Apple watch battery draining quickly after iOS 26.0.2 Update.

Hi

Additionally regarding

"Apple gave the running time as approximately 18 hours. "

I went to the link from Apple you posted and I find the following, maybe you overlooked it?

"

1. All-day battery life is based on the following use: 90 time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use, and a 60-minute workout with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth, over the course of 18 hours; Apple Watch Series 8 (GPS) usage includes connection to iPhone via Bluetooth during the entire 18-hour test; Apple Watch Series 8 (GPS + Cellular) usage includes a total of 4 hours of LTE connection and 14 hours of connection to iPhone via Bluetooth over the course of 18 hours. Testing conducted by Apple in August 2022 using preproduction Apple Watch Series 8 (GPS) and Apple Watch Series 8 (GPS + Cellular), each paired with an iPhone; all devices tested with prerelease software. Battery life varies by use, configuration, cellular network, signal strength, and many other factors; actual results will vary.

"

I had the same issue since iOS26 update with my watch AND phone. The iOS sucks for battery. I have an iPhone 17 max, and with moderate use, my battery is dead within 12 hours. I had a series 7 watch for years that worked fine, and it started dying within 6-8 hours after the iOS update. I thought maybe the watch was old, and upgraded to a series 11 watch, and it dies within 8 hours of use every day. I wish I wasn't so deep in the Apple ecosystem.

Hopefully 26.1 works for other people, it did not work for me and it required the unpair and restore from backup on both my watches. Best of luck not having to go through the extra hassles!

capitan.pis wrote:

The watch is an 8series from Feb 2023.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

My Apple Watch Ultra (AWU2) used to have a battery life of approximately 2.5 days between charges before upgrading to watchOS 26.0.2. Its battery life has since decreased significantly, now lasting barely one day.

Also, with this update, the fitness app is not working properly. Before, every minute was getting captured, and now even if I walk for 5 minutes with the app switched on, it is not taking the minutes at all. Seriously disappointed with the new updates and with the Battery backup.

Having the same issue after upgrading to 26.0.2. Pre-update, I would charge my AW8 to 95% around 06:00 everyday, and by 21:00 I would still have 30-40% battery life remaining. Now I am at 20% around 16:00. And that last 20% burns down real fast. Also, the rate of battery drain appears to increase each day. I tried the hard restart with no results. I have not tried a restore from backup.

After 26.0.2 update, my apple watch 9 loses sync with my iPhone and its battery also runs out very quickly.

The only thing that helps a little with the synchronization problem is turning the watch off and on. I also tried resetting the watch several times and restoring from a backup. It doesn't help. Hopefully Apple will release a fix update soon. because I can't continue like this.

[Edited by Moderator]

I charge the watch before I go to sleep. I use it during the night (11:30 p.m. to 6:50 a.m.). The battery percentage has changed significantly since the last update. Before iOS 26.0.2, I would wake up with 87% battery, but now it's only 76%. I have a Series 7 with 82% battery life.

Update: after 2 weeks, the battery life has recovered to being better than it has been in at least a year.

There must indeed have been some background processes going on.

But they took long and were certainly intense

Experiencing the same issue on Series 7. This is ridicilous. Charged my watch last night before a 40 minute run using low power mode, as now that's basically the only way to have the watch usable, and even despite that in the morning it was already dead.

Did you find a solution? I tried disabling background processing tried disabling “always on”

after three weeks of suffering I am helpless

things I did not check

1) unpairing

2) restoring to previous iOS version

3) reset to factory settings

but before I take those major steps I would like you to tell me which worked out for you

Hi

Tried the force restart option. For the time being the ratio of battery consumption is 4% per hour.

At this pace I might get an autonomy of around 26 hours, which are less of what I had before the iOS upgrade but more than what I had the last few days.

If I see the pace of4% is not kept I will need to go for the unpairing solution.

As for the battery health it is 85% (it is not 3 years since I purchased the clock).