Hmm… I don’t wear my when I’m sleeping. So I put it on charged in the morning, around 5:30 am. If it lasted 8 hours after a full charge that means it would last until around 1:30 pm! I guess I’m misreading what you wrote. You mean a full day from the morning to night + 8 hours, right?
Thanks.
You mean a full day from the morning to night + 8 hours, right?
Yes, “another eight hours or so” after the full day. I only charge it once a day, and it doesn’t go below 40% if I charge it at the same time each morning. It’s late evening now, and the battery is at 70%
Something that might make a difference to battery life is whether you always carry an iPhone when you’re wearing a watch. I keep my phone in a pouch on my belt, so I don’t play music directly from the watch. It’s just a controller for playing music from the phone. I also don’t use the watch’s microphone or speakers because I’d rather use AirPods for phone calls, and I have the watch set to silent (vibrate). I also wonder if the watch uses the phone’s GPS when it can.
My guess is that I could probably go for 36 hours between charges. But I think it’s better for battery health if you don’t run it down to empty.
Until the Series 8, SE version 2, and Ultra, all Apple Watches do. This year’s watches, though, use only their GPS radio (and I’m sure WiFi radio) for location services.
If I’m out of the house I always have my iPhone in my shirt pocket. When I do play music it’s from the phone. And I don’t use the watch’s microphone or speakers. I also have my watch set to silent.
I don’t think the Series 2 had it’s own GPS. If I ever happen to forget my phone (it’s happened a couple of times) I can still track a workout but there is no map synced back to the Fitness app afterwards.
Do you have a reference for this? Perhaps GPS is less power-hungry than it used to be? Otherwise, it might make sense to use the phone’s GPS when that’s possible.
It does. Only the original and the Series 1 had no GPS.
I know I first read it here
There’s also another change that’s notable. For all the new 2022 year watches, including the Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch Series 8, and Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen, Apple has changed how it does GPS lock. Specifically, it no longer depends on the phone like it used to (if the phone was within range). Now, it’s entirely self-standing in all scenarios. That has its pros and cons, depending on how you look at things. If you didn’t want it to drain your phone’s battery, it’s great (that’s me). But if you wanted longer battery life on your watch instead, it’s less ideal. Perhaps the best solution would be a simple toggle. I know I use the term ‘simple’ when in reality very little is simple in real life, but, given Apple previously had the feature – I’ve gotta imagine the ability to choose the GPS source can’t be that difficult.
Apple wouldn’t have had the ability to replace the battery? Like now, I’ve been continuing the warranty for $2.49/month. If something happens to the battery their only option would be to replace the Watch?
They might be able to replace the battery…but the thing is so small physically and probably requires highly skilled soldering techniques…so I would think replacement of the whole thing would be more cost effective than replacement. My wife and I consider the Watch as a consumable and don’t bother with AppleCare…others that are harder on their gear might consider the opposite idea.
Down to 68% and it’s only 9:43 am. I put the watch on around 5:30 am. Haven’t done any workouts yet. That can’t be normal, can it?
It’s 7:30 am and I’ve done no workouts and my Watch is already down to 80%. Definitely something weird. I’m going to have Apple do a remote check again.
Yesterday I was at Yodobashi Camera and stopped in the Apple corner to check things out. The 2nd generation SE is actually quite nice. Since I currently have the smallest Series 2 I thought I would also prefer the smallest SE, but the larger 44 mm SE is actually really nice to look at and quite light. So I’m considering possibly going that way. The Series 8 also looks nice but seems heavier, and is much more expensive.
The Ultra! My G-d! What were they thinking of! It’s a behemoth in weight, bulkiness, and price!
Anyway, considering changing from my 2 to a new SE. But I’d sort of like Apple to acknowledge the battery issue on my current Watch since I’ve been paying for the monthly warranty all this time. If I’m going to gift it to somebody they might as well have a decent battery.
(Now down to 78% just while composing this!)
Please do not do that. Get yourself a new watch, send this to Apple to recycle. (There is no trade-in value for a Series 2.) The Series 2 came out at the same time as the iPhone 7, and the current available watches are more powerful and useful compared with the Series 2 than the iPhone 14 is compared with the iPhone 7, and I wouldn’t gift an iPhone 7 to anyone, either.
I understand your point. I just want to mention that I also have an old iPhone 7, and I have kept the battery up-to-date and replaced it twice so far. It’s in perfect shape and I use it at night to play White Noise for my dog. And when I had a bird, I used it as a WebCam. I understand what you’re saying though.
Just like dumb watches that are aimed at the rugged/outdoorsy market. They are extra large and heavy (presumably in order to withstand the expected abuse) and you pay extra for that.
For example, compare Casio’s G-Shock series against their Casio-branded models.
My thinking is that there is only so much processing and storage it can handle without passing off to a paired iPhone and maintain quick responses. And over the years Apple has added very popular features like bigger and better screens, fitness tracking, blood oxygen measurement, control Music, Find My, multitasking, etc., etc. that would make Watch a little heavier and bulkier, but continually maintains Watch’s position at the very top of the charts.
I think that the weight of the Ultra is a bit over-done. I’ve long worn a watch, and I was sure that all of my mechanical watches weigh more than the Ultra. Apple Watches do not feel heavy compared with other watches.
So, I weighed a collection of them this morning. (All with a watch band on.) The Ultra, 86 grams. 40mm Series 5, 69 grams. Tag Heuer, 131 grams. Garmin Forerunner, 43 grams. (The Garmin is purely plastic.) Seiko Quartz Chronograph, 135 grams. Seiko Kinetic (which I knew was heavy), 161 grams. Every single one of these watches is a watch that I wore all day, every day, for a significant period of time.
So, sure, the Ultra looks bad when you say it weighs twice what the Garmin does. But it’s still not a heavy watch. I barely notice that I am wearing it.