Since updating to WatchOS 10.0.1, the watch battery charges only to 80% overnight and the battery drains more quickly than before the update. I also updated my iPhone 14 pro to iOS 17 around the same time. Would this impact the watch battery?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
As many here I was affected by the constant battery drain of approx. 5% per hour and I think I found what was causing this for me.
When I checked the Watch App on my phone ==> General ==> About it showed that it synced 15 photos even though I have not selected any photos or albums to sync.
Opening the photos app on the watch confirmed that and showed that there are no photos on the watch.
I then selected an album with one picture to sync and the photo count went up to 16. Next I created a photo watch face and set it to dynamic and suddenly the watch showed random pictures that I never selected to sync. I searched for these photos on my iPhone and deleted them from there until the watch only showed 1 picture being synced, which was the one from the album. I then changed the watch face back from dynamic to album and left the face on the watch.
I did this on Tuesday. Yesterday, on Wednesday my watch was at 37% after wearing it without additional charging for almost 17 hours. Usually it would have been dead after 14 hours max. Today I took the watch off the charger at 7:30, at 8:41 it jumped to 99% where it would have been at 94% or even less before and now at 12:30 it is still at 87% which is 2.6%/hour.
I think the constant photo sync would be a good explanation for this issue as the watch would constantly download new pictured from the phone and would index them. In addition to that it would also explain why not everyone is affected by this since this would not apply to people having their photo sync configured to sync specific albums rather than the watch syncing random photos when nothing is selected for the photo sync. And it would also explain why resetting the watch doesn't help to fix this issue since the watch would start randomly syncing photos again after the reset.
Might be worth to check/try for others.
After the Apple Watch 10 update, my battery will not last more than 6 hours, before the update the battery would last 24 hours. My watch is a Series 7. Apple please send another update to fix this issue.
One addition: here‘s a Picture of my current Battery situation - it was empty yesterday since 10am (when I was at work and had no chance to recharge it). Recharged it over night and wear it since today at 6.30am.
I have the same problem. My Ultra (battery level 100 percent) manages a maximum of 36 hours - without telephony, training, navigation or any other demanding application. It is only used as a watch, always on is disabled and at night it is in flight mode. Nevertheless, it loses almost 25 percent overnight. This is very, very annoying and I finally want a solution, apple!
After the update my watch is only making it half of a day and it’s a brand new watch less than one month old. Before the update the watch would last two days almost without charging. Very frustrated with this.
Definitely an issue for battery drain. I see a comment that says 'The vast majority of users see the battery life return to normal after several days' however that's not my experience. When is the update coming, @Apple?
With 30 Min. workout outside, I‘ve got it from 100 to 0 within two hours right now.
This is not usable any more to me… if there will be no change, I‘ll need to get another watch - most likely it will be a Garmin Fenix….
I never had the only charge to 80% issue. But I’ve lost probably six hours of battery life with this new update. Super a lot over it! Quit fixing things that aren’t broken and after you break them fix them please! Why can we no longer close apps that we’re not using with this new update?
Pretty much sums up my expereince since the update as well. The consipiracy theorist in me thinks this is Apple engineering in diminished battery life so we upgrade to the newer version. Needs to be fixed. It is simply unacceptable.
I've been experiencing the same thing. My routine of sorts is to charge first thing in the morning then wear all day/night. Pre-10.0.1 it would have approx 40-50% after 24 hours now lucky to have 4-5%...and that's with me running it in Theater/Cinema Mode. Still charges to 100%.
Same here. Before the update my watch had enough battery for at least 15 hours. Now it is gone after 6 hours (after recording two workouts of 30 minutes).
Please Apple, fix this. I can not use the watch right now, it became useless to me. The watch is only 1 year old. I don’t want to purchase another one (i would switch camps to Google if I was forced to replace the watch).
So what is it gonna take Apple to fix this problem? Sure seems that there are enough people having the exact same issue with no resolution. They wanted me to go into the Apple Store for technical support but there’s nothing wrong with my Watch. It’s the iOS that needs to be fixed.
It would be good to have an option to step back to watchOS9, if Apple doesn‘t care to fix these battery drain issues.
At least they not only destroyed my watch, witch worked well until this update. They destroyed my trust into the Company and their customer support as well.
Next of my products won‘t have a fruity logo any more. Sad.
Same here, but Apple Watch 7, no GPS. Mine only charges to 75%, and by bedtime it’s down to 20%. Before I installed 10.0.1 the charge never dropped below 80% — and now I can’t even get it charged to 80%! I saw a comment here that the battery drain rate usually returns to normal a few days after you install an OS update. That has most definitely not been the case for me. Apple needs to fix this. Having to put my watch on a charger twice a day is not acceptable.
What exactly do you mean by “after touching watch”? I’ve touched my watch after it’s been on the charger for several hours and is still only charged to 75% and it doesn’t continue to charge fully after I touch it.
Apparently this is the new normal.
I estimate that the battery drain rate on my Series 5 has roughly doubled since watchOS 10 was installed. I don't want to spend hours on the phone with support only to be told that I need to buy a new watch, as obviously this problem is new to the OS update and lots of folks with much newer watches than my own are having the same problem.
Apple Watch Battery Drain Issues after Update
