Apple has been very quiet about the Apple Watch’s battery life since the device’s unveiling in September. Reports that the wearable might run out of juice after just 2.5 hours of heavy use have worried many Apple fans, but according to TechCrunch, battery life will be better than expected.
Tim Cook has said Apple Watch owners will need to recharge their devices every night. That doesn’t mean the battery will run dry midway through the workday, though. People who have used the Apple Watch say you should still have around 25 percent of your battery left after a long day.
“Battery life is also much better than some previous reports, so Apple has been working on it,” writes TechCrunch’s Matthew Panzarino. “In a normal day of on-and-off use, the battery usually ends up at around 25 percent, which means that you should be able to make it through a full day. It only takes around two hours to charge fully.”
The report also claims that the biggest Apple Watch feature will be how much time it saves you from looking at your iPhone. “One user told me that they nearly ‘stopped’ using their phone during the day; they used to have it out and now they don’t, period,” according to Panzarino.
We expect Apple will address concerns over battery life during its “Spring Forward” event Monday, in addition to giving us details on pricing and running through secret Apple Watch launch apps that have been in development. For full details on what to expect, check out our roundup here.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
36 responses to “Apple Watch battery life will be better than expected”
Good! It’ll be pointless to have a smartwatch that runs out of juice before the smartphone.
Not really. Maybe it’ll be pointless to have a smartwatch that runs out of juice before bedtime.
Oh that well be very pointless. However, Apple’s phone with the largest battery, the 6+, dispite not having the largest battery, can last throughout a day with average use.
The 6 can get through a full day easily, as well. Heck, my 5S gets through a full day without any issues! Can’t wait to finally have Apple Pay!
You’re upgrading to the 6?
No, the Watch will allow me to use it.
I am ready to order it. Monday seems too far :(
Well, you’ll have to wait longer as it launches in April
Tim said it’ll be shipping in April. That doesn’t preclude it from being available this month. Tim was just being conservative. Pre-orders will probably be available sometime in the next week or two, with launch by the end of the month.
AppleWatch is going to be compared to every smartwatch ever built so there’s plenty of room to make AppleWatch appear as a flop. Apple is going to have make AppleWatch appear as a clear winner from the very start. It will certainly get panned by most of the tech industry pundits so Apple will have to rely on much less biased consumers to build sales from. I’m praying AppleWatch will be the hit to give Tim Cook a fair chance to prove to Wall Street he is capable of running Apple as well as Steve Jobs.
With these more positive reports about battery life, I think Tim will have his day.
“Apple Watch battery life will be better than expected”
How silly. The Apple Watch has not even been released yet, and TechCrunch (hardly a bastion of reliable information), doesn’t have •any• idea how long the battery will last.
As long as the Apple Watch lasts one full day on a charge (the length of time most people have a watch on their arm), that will be sufficient for the vast majority of users. Besides, how much battery power do we expect from a tiny battery inside a tiny, wrist-worn, fully connected computer? And with the proliferation of small, inexpensive lithium-ion chargers, I’m sure the aftermarket will be on fire with ways to charge the watch when away from an outlet. Apple Watch battery worriers, naysayers and tech writers should take a break for a while.
I bought 2 launch version Apple products. The iPod and the iPad. Both turned out to be pieces of crap with a lifespan of less than two years.
I’ll not buy another Apple product.
Apple markets itself as a premium brand but the truth is they sell overpriced crap designed for obsolescence.
A question for you – please answer honestly. How much money have you spanked on Apple products and services over the last 10 years?
That’s funny. I still use my First generation iPod and I have kept both of my iPads for 3 years each before upgrading them. Both of which I sold to my brother in law and are still in use today.
Good for you. I can assure you though that I didn’t find it ‘funny’ that mine hardly lasted five minutes.
Nothing you said was actual “truth”. The hate is strong with you.
After about a year the iPod started freezing/crashing increasingly frequently (even though not in particularly high usage), requiring a hard reset after which it would spend ages rebooting and then rebuilding its internal library. Fun. Then one day it never came back. I could hear the HDD whirring and clicking in cycles but it was a dead parrot. I considered paying to have it repaired but based on the battery replacement woes I was reading about all indications were that was best left in a drawer. I recently threw it in the trash after checking eBay value. It had given less than two years active service.
The iPad then.. This I duly upgraded with each version of iOS released. I was finding a lot of new apps and games required a newer version. I was also finding after about 18 months that it was crashing out of apps with increasing frequency so I thought a newer iOS might resolve that. Then suddenly, just less than two years after I bought it, the new iOS (5 I think it was) came out and wasn’t supported on the older hardware. I was stuck. Apps were now constantly crashing, even with no other apps open. Half the new new apps and games weren’t compatible. The thing was dead to me. I gave it to my 5 year old son but even he wouldn’t use it due to the crashing issue. It’s not much fun playing a game that craps out half way through. We had about 2 or 2 1/2 years service total, only about 18 months of good service.
