Apple Watch battery drains super fast after 10.1 update.

Series 7 Apple Watch. After 10.1 update my battery only lasts a few hours. I can literally watch the percentage go down. Rebooted the watch. Shut off background app refresh after advised by a friend. Still drains ridiculously fast. It’s essentially useless now. I’m out of ideas. Anyone else have this problem? This is crazy.

Posted on Oct 25, 2023 9:56 PM

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Posted on Dec 3, 2023 6:33 AM

My watch used to last two days, even with me running an hour a day. I no longer run and now it drains faster. I have to put it on the charger overnight and again mid-day. Normally, it takes about an hour to charge. But there are days that it takes up to five hours to hit 100%. I haven’t added anything or changed any settings since I got it almost two years ago.

663 replies

Nov 27, 2023 7:39 PM in response to tony.d.

Went through this whole thing end of October, spent 3+ days trying to get my watch back to being a watch instead of a wrist warmer. My battery before this was at 92% capacity, after three days of instant battery drain my battery is now at 81%. Thanks to this update my watch shaved 10% of the capacity of my battery.

Jan 4, 2024 10:59 PM in response to Rabidog

came here to share pretty much this as a fix for me too. Tried nigh everything that has been suggested before, background refresh, turn off photo and music app sync, complication free watchfaces. Nothing helped.


what resolved it for me was an unpair and disable the “automatic app install” in general settings. Battery usage has returned to normal. Where i previously lost 20% battery in 3 hours, it’s now 5%!


wish i knew this months ago! During which my battery health dropped from the high eighties to just 81.

Dec 5, 2023 9:02 AM in response to tony.d.

It's not the battery folks; even people with Series 9/Ultra have reported the same thing in this very thread. Do NOT reply on Apple fixing this by giving them more money to replace your battery. This is absolutely software based, it's definitely a bug and Apple needs to get off their collective as*es and fix it.


That aside....my watch has been working ok since it died completely the other day.


I posted the other day that my watch died and took at over 4 hours on a charger to turn back on and was only at 16% when it came back on. I charged it overnight and it's now been lasting all day again.


It would not charge on my charger but did on my wifes. Her AC Adapter is lower amp and I have read in other threads that when a watch won't charge, it needs to be a lower amp AC Adapter.


If you have a lower amp charger, try that if your watch is dead, or try letting your watch die completely and charge it using a slower charger. Obviously no guarantees it will work, but maybe letting the watch discharge completely is blowing out the issue?

Oct 27, 2023 8:32 PM in response to tony.d.

Same issue on a replacement series 4 I received today 10/27. Brand new-to-me, wouldn't charge to full due to overheating, and drained at last check, 8% in 12 minutes. Very hot on charger. On with Apple support right now and the person said: "Hey I would recommend you not using the Apple Watch until advised by the senior team, I will now escalate this case to the senior team, who will further investigate and help you with your option." Having tons of other issues after being forced to update to 10.1 like apps not showing correctly, trouble pairing, problems restarting the watch. Yuck.

Nov 3, 2023 2:59 PM in response to lászló145

Get rid of MOBYFACE. The problems with watchOS 10 probably involve more than just MOBYFACE.

When watchOS 10 first came out my watch updated automatically. I’m one of the unlucky few whose watch started using too much power. Using extra power after a major update is common for a couple days. After two weeks, my watch still had to be recharged several times per day (not acceptable). This was not an issue with watchOS 9.6.3 (there is no way to go back).

I have some draconian steps and a configuration that gets my watch through a day on one 90 minute charge, but NOT back to pre-watchOS10. My settings remove or disable much of what makes an Apple Watch special…but it’s better than a frequently dead watch.

As a side note, Apple Technical Support has been consulted twice: online and in-person at an Apple Store Genius Bar. Diagnostics pass, my watch has never been wet, and my S4 is not covered by a warranty. 

Apple Tech Support is aware of the problems and tried to solve my issue but ultimately provided two options: 

1) trade in my watch for a new S9 (net cost $400) or 

2) replace the battery even though it has 84% capacity ($299 cost for battery capacity over 80%, $99 replacement battery capacity less than 80%).

Neither option seems all that great…yet.

Here are some tricks and tips that might increase an Apple Watch’s daily battery use with the current watchOS 10:

  • Adjust display settings. The display is one of the biggest battery drains, on S4 through S6. Reduce display impact by adjusting the brightness, reducing the amount of time the display stays on, and disabling the always-on display for S7 and newer.
  • Reduce the number of notifications. Every notification that appears on the screen  requires the watch to wake up and use battery power. Try disabling notifications for apps that you don't use often and/or try setting notifications to silent delivery.
  • Turn off haptics. Every time the watch has to send a haptic, a small vibrator has to use battery power.
  • Remove apps from the Smart Stack. While this is a new feature, on my S4 it seems to consume significant power. 
  • Delete 3rd party apps. Some 3rd party apps are not behaving well with watchOS 10. Delete the 3rd party apps on the watch AND on the iPhone. 
  • Disable location services, especially for the Apple weather app. Apparently the weather app frequently checks location and retrieves weather for the location, even if your location is not significantly changing. Remove all but one weather app location. Completely removing the weather app may help too. 
  • Turn off background app refresh. Complications will still update in the active watch face. Other apps will refresh when you open them or a watch face with corresponding complication.
  • Turn off as many features as possible. Many Apple Watch features use battery power, even when not actively using them. For example, the heart rate sensor, GPS, and Wi-Fi can use battery power. Try turning off these features to save battery life.
  • Use Power Saving Mode. This mode disables certain features to extend battery life. 

Here are some additional tips that may help improve battery life on watchOS 10:

  • Unpair and re-pair Apple Watch. This can sometimes resolve battery life issues.
  • Restore Apple Watch from a backup. This can also help to resolve battery life issues.
  • Reset Apple Watch and do not restore from a backup. This can also help to resolve battery life issues.

If these fail to help with the short battery life:

  • Contact Apple Support. If you're still having trouble with battery life, contact Apple Support for assistance. Do not expect good technical support from these Apple Community Forums, there are a few trolls who generally  make condescending and smug remarks.

If you are not happy with watchOS 10, share your concerns directly with Apple at Feedback - Watch - Apple  

Hope this helps your situation!



Jan 2, 2024 10:14 AM in response to tony.d.

A week ago my battery lasted all day with two hours of working out. Now it runs out before 2pm before I’ve even left my apartment.


it’s utterly useless now. I am so disappointed that it might be time to make the switch to a Garmin. If this is a ploy to get me to buy a new watch (which as a continued Apple customer I have every reason to believe), this is my last straw.


i love the Apple Watch and I’ll be sad to part ways with it. Please, please, please fix this.

Oct 26, 2023 1:51 PM in response to tony.d.

Same issue. Appple Watch series 8. Went to bed with 100% battery and woke up with a dead watch. Reset my watch 3 times from back up. Still drained to 20% in under an hour. Apple support had me reset my watch without using a backup. Still drained insanely fast. 77% to 63% in 30 mins. Called Apple support again. After running a diagnostic test, they said the hardware was fine and it was a software issue. They have NO fix except for me to wait for the next update and hope if fixes the battery issue. My watch is useless at this point.


Apple Watch battery drains super fast after 10.1 update.

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