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Airpods causing Apple Watch battery drain?

In the almost 2-weeks I've had my Airpods, my Apple Watch battery has ended the day the a lot lower than expected. It's gone into reserve mode on me twice, and been close to it on the other days. 25% or less.


Before AirPods, my series 0 38mm sports watch has gone into reserve mode exactly 3 times in the 1.5 years I've had it. I've typically ended the day between 30-40% left, and that's with a 45 minute daily workout.


I've only used my Watch to control the Airpods during my workout, to change tracks or volume. Otherwise, since I've been back to work this week, I'm using the Airpods at my desk, streaming from my MacBook Pro.


Do the Airpods remain connected to the Watch at all times? The music controls on my watch have no effect on Airpods while listening from my Mac.


I guess it's technically possible that my Watch battery is starting to decay...but since the Airpods are the only other new variable, I'm thinking they're causing excessive drain. How could I test this?

iPhone 7, iOS 10.2

Posted on Jan 5, 2017 7:39 AM

Reply
7 replies

Feb 3, 2017 2:40 AM in response to neatfreakgeek

Hi

It may help to try the following steps, which have resolved issues with unexpected changes in battery life for some other users. Check performance after each before moving on to the next:

If you have not yet done so, update your iPhone and Apple Watch to the latest software, starting with your iPhone:


Close all open apps on your iPhone and then restart both your iPhone and your watch:


Unpair and re-pair your watch:


Under previous software versions, some users reported experiencing battery life issues in connection with using corporate profiles and/or Exchange Calendars. If you are using an Exchange Calendar, one or more of these steps may help:

  • Archive your Exchange Calendar for all items before today.
  • Remove / delete all old inbox messages relating to calendar invites (accept and decline notifications).
  • Create a rule in your Outlook Mail account that moves all future accept and decline replies, immediately upon receipt, into a separate mail folder that does not sync with your iPhone and Apple Watch.
  • Check your Exchange Calendar for errors.


Finally, it may help to:

Having tried the previous steps, if the issue persists, I suggest contacting Apple Support, making a Genius Bar reservation or visiting an Apple Authorised Service Provider for assistance, including - if recommended - with a view to have your watch inspected and serviced:

To check your warranty status:

https://checkcoverage.apple.com

Feb 17, 2017 1:27 PM in response to beebes68nj

My problem was resolved. I contacted Apple Support via online chat and they were very helpful. They ran a diagnosis on my watch and it seemed like it trying to establish a connection with the phone again and again for some reason. The rep asked me to unpair my watch from phone and then pair again. The whole process of pairing it again took some time but it was well worth it. Now it's back to 50% use for my whole day.

Feb 13, 2017 1:07 PM in response to diego.russo

I have exact same issue. Just got AirPods two days ago and for both days since, the batter goes down twice as much as it used to before getting AirPods. I'm using series 0, 42mm with iPhone 6s. Both softwares are up-to-date. My Apple Watch battery used to be around 49% at the end of a long day. Now it goes to reserve before I go to bed.

Feb 17, 2017 12:30 PM in response to neatfreakgeek

I am having the same problem and I am current on all software and did a watch and iOS restore with no help.


What I have noticed is that if I put the watch in airplane mode while using the AirPods, I don't get the battery drain. I suspect that AirPods are establishing a connection with both the Watch and iPhone. The watch does have the battery information for the AirPods on the power reserve screen so that data is either being passed from the phone or directly from the AirPods. I could see a BT connection / attempted connection causing a battery drain.

Airpods causing Apple Watch battery drain?

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