Apple has updated its Apple Watch Series 3 battery guidelines following the rollout of watchOS 4.1 on Tuesday.
The update adds big new features, such as Apple Music and Beats 1 streaming, that significantly impact the usage you’ll get in between charges.
Battery life on Apple Watch 3 can be a mixed bag; it varies wildly depending on how you use it. Apple says you’ll get up to 18 hours for basic tasks, while a phone call over LTE can reduce that to as little as one hour.
New battery life guidelines for Apple Watch
WatchOS 4.1, which is now being beta tested by developers, adds other features that dramatically impact battery life. Streaming Apple Music over LTE will get you just seven hours of use, while listening to Beats 1 can reduce that to just five hours.
You’ll get ten hours of use if you play music stored locally on your Apple Watch, so you’ll want to save your favorite playlists if you need to conserve battery life. LTE is a massive battery drain on such a small device.
watchOS 4.1 is available now
You can download watchOS 4.1 now on all Apple Watch models. In addition to Apple Music and radio streaming, it adds a new Wi-Fi toggle for Series 3 devices that lets you force LTE connectivity, support for new emojis, and more.
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
3 responses to “Here’s how fast Apple Music streaming drains your Watch 3 battery”
Will streaming from third party music services also result in around 7 hrs battery life?
This says the beta started yesterday, but I am not on the beta for this and was prompted to download it last night; all set now and streaming over LTE, but not enough yet to assess battery life.
This article is a little confusing. watchOS 4.1 FINAL with LTE streaming is already out. This article talks about it like the beta just started. The 4.1 beta started (and ended) a while ago. 4.2 is the current beta.