Contrast with our BOSE sound system which we have been using for 15 years. I had a repair to the subwoofer/amp about 5 years ago. Fantastic collection and repairs service. Then a year ago I had a problem after moving it. BOSE support were again fantastic helping me diagnose to a faulty, proprietary cable. Despite being an ancient system, this was in stock and arrived 2 days later, duly fixing the problem.
Now that is what a ‘premium’ product looks like.
And that is the ‘truth’.
So yes, you are right. The hate is strong in this one.
Anecdotal evidence and not the typical use case. Your experience is nothing to go by. My Watch will be in full use for quite awhile. Nothing about it is “struggling to even get out of the gate”. Try again, hater.
Trying to listen to music on an iPod. Trying to use apps on an iPad. Yep, definitely not typical use cases there.
User error, clearly.
Clearly, you’re an idiot who doesn’t know what he’s doing. Just stop before you hurt yourself.
Probably less than you have spent on Android stuff. My first generation iPad is still in daily use. My 2009 iMac is still in use and runs 24/7. I reboot it about once a month if I think of it.
I don’t recall asking you. (PS, I have nothing Android)
I think in the quest for creating that elusive “next awesome perfect gadget ” – Apple engineers must be driving themselves to the limit of insanity ! Because these things are overly time consuming and tricky to pull off !
It can’t be difficult if all you are bringing to the market are “me too” gadgets. There is zero innovation going on here.
I really doubt Apple brings out “Me Too” gadgets…
Look at the 12 inch MacBook they released…It weighs less than 1 KG, and it is 13 inches thin! That is an amazing feat of engineering which most other companies cannot even conceive!
What I liked the most was the fact that they just have one USB C port which can be used to even charge the laptop & as HDMI & as USB….That means no heavy adapter like what you see with Dell Laptops.
No other company has yet introduced USB C , let alone have a single port to do multiple things !
I often get asked why I wear a watch. Simply, I need one for my break times.
There is an entire generation that does not wear watches, and I do not see the generation having any interest to rush out and buy a watch; they will rush for the next Smartphones, yes…. but yawn, really, a watch?
I honestly believe the Apple watch will not come close to meeting the sales hopes of Apple. Unlike phones which are eligible for upgrades every two years, the same does not apply to watches. In spite of some decent offerings in the Android space, smart watches have been ignored. I do not see a significant different between android consumers and Apple, other than Apple has about 20% mobile market share, compared to Android.
I wish Apple all the best… but there is next to no market for watches to begin with, in this age of smartphones. Apple will do ok, but it won’t come close to their hopes, or that of their investors.
I did find one tough watch, resistant to frozen northern Alberta (hint: my login name here), and doesn’t require batteries (solar powered), for about $200. I bought the best, as I depend on it: Casio.
You don’t speak for a market other than the one you are in, which clearly doesn’t have a use for a smartwatch. The Apple Watch will sell better than any Android watch and probably exceed sales. There is definitely a market for it.
I wonder if they are achieving better battery life by getting rid of promised apps like health etc… which would drain the batteries at a quicker rate. If so, then the watch is not what so many have been waiting for.
It’s called code optimization. Only Apple and Microsoft have that luxury for their mobile products.
Code optimization can only squeeze out so much energy savings – there is a limit. We’ll have to see, but I think anything which might continuously monitor one’s health has also got to be a continuous drain on the battery. I wouldn’t be surprised if the claims of one day without charging are only if certain apps aren’t utilized.
No, that’s not going to happen. I guarantee that. You will get one day of use while utilizing whatever tracking you want.
I don’t think Tim Cook could guarantee that let alone someone sitting behind a screen looking from outside of Apple, but hey it’s a free world so thanks Nostradamus.
Except he can, and the reports coming from employees who actually have them are confirming that. But hey, you’re free to make ignorant comments so thanks Nostradumbass!
The snarkiness on my part was unnecessary – sorry. However, just got word that they say 18 hours between charges upon usual use. 18 is not 24, and moreover, what is “usual use”? I still think that anyone expecting to use it beyond bare minimum is going to be in for a shock at battery life.
First, the initial report that worried people said 19 hours mixed use (read as “normal use”). Second, last time I checked, people sleep for 6-8 hours a day, meaning 18-19 hours is a full day.
Normal usage for a smartwatch would be not much screen-on time. This will be how I will use it. It’s main purpose is a watch that I check the time on, with the occasional notification and interaction with it. Plus the stuff it does automatically, that will easily last a full day. This is not a device you are going to be using for hours at a time. Even with the tracking stuff in use for a bit, you’ll only see a small dip in battery life. It’s not that bad. I look forward to the enhanced productivity this will allow me.
If there’s any truth to the worst estimated battery life, 2,5hrs, it would only be so for continuous heart rate monitoring. The Watch has the same HRM sensor as the Mio Alpha, which has at least two options; Passive and active HR sampling. Passive for all-day, active for continuous HRM data.
If you need more than an hour of active HRM data, you can use a BLE chest strap HRM connected to iPhone or Watch and turn off the Watch’s sensor, saving its battery.