Apple Watch Battery Drain

[RocketOnMC]

Hello Everyone,
My first post on the MacRumors Forums is going to be about my Apple Watