Smartwatches have been extremely popular in the last couple of years, and the trend continues to get stronger as the technology improves in all aspects. Apple is one brand that brought its reputation for outstanding quality into the field of wearables, which made its smartwatches one of the most popular choices.
With that said, we will focus this article on discussing how long does Apple watch battery last. We will dive deep into this topic and cover all the ins and outs of the smartwatch’s battery life. We will also provide you with useful tips that will help you improve your Apple smartwatch battery life.
Moreover, we will also have a closer look at the battery life of all existing Apple watches.
So Apple’s mission for the last 10+ years was to put a computer in everyone’s pockets, and we can all agree that they’ve been quite successful at that. Now, it seems like they are determined to put a computer/health monitoring device on our wrists. Of course, they are not the only ones; however, if you are a true Apple fan, you will probably not dare to even consider other smartwatches, right?
So, are you ready to discover how long do Apple watches battery last? Let’s dig in.
How Long Do Apple Watches Battery Last Compare TO Standard Watch?
Before we take a closer look at the Apple Watch’s battery, let’s have a glance at standard watches. Do you know how long the battery lasts on a classic watch? On a new quartz watch, that would be somewhere between 14 – 16 months. And once you switch over to replacement batteries, this span turns into 1 – 2 years on average.
Of course, the exact battery life depends on many factors, including battery life, and what kind of features the watch packs. Does it have a chronograph, alarms, and LED display? Is it digital or analog? Is it new or old? Could there be any corrosion in your watch or other water damage? All these factors determine the battery life.
Now that we’ve covered some basics about the standard watches, let’s look at the Apple smartwatch. Compared to a 16-month battery life of a regular watch, an average smartwatch’s battery life is very poor and Apple’s smartwatch is no exception. However, that would be like comparing apples and oranges.
Sure, smartwatches are still watches, but they are so much more. They are much closer to smartphones (t.i. small computers) than to regular watches. And let us ask you how long does your phone battery last? Does it get you through the day? If it does, you are probably pretty satisfied with that as you can easily charge it for the night.
Actually How Long Do Apple Watches Battery Last?
So, if you sleep for 7 hours (which could be the time to charge your smartwatch), that means it needs to have a battery life of 17 hours. Good news, already the first generation Apple smartwatch offered an 18-hour battery. Currently the Apply Series 6 is the latest Apple Watch and it still promises that same battery life. You might be wondering why haven’t they improved it, right? Well, it is a technological challenge and they believe that for a smartwatch to get you through the day is all you need.
Can you do anything to improve how long your Apple watch battery lasts?
The answer is, yes. Luckily, there are quite many things you can do to improve the Battery life of your Apple watch and we will take a closer look at the most effective methods in the following section.
By following the tips to improve battery life on Apple watches below, you should immediately notice that watch’s battery lasts longer. Of course, you should keep in mind that Apple’s watch is designed for UP TO 18-hours, which means that even if you apply all the tips given below, you can’t expect your Apple Watch to last longer than 18-hours.
18-Hour Apple Watch Battery Use Breakdown
As you probably already know, the exact battery life will greatly depend on your use habits. If you plan on ‘playing’ with your watch for the full 18 hours, you can be sure that you will need to charge it much, much sooner.
So, let’s look at the use type that the whole 18-hour battery life promise is based on:
- 60-min work with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth
- 90-time check (turning on the display)
- 90 notifications
- 45 minutes of various app use
Looking at the above, some of you may be considering that as a lot of useful time and others might be shocked over how little it is. Yes, we are very different.
So, if you can stay within the above-listed use scenarios, you can expect to squeeze 18 hours out of your Apple watch on a single charge. However, if you plan on using it more, it won’t be able to last that long.
The Best Tips To Improve Your Apple Smartwatch Battery Life
This is the hands-on section – in order to get anything out of it, you will need to apply at least a couple of the tips given below. So, are you ready to find out what are the things you can do to get those 18 hours out of your Apple smartwatch?
Important note: Keep in mind that it is very rare for the battery drains to be caused by hardware issues. In about 99% of the cases, the battery is drained fast due to software issues or hard use of the watch.
Tip #1: Restart Your Apple Watch
In case you’ve noticed that your battery life has decreased lately, restarting your watch may be the simplest thing you can do. It sounds too simple to be of any use, right? Well, it turns out that restarting a device, in our case Apple watch can solve that issue.
How to restart Apple Watch? Just press and hold the side button and the digital crown simultaneously for more than 10 seconds (let go of the buttons when the Apple logo appears on the display).
Tip #2: Re-Pair Your Watch
Starting with a restart is the simplest way. In case the restart hasn’t fixed the issue, proceed with ‘re-pairing’ your Apple smartwatch. To ‘re-pair’ your device, you need to first unpair it and then pair it with your phone again. This process will take slightly longer than the restart, however, it can often offer the solution you are after – longer battery life.
Tip #3: Changing Notification Settings
All Apple watch series, Series 6 in particular, is amazing at keeping you up to speed by delivering all notifications from your iPhone straight to your wrist. However, you should know that all push notifications drain your battery quite a lot.
You can simply turn off all notifications, however, that greatly defeats the purpose of having a smartwatch. A sort of middle ground would be to handpick the apps that you want to push through the notifications (aim to select only the ones that are really important for you to stay in the loop).
To do this, you will need to go to ‘Notifications’ in your Apple Watch app. Then scroll down and disable the toggles for all apps that you don’t want to push the notifications. We highly recommend you be as selective as possible. That is one of the highly efficient ways to improve your Apple Watch battery life.
Tip #4: Get Rid Of Certain Apps
If you are like the majority of users, you have a ton of apps that you don’t actually need. In many cases, users even have several apps that they actually don’t use at all.
Take some time to go through the list of the apps on your Apple Watch and delete the ones that you don’t need or don’t use. Even more importantly, you should definitely delete apps that are not functioning properly as those can really drain the battery.
Open your ‘Watch app’ on your iPhone and scroll down to see the list of installed apps. You can tap on any app and by disabling the ‘Show on Apple Watch’ toggle to remove the app from your smartwatch. Don’t stress about the process, as you can always add the apps back in case you accidentally remove any of them.
Tip #5: Reducing Motion
Especially with the newer Apple Watch series, there are countless animations and transitions available for the display. These can really look amazing, however, they consume a lot of battery. In order to get more out of your battery, you can simply turn off those transitions and animations.
To do so, you need to go to the ‘Watch app’ on your iPhone. Then tap the ‘Accessibility’ and look for the ‘Reduce Motion’ option. Tap on it and then enable the toggle button to reduce motion.
Tip #6: Wake on Wrist Raise Off
As a piece of advanced technology, the Apple smartwatch packs several sensors, which enables it to have some cool features. ‘Wake on Wrist Rise’ is definitely one of those features that is quite cool, however, you need to think about whether you really need or not. If you don’t mind tapping on display to see the time, you should consider turning this option off and thus save some battery.
If you decide to turn off wake on wrist raise, go to Watch app > General > Wake Screen > disable toggle net to ‘Wake on Wrist Raise’ option.
Tip #7: Do you need your display to be always on?
The newer Apple smartwatch series have an option to keep the display on all the time. If that is something you really need, then use it. However, if you can get used to taping the display to check the time and other notifications instead, you can save a lot of battery and thus noticeably improve your Apple smartwatch battery.
To turn the ‘Always On’ off, go to Settings on your watch > Display and Brightness and then disable the Always On toggle.
Tip #8: Background App Refresh Off
Background app refresh is another function that is using quite a noticeable amount of battery. As such, you can save some battery by turning this option off.
If that is something you want to do, go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh. Then turn off this feature for each app you don’t need to refresh without you actually using it. (You can turn this off for all apps as well.)
Tip #9: Mobile Data
This tip applies to users that have a cellular Apple Watch. Based on our experience, you only really need the data on your watch when you don’t have your iPhone on you. With that in mind, you can turn off the cellular data on your watch when your iPhone is at your hand and save a lot of battery as your watch stops to ‘chase’ the signal.
To turn off the cellular data on your Apple Watch open the Control Center on your watch. Next, you need to tap on the Mobile Data icon (the one that looks like an antenna with two signal waves on each side).
You can do the same with the WiFi for additional battery consumption reduction.
Tip #10: Using Power Reserve Mode
Power reserve mode was designed to minimize battery consumption, especially when your battery level is low. This option is built into the Apple Watch. By using this feature, you essentially turn your smartwatch into a regular watch and thus noticeably reduce battery consumption. The major downside of this battery-saving trick is that it also takes away basically all the cool smartwatch features.
To turn on Power reserve mode open the Control Center on your Apple smartwatch and tap the battery percentage. Once on the next step, toggle the ‘Power Reserve’ slider all the way to the right.
Tip #11: Screen Brightness Reduction
The brighter the screen, the more battery your Apple watch consumes. As such, you can manually reduce the brightness and reduce battery consumption. We are not suggesting you make it impossible for you to see the display, however, oftentimes auto-brightness outputs more brightness than actually required.
To reduce the display brightness, go to Settings on your Apple Watch > Display and Brightness and reduce the brightness (the shorter the bar, the less brightness will be produced).
Tip #12: Grayscale Mode
Did you know that Apple Watch has a Grayscale mode? This mode is not for those who love and need all the colors, however, is you are more interested in the content, you can use it to save some battery.
To make use of this mode, go to Settings > Accessibility > Greyscale and toggle the button next to it.
Tip #13: Turn On Optimized Battery Charging
This may not interest you, however, you should know that Apple Watches use Li-Ion battery, which is prone to degrading over time. In order to make the degrading process as slow as possible, you need to charge your watch in the most optimal way. Using the ‘Optimized Charging Option’ can help you achieve that.
To make use of this option, go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health and then scroll down and enable the corresponding toggle button.
Tip #14: Workout Power Saving
While you burn off your steam, you can prevent your watch to use too much battery by using the ‘Workout Power Saving’ mode. We highly recommend this option to users that work out with their Apple smartwatch often. Unless you really need your heart rate sensor and are fully interested in your calories burn rate, you can use this feature and save some battery.
To do so, you need to open the Watch app on your iPhone. Then go to the ‘Workout’ and within that option toggle the ‘Power Saving Mode’ on.
Tip #15: Make sure your watch is up-to-date
By keeping your watch updated, you ensure that all pieces of software are running in an optimal manner (software bugs often cause increased battery consumption) and thus prevent unnecessary battery consumption.
Make sure you always have the latest available version of watchOS installed.
To check for software updates, go to Settings > General > Software Update.
Tip #16: Let Silent Mode Save Some Battery
The speakers on your Apple Watch use a noticeable amount of energy. By using the silent mode, you can thus save some battery power.
To use the silent mode, go to Settings > Sounds and Haptics, then find the ‘Silent mode’ and turn the corresponding toggle button on.
Tip #17: Turn Blood Oxygen Sensor Off
Not all Apple Watches have this function, however, if you own a Series 6, you can save some additional battery by disabling blood oxygen measurement (SpO2). (Let’s be honest, this measurement is not something you need at all the time.)
To disable the blood oxygen measurement, go to Settings on your Apple smartwatch and tap on ‘Blood Oxygen’. Then turn off the toggle button inside that option.
Does Your Apple Smartwatch Battery Not Last Long Enough?
If you’ve had your Apple watch for more than 2.5 or 3 years, you could be experiencing battery degradation, in which case there is not much else to do than to upgrade to a new Apple Watch or get your battery replaced.
However, if your Apple smartwatch is younger than 2.5 years, then you should aim for it to give you that 18-hour performance window.
If you are not using it more than stated inside the ‘18-Hour Apple Watch Battery Use Breakdown’ subsection and can’t get it to last 18 hours, make sure to go through all of the 17 tips given in the previous section.
If none of the tips help, get in touch with Apple support and explain your problem.
Apple Watches & Their Batteries
There are many Apple Watches on the market these days. Below you can find the list of all of them. If you read the text above, you know that they all promise 18-hour battery life when fully charged and used in line with optimal use (see the ‘18-Hour Apple Watch Battery Use Breakdown’ subsection).
- Apple Watch (1st generation)
- Apple Watch Series 1
- Apple Watch Series 2
- Apple Watch Series 3
- Apple Watch Series 4
- Apple Watch Series 5
- Apple Watch Series SE
- Apple Watch Series 6
It’s been about 6 years since the first Apple Watch was launched (back in 2015). Since then a lot of improvements have been implemented and having a mini-computer/smartphone on your wrist is now a reality.
Since some of the above-listed models are too old (or had some issues) for the official Apple store, you can’t find all of them there. The ones that are available in new condition on the official Apple store are Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch Series SE, Apple Watch Series 3, and special Apple Watch Nike.
Final Thoughts
If you are an Apple fan and want a smartwatch, Apple Watch Series 6 is definitely worth considering. Moreover, in case you are on a tighter budget, you can take a look at some of the older models and maybe consider refurbished options.
There are also some iPhone deals, where you can get Apple Watch for free as a bonus.
Whichever way you get your hand on Apple Watch, make sure to use the knowledge and the tips provided above to make the most of its battery.
How long do Apple watches battery last? You now know that the most legit answer is 18 hours. However, you also know that this can be more if some battery-saving tips are applied. On the other hand, it can also be a lot less if you use the watch more than the specified ’18-hour’ manner.
Enjoy your Apple Watch to the fullest!
