Battery power draining quicker after latest update. Battery fully charged and after 7 hours is down to 23%. Battery Capacity is at 72%. No apps running. 1 day earlier I used the SwingU golf app on watch and battery drain to 0% after 4.5 hours. This was not a problem prior to update.
iPhone 15
Downgrading watchOS is only supported for a short time after the latest watchOS update.
First, try to force restart your iPhone and Apple Watch:
Force restart iPhone - Apple Support
To force restart your watch, press and hold the Digital Crown and the Side button together for about 10sec, until the Apple logo comes back again.
If this does not help, unpairing and connecting it again to your iPhone without using the latest backup would be the next step, to rule out defective data in the backup. You should only lose watch faces that you have set up, your Health data is stored in iCloud and will sync back.
Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Downgrading watchOS is only supported for a short time after the latest watchOS update.
First, try to force restart your iPhone and Apple Watch:
Force restart iPhone - Apple Support
To force restart your watch, press and hold the Digital Crown and the Side button together for about 10sec, until the Apple logo comes back again.
If this does not help, unpairing and connecting it again to your iPhone without using the latest backup would be the next step, to rule out defective data in the backup. You should only lose watch faces that you have set up, your Health data is stored in iCloud and will sync back.
Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support
I validated a fix in here:
1) (after verifying a backup) go into the watch app,
2) go to all watches
3) go to the (i) next to the watch
4) scroll down and select unpair apple watch
5) follow the prompts (without cancelling your cell if applicable
6) when ready, add watch back
7) set for self
8) customize to select from backup
Proof/why:
I have an Ultra 2 with 98% battery life and a series 6 with 89% battery life. Put them both on 26.0.2 and 26.1. Battery time degraded terribly after 26.0.2, where 13 hours on my ultra would tap out… it wasn’t until my series 6 (repurposed daily to a sleep watch) didn’t make it 8 hours and drove me to fix it.
After doing my ultra 2 and giving it a day, it went down to 30% after 14 hours of use (nice improvement), after it finished its indexing or what not, 2 days, I was back up to 45% after 15 hours. I didn’t spot check my 6’s battery when I woke up, but it wasn’t dead and had good time left.
I encourage trying the unpair despite the pain of waiting for it to load from backups and resetting up credit cards.
This answer is from Google AI.
An Apple Watch needs time to "index" during or after an update, a process that can take from several minutes to an hour. This is normal because the watch is processing data, which is a background task that completes on its own. You can speed up the update by turning off Bluetooth on your iPhone to force the watch to use Wi-Fi.
What "indexing" means
My watch battery life has returned to pre iOS upgrade, but it took about 4 days.
In the evening I restart and restore watch from backup, charged to 99% at 9pm, now at 7am a have 78% (I sleep in watch). Now battery is ok, like before update to 26.0.2.
As a follow up, I’m getting about 300% battery utility after unpairing and repairing.
Where the battery would be dead at the end of the day, it is now between 60-66% remaining. All scenarios starting at 100% with battery optimization on.
Unpairing was successful for me.
Hey guys after I contacted Apple support regarding the watch…
A new update has arrived for the watch 26.1 and after the update my Apple Watch series 9 is now working good, the disconnections from the iPhone have stopped and the battery has returned to normal operation (lasts for a day or more).
Hope it works out for everyone 🙏🏻
Try wipe and restore from backup
Update - apparently doing Watch reboot has made an improvement. I’m now seeing about 3.5% drop per hour.
Did you already try to force restart your Apple Watch after the latest update?
To force restart your watch, press and hold the Digital Crown and the Side button together for about 10sec, until the Apple logo comes back again.
If this does not help, unpairing and pairing the Apple Watch again has helped other users.
Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Also have a look at the posts in this discussion:
Apple Watch battery draining fast - Apple Community
If the battery health drops below 80%, you should get the battery replaced. I had to recharge my old Series 5 twice a day when art reached 80%. After the replacement the battery life went back to normal.
Have a look at the related article and the estimate for the battery service:
If after rebooting both devices there is no change in the battery discharge rate consider the following:
Apple recommends that any watch whose battery health is below 80% get a new battery.
The cost is $99 for Series 4 or newer and $79 for older series watches. I was told that for some older watches rather than replace the battery they just replace the entire watch itself. I was told I would have to give up the watch for about 2 weeks. At the time I couldn't do it - am too tied to my iPhone/Watch and AirPods Pro. For someone in their 9th decade I'm acting like a teeny bopper. 🤭
Press the stem to get to the apps. Go to General ➙ Battery. Under Battery Health it will say either all is OK or get battery replaced. I'm below 80% so have gotten into the habit of putting my watch on a charging stand for about an hour while I'm at my desk in the afternoon. It works for me as I'm retired.
capitan.pis wrote:
Please read the complete thread
I have.
it took me 2, 3 months to get it back to normal, and I was not the only one.
Then there is something else wrong. It's not the update. Perhaps read what I wrote?
My watch is an 8 series watch and when it was new it lasted about 30 hours between recharge
Then you had a special watch. Apple gave the running time as approximately 18 hours.
Apple Watch Series 8 - Technical Specifications - Apple Support
Within the usage, it started obviously losing capacity
Of course it did. Lithium ion batteries lose capacity over time. Your watch could be as old as three years. What do you see when you go, on the watch, to Settings>Battery>Battery Health>Maximum Capacity? If it's 80 percent or less, you need a new battery (or a new watch).
Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple
Hard restart doesn’t work for me, do restore.
My Watch (Series 8) has same issue - rapidly draining battery at least 3 days in a row, probably longer, and I’ve been trying to figure out why. WatchOS 26 or 26.0.2 seems to coincide with the issue. Today I measured and it’s draining at about 9% per hour. Battery health is good at 90%.
My old Series 5 had a battery health of 80% after almost 3 years of daily use and workout. At this point in time I had to charge the watch twice a day and I was glad as it finally reached 79% and I could get the battery replaced under Apple Care+, which is included in the extended warranty plan at no cost.
Apple replaced the whole unit, as far as I know, the always replace the whole watch, if you are paying the service fee for battery service. In most cases, those are refurbished watches and also have a new serial number.
Apple watch battery draining quickly after iOS 26.0.2 Update.
