TheSnapDude

Q: Are you guys noticing significant battery drain on your iiPhone while using Apple Watch?

Just curious, because mine is doing that.

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), Early 2011 MacBook Pro 15 Inch 2Ghz

Posted on Apr 26, 2015 5:09 PM

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Q: Are you guys noticing significant battery drain on your iiPhone while using Apple Watch?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by SwimRef,

    SwimRef SwimRef Apr 26, 2015 5:51 PM in response to TheSnapDude
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Apr 26, 2015 5:51 PM in response to TheSnapDude

    I'm noticing the opposite. Since my phone stays in my pocket, I'm not waking it near as often, resulting in less battery drain. Now, it's only been a couple of days...

  • by Traciebeth,

    Traciebeth Traciebeth Apr 26, 2015 5:54 PM in response to TheSnapDude
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 26, 2015 5:54 PM in response to TheSnapDude

    I don't  have this issue at all

  • by patrickh40,

    patrickh40 patrickh40 May 3, 2015 12:34 PM in response to TheSnapDude
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 3, 2015 12:34 PM in response to TheSnapDude

    Just to add information without solving your problem...I have not seen that on my iPhone 6 Plus.

     

    However, I have gone through various Internet guides to save battery life on the iPhone 6 (e.g.,  reduced the frequency that iPhone checks for new email).

     

    I'm finding that in a normal 12-14 hour day, I don't have to plug in my Watch or iPhone 6 Plus (significant improvement over my iPhone 5 where I had to carry a charger everywhere).

  • by swandy,

    swandy swandy May 3, 2015 1:29 PM in response to TheSnapDude
    Level 4 (1,537 points)
    Apple Music
    May 3, 2015 1:29 PM in response to TheSnapDude

    Nothing really dramatic - but there have been some discussions about this happening.

    What I did check was the battery usage on my iPhone 6. I noticed that my running/biking all (Map My Run) was using a lot more battery - over 24% - than it did before. I think this is because since the Watch does not have internal GPS, when the apps need it (like Map My Run) they work off the iPhone version. So I turned off Location Services for Map My Run and its battery usage dropped, so I have not noticed battery usage much different than I saw before.

  • by danielny,

    danielny danielny May 3, 2015 3:41 PM in response to TheSnapDude
    Level 1 (5 points)
    May 3, 2015 3:41 PM in response to TheSnapDude

    No.  Most people who are experience iPhone battery drainage problem with the watch is a poorly designed app that is keeping the phone alive.  In the usage section of the iPhone look for an app using an excessive amount of battery.

  • by Richard Fielding,

    Richard Fielding Richard Fielding May 4, 2015 11:27 AM in response to danielny
    Level 2 (215 points)
    May 4, 2015 11:27 AM in response to danielny

    On the contrary, I am noting my iPhone battery is lasting way longer. I guess it is because I am using it less as I now use my watch for checking stuff instead. There is no noticeable battery drainage due to the watch being connected to it.

     

    Also, I am delighted with the battery life of my watch. I can get to the end of the day and I still have a good 30 to 50% power left. To think I worried about battery life.

  • by stevejobsfan0123,

    stevejobsfan0123 stevejobsfan0123 May 4, 2015 11:29 AM in response to TheSnapDude
    Level 8 (43,767 points)
    iPhone
    May 4, 2015 11:29 AM in response to TheSnapDude

    I, too, have not noticed any additional battery drain. Although the iPhone has to maintain a constant connection to the Watch, the screen does not turn on as much, because when a notification comes in, the screen will not light up; the Watch's screen lights up instead.

  • by Silentman73,

    Silentman73 Silentman73 May 4, 2015 11:53 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123
    Level 1 (25 points)
    May 4, 2015 11:53 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123

    There are stories out there about Watch users seeing higher battery drain on their iPhones, but the general consensus seems to be a lot of it can be avoided by just tinkering with your Watch app to make sure you're only getting notifications for things that really matter, that you don't have other apps running in the background on your iPhone that are constantly checking for mail and using your GPS, etc.

  • by Kim Hill1,

    Kim Hill1 Kim Hill1 May 5, 2015 10:06 PM in response to TheSnapDude
    Level 2 (169 points)
    May 5, 2015 10:06 PM in response to TheSnapDude

    I'm getting severe additional battery drain on my iPhone. All this time, I was expecting that the Apple Watch battery would be the problem, but that lasts me easily all day. Amazingly, it's my iPhone 6 Plus which now has problems getting through the day. Before the Apple Watch, I never had to worry about my iPhone 6 Plus battery, but now I do.

  • by D'AnconiaCopper,

    D'AnconiaCopper D'AnconiaCopper May 6, 2015 9:12 PM in response to TheSnapDude
    Level 1 (77 points)
    Apple Watch
    May 6, 2015 9:12 PM in response to TheSnapDude

    I've noticed the exact opposite. The watch sits on my wrist for about 15 hours (give or take) and it has about a 50% battery level when I turn in for the night. My iPhone 6 has seen a dramatic improvement in battery levels too.

  • by Kim Hill1,

    Kim Hill1 Kim Hill1 May 6, 2015 10:31 PM in response to Kim Hill1
    Level 2 (169 points)
    May 6, 2015 10:31 PM in response to Kim Hill1

    I did a very aggressive pruning of Location Services permissions on my iPhone, and rebooted the iPhone and the watch. It appears that this has helped the iPhone battery drain, although it's too soon to be positive.

     

    I had called Apple support, and was told to wipe my iPhone and re-install iOS from scratch ("new iPhone"). This I was hesitant to do — it's basically a half-day gone, along with SMSs and a bunch of prefs & configuration. It's irritating how often Apple has told me to do that as a default answer. I decided to revisit/tweak my iPhone settings instead. I really hope that this is the solution.

     

    One thing I can say: there's no doubt that my iPhone 6 Plus battery life went to **** immediately after installing the Apple Watch.

     

    At first, I assumed it to be an inherent watch problem, but now it seems possible that the Apple Watch just triggered a problematic power state — and the problem may be fixable by tweaking your settings. But if my experience is any indication, Apple Watch buyers need to be aware that it can be a bumpy ride in the beginning.

  • by nick101,

    nick101 nick101 May 6, 2015 11:57 PM in response to TheSnapDude
    Level 5 (5,103 points)
    May 6, 2015 11:57 PM in response to TheSnapDude

    I'm getting the opposite, mainly because I check my phone less often.

     

    Reset the watch, restart the phone, re-pair the watch. That has worked for some people reporting the same issue

  • by jimkraz,

    jimkraz jimkraz May 7, 2015 11:39 AM in response to nick101
    Level 2 (195 points)
    May 7, 2015 11:39 AM in response to nick101

    I have always found, even when I was with windows phone, if you turn off your phone completly, i.e., via slide switch, then restart, this help battery problems, for myself on a iPhone 6 I have had no more or less battery usage than I had before, my phone has always had bluetooth switched on as I have hands free setup in my car and had a Pebble previously and still get at least three days between charges.