Apple Watch battery draining fast after watchOS 11 Update

It’s getting worse. Tried unpair and repair. Watch is going to drain in two hours and I can’t charge it as it’s draining faster than it can charge. I’ll be heading up to the Apple Store as it’s actually unusable now. Need a fix asap!

Hey, Small_violin. What happened at the Apple store? Any new information? Did they fix it? This watch battery problem is starting to resemble the stories of Tesla EVs spontaneously combusting (we keep hearing about them but never a definitive cause or how an owner could have prevented them!)

My Series 6 seems to have settled down after 11.1 and restarting once a day for a few days after that update. I put in on the charger overnight, usually take off the charger between 7 and 8 am, and the charge is at 80%, the new standard, as I read about it. Most of my days include 45 minutes on a treadmill with the watch recording an "indoor walk." End of day around 11pm or so, it's showing between 36% and 44% charge left, when it goes on the charger. I used to put it on the charger while I'm showering after the treadmill, but to better test the battery life, for the last few weeks, I've skipped that extra 25-minute charging session. So, it's going 15-16 hours daily use between charges. I don't sleep with the watch on.

One thing I may do differently from most is I have Passcode and wrist detection turned OFF. I was one of those people with the phantom "too many wrong passcodes, try again in 2 hours" or such, after carrying the watch in my pocket during yard mowing or pushing a cart at the supermarket. I don't use Apple Pay, and I don't leave my watch anywhere outside my home, and frankly, the watch is far more convenient to me without having to enter a passcode 3 or 4 times a day. This may or may not affect battery life, but I thought I'd mention it.

My wife is still undecided on moving from her Series 5 to a new Series 10 (she's been thinking about upgrading since Series 9 first came out!)

I have Apple watch series 9 after this update I am now having to charge my watch twice a day. Prior to this I could go almost 48 hours with charging once. Took to Apple store, they said there were no reported issues with battery life. Said my battery is fine. Suggested I unpair my watch and set up as new. I did this and the battery life is even worse. Took all apps off my watch, background refresh. Turned off always on. Disappointed to find many people complaining about the issue and the issue still persists.

Series 6. iOS 11.01 started the problem for me. Rapid battery discharge and barely made it to the end of the day. I kept a charger on my desk to be able to charge during the day. Then came iOS 11.1 (a .1 update is bigger and more important than a .01 update). Initially after that the battery charged to 80% overnight, explained in a message on the watch as a battery life extender. However, the watch is now back to 100% charge overnight. I don't know why. Battery health says I'm at 93% of original battery capacity.

Also, after 11.1 installation, at end of day (7am to 11 pm typical), the remaining battery life is highly variable, from as low as 15% to as high as 40%. I don't play music on my phone. I have the Modular watchface. From there, I do look at text messages (but use the phone to reply). I look at the weather forecast. A few times a day, I check exercise rings. For 45 minutes or so, I switch to the Activity watchface and run the Indoor Walk app while on the treadmill. I have the Passcode function turned off. My daily life is consistent (and boring) activity, so why my battery discharge is so variable is a mystery, as is why the watch was charging to 80% and now back to 100%

A question for all who have posted your battery issue here: Have you told your story outside of this limited venue? I'm not a Facebook, X, Instagram or other social media user, but I'll bet a lot of you are. So far there are 8 pages of complaints and observations here, but it seems we're "preaching to the choir." Everyone here already has an Apple watch. Posting problems like this elsewhere will serve as a warning to those who don't have one but might be considering one as a gift. If you read that there is a charging problem that has been unsolved for months and months, you might think twice about buying one. What's more, the Apple execs looking for their annual million-dollar bonuses might decide this really needs to be fixed. Just my thoughts.

BTW, the history I've seen is version 11.0 must have had bugs. Version 11.01 may have fixed them but introduced a battery charge problem. Version 11.1 was intended to fix it and did for some but not others. Now I'm on 11.2, and while a full charge seems to bounce back and forth between 80% and 100%, daily charge is lasting through the day, typically 7am to 11pm. Notes. I have Passcode turned off (and btw, the watch is way less trouble without passcode for me). I've also turned off most apps that I never use. I do an "indoor workout" (1 hour on the treadmill) pretty much every day, and I use the watch to find my iPhone once or twice a day, and I use the timer maybe every other day. Battery "health" for my series 6 is 93%, and the Last Charge was to the Optimized Limit of 80%.

Jad, we have exactly the same situation. My wife's S5 stopped updating after version 10.nn and even though its battery health is in the low 80's it lasts all day and evening every day. My S6 has gotten better since 11.1 and 11.2 The only thing I do differently from others here with 11.2 is that I do not have Passcode turned on (makes the watch way less annoying, too!) I have optimized charging turned on (only charges to 80% overnight to preserve battery life...my battery health is 93%). I also have handwashing, mindfulness, all the music and podcast settings off, and I don't use Apple Pay. From 7 or 8 am to 11 or so pm, my watch goes from 80% down to 35-40%.

I really want my wife to upgrade to a new watch from her S5, but she says not until the battery problem is solved.

I have the 14 also. I turned off all the apps that were on I was not currently using. If I want to use them I need to turn them on again and off when not. It has helped, but it’s a pain. Not what should be happening. At least I can get a day and a quarter out of it. I used to get 2 days and charge it at the end of the second day. Now I need to charge it so much sooner. There is no denying Apple has serious issues which they refuse to acknowledge. I still have not updated my iPad or watch to 28.2.1. I still don’t trust it.

I did unpair my Apple Watch Ultra 2 after the watchOS 11.0.1, and the battery life went back to normal after that.

Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Yes

Restarting my phone and my watch helped me. My charge is lasting 24 hours now.

watchOS 11.0.1 is out to fix battery drainage issues! 🤞

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One would hope they would read this forum and take the criticism as it comes instead of removing what they don’t like.