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.
Same battery drain problem after update to WatchOS 10.1. Worked fine before, updated around 8pm yesterday battery was below 10% by midnight. This morning I wasn’t able to get the battery to charge past 75% after over an hour on the fast charger by 9am and it just notified me it is below 10% again. This is unusable.
Less than 12 hours ago my watch updated to watchOS 10.1... and now the battery goes from 100% to 0% in 2 hours!!!!
Of course this is NOT normal or expected. Anybody else has the same issue? Is there a fix?
I do not see a new OS version available yet, I am hoping they would soon fix this.
Updated to 10.1 hoping it would address the battery drain. My watch has went from 100% to 68% in an hour. It’s basically managed to render it unusable. On watch OS9 100% charge would get me almost 48 hours. I wish I never updated.
I tried the reset. But it’s the same problem. Battery is just not holding a charge. Not to mention it gets hot when charging. I think I’m just going to shut it off completely because all this charging is going to ruin the battery. I’ll wait out an update. They can’t not know this is an issue.
I tried turning off the watch. After I turned on I could charge to 100% in one hour but it kept getting hot in my wrist and losing battery power at approximately 30% per hour!
I called Apple support and they told me that the 17.1 is beta and I would have to send my watch away for 2 weeks for them to fix it.
When I complained about it, they told me that “I” voluntarily subscribed to receive Beta software. I asked them how did I do it and they told me that I went on a website and signed up for it. Well… I am sure I did no such thing.
Well, so much for v10.1. 8pm, and my Series 5 watch is at 8%.
On one hand, it's asking for a battery replacement.
On another this hasn't been a problem at all before "upgrade" to 10.0
Now to decide if I want to spend $115 to replace the battery, or $400 to replace the watch.
They told me that it was beta too and that I signed up to receive beta software update. I did not. They told me I had to send it in for they to remove the beta. They said it would take approximately 2 weeks.
I am afraid to update my iPhone to 17.1. I already regret having updated to 17. Battery health went from 97% to 93% in less than a week and I barely use my iPhone.
Continuing to see the issues come through on this thread and still having issues with my Series 7. For the thousands of dollars we as customers pay for these devices this kind of issue is absolutely unacceptable. Also the fact that support is basically trying to brush this off on the customers as our fault for supposedly installing beta software even though we all know we didn’t is total crap. Apple customer service is truly garbage. I’ve already a Pixel watch shipped and being delivered (got it on sale yesterday) and will be going to upgrade to a Pixel 8 Pro next week. If Apple doesn’t want to support us as customers who are the ones providing their wealth then that’s fine. This is the last time I support Apple altogether.
Yes, the guy told me that I signed up on a website to get beta release. I told him I never did it. I don’t even know what website is that. He told me that I certainly did it and that they are not responsible for beta software but they were going to do me the favor of removing it if I sent it back to them.
That is what I think. I may send there and end up with the same problem or worse.
The worse thing that happened to me with Apple was: I pay for the cloud services and kept over 100 voice messages from my mother on the cloud. My mother passed away 3 years ago and I liked to hear her voice in the morning and at night. I put everything on the cloud and they lost it!
Some techs suggested that it was my fault for not backing up on a device too.
Why is it that they want to make me (us) feel that we were careless? That when things go wrong it is our fault?
Is there a fix for this? I just got & did the update this morning, & within 2 hours, my watch is dead, 0 battery. It was working fine yesterday, but now, I’ve got a watch that won’t hold a charge for more than 2 hours.
Yes, mine was getting warm too and now has been charging for 4 hours and still only at 78%. They better make an announcement soon about this being worked on. I'm also nervous that this has damaged by battery.
I think it did damaged the battery as well as the watch itself. I hope Apple care+ will take care of it. They told me that they could send me a refurbished one exactly like mine but they want a $350.00 deposit for a serial 6. Are they crazy or what? Walmart is selling refurbished ones for $200.00.
Other technician told me that when you install Beta (I didn’t but he said I did) you take the risk but they are willing to help.
Absolutely not! I will not be using my Applecare+ to cover their negligence and I will be wanting a new watch not a refurb. They did this with poor quality control, not me. We as consumers are suppose to be able to trust that a company as big as Apple won't release a software update that will damage our hardware. This isn't a beta it's the GM.
I strongly recommend you go to an apple store once this issue is resolved and as kindly as possible ask for a manager and explain how their software update damaged your watch and request a new one or a full value discount towards a new model.
I really think Apple has no idea how bad this is for them. They promised amazing things in the Series 9 and Ultra line, and then destroyed it all with this update. It’s as if they deliberately designed malware to be downloaded into their customers’ devices. I’m having to decide whether to continue to lease a device they’ve ruined, or return it to the cellular provider. If I return another series 9 like this, I will never use an Apple Watch again in my lifetime.
Apple Watch Battery Drain Issues after Update
