Apple Watch Ultra Battery Draining

I purchased the Ultra about 6 months ago. Over the past two weeks, my watch has started draining extremely fast. For example, this morning I removed it from the charger at 8:56am. By 1:12pm (a little over 4 hours later), I have 26% battery life left. I’ve even turned off background app refresh as well as all notifications, but still have problems.


Has anyone encountered a similar issue of this significance? If so, what was the fix used? I am really annoyed because at this point, I can’t even wear my watch because it drains so fast. I don’t want to think that I’ve wasted $800 on a watch that I cannot wear!


Thanks for any help!

Apple Watch Ultra

Posted on Aug 6, 2023 11:21 AM

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Posted on Sep 29, 2023 5:19 PM

Dominick Issi wrote:

So I found that when I installed the newest OS, it had turned ON the “Walkie Talkie” complication (not my doing). I turned it OFF. Now I can get an actual day on a 100% charge. Such a DEAL!

I remember turning off “Walkie Talkie” in the Control Center. I didn't do it specifically for a battery issue. I just didn't want this functionality activated in the Control Center.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 29, 2023 5:19 PM in response to Dominick Issi

Dominick Issi wrote:

So I found that when I installed the newest OS, it had turned ON the “Walkie Talkie” complication (not my doing). I turned it OFF. Now I can get an actual day on a 100% charge. Such a DEAL!

I remember turning off “Walkie Talkie” in the Control Center. I didn't do it specifically for a battery issue. I just didn't want this functionality activated in the Control Center.

Jun 1, 2024 10:38 AM in response to Kwhite6453

Do a forced restart of your Apple Watch. If you’re unfamiliar with how to do a forced restart please review the Apple Support article I linked below. After the forced restart the battery usage should return to former levels in 24 to 72 hours. After an update the Watch performs indexing of data in the background and this can consume a lot of battery power.


If high battery usage persists after 72 hours please unpair your Apple Watch and iPhone, restart both devices and then pair them again.


If your Apple Watch is stuck on the Apple logo - Apple Support


Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Nov 8, 2023 7:08 PM in response to LordBizness

So ... I spent a day with an Apple tech on the phone troubleshooting the issue. Did a Data Analytics and found no problems but got a Genius Bar appointment. They found no issues but suggested I re-install myself as a new user. Didn't help much ... but they said I could send the watch in and I'd get it back in 3-5 days! THAT was a non-starter so I continued with charging 2X a day. Got fed up this AM as I was losing 15% and hour! Called Apple again and got on the phone with India (Apple tech's name). We spent another hour troubleshooting with no luck ... but she did do another Data Analytics. She said it came back GOOD ... except that the iOS showed it needed an update that JUST came online. She read through the analysis of what it was for and ... Voila ... one of the updated parts was to FIX THE BATTERY DRAIN on certain watches. After install, I've lost 4% over 4 hours of use! So THERE you go with the fix Apple just got around to updating for our problem! HAVE FUN!!

Sep 29, 2023 6:55 PM in response to 6x6

6x6 wrote:

I remember turning off “Walkie Talkie” in the Control Center. I didn't do it specifically for a battery issue. I just didn't want this functionality activated in the Control Center.


Let me add that I have no battery issues and it may be because i turned off “Walkie Talkie” from the start.

Nov 22, 2023 3:20 AM in response to Dominick Issi

I just wanted everyone to know this all happened to me. However there was no watch software update. I had sent my ultra in and just got it back because of this issue. But was told it’s completely fine. Frustrating however what ever they did fixed the problem for a week. This morning it’s was draining on the charger again! Saw some of the comments on this blog and closed all the apps running in the background and bam. It’s now it’s actually charging. Sounds like Apple needs to fix this issue because that’s stupid you have to manually close apps. I had never had this issue until upgrading to the Ultra.

**Ultra, Ultra frustrating 😂 **

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Apple Watch Ultra Battery Draining

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