then it proved it is software on the iPhone causing it. In that case you would have to export as much data as possible such as n-sync’d photos and documents out of the phone to a place of safety such as iCloud before repeating the restore and set up as new process.

Resources: (Allow a couple of hours)

Unpair and erase your Apple Watch – Apple Support (UK)

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support 

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support

Hello. So I had the same issue as everyone and I am using an Apple Watch Series 4, nike version (if that is even a thing, hehe). Went for a swim yesterday, wore my watch at 1030am after showering. Battery was dead at 1500hrs after my swim (which was an hour long). So I tried charging it but it never charges more than 80%. So went to settings checked the battery integrity, it was 87% so still pretty good, doesn't require a change of battery yet.

• Did the hard reset - Did not work
• Unpaired and erased the settings and re-paired it as a brand new did not work as well
• So I furthered my research turns out my face watch was the issue, I changed it to the Nike compact face. Battery started charging back to 100% and back to the 18 hrs usage.

Hope this helps.

Tell me LD150, looks like you have more knownledge.

Why does it suddenly appears after the update from 9.2 to 9.3 ?

• Why was the watch giving me a battery life on 9.2 from 7am to 7am the next day and still at 30%?
• Why do I have to limit some functions in this 9.3.1 update to get this same battery lifespan as with the 9.2 software?

So my watch is suddenly broken in the middle of an update?

Apple Watch Ultra

Tried the hard reset, un-pair, and re-pair. No change.

Just did a 40 minute walk, tracked as a workout, with streaming radio to Powerbeats Pro with line of sight to 4G tower. Dropped about 18 percent. Normally this would knock off only a few percent.

It was fine up until the recent software update (9.3)

Apple.... help!

If it was a software issue from the OS update, it would be effecting EVERYONE. It's not. Do the Forced Restart procedure I outlined above.

I've had my Ultra on my wrist since getting up this morning. It's been on my wrist for about 5 hours. My remaining battery is 93% after 5 hours on my wrist.

I Force Restart after every OS update to iPhone/iPad/Apple Watch and Macbook Pro update and NEVER - EVER have battery drain issues.

Apple doesn't support downgrading OS, so there is no path backwards.

Not necessarily. A new OS can have a very different impact on different devices depending on the settings in each one, the apps installed, and connections enabled, among the parameters that could affect this ...

I have already done what you suggested ... no improvement. I did, recharged back to 100%, and it is draining again. 2 battery charges were gone in 24h ...

Support is now offering express replacement (I have apple care+ for the watch ultra)... let's see what will happen.

I don't know what to tell you. There are three people in my office with Apple Watch Ultra (including me) and all watches are updated to WatchOS 9.3 and not one of us are having any battery drain issues.

I typically update the software for people in my office and immediately after updating any device, I immediately Force Restart them.

Since the Force Restart didn't help you, I'd unpair the watch from your iPhone, which will create a backup, then pair it back, which will let you restore it from your backup. Perhaps for you, something went slightly wrong during the update.

I did something that I saw in another thread about the same problem when the 9.2 update first came out.

It's a bit annoying, but I have unpaired my watch from my phone, erased everything and paired back as a new watch.

I did once re-pairing using the backup and It didn't work for me.

Pairing as a new watch fixed something that was draining the battery. I have been using the watch all day now and it's back to normal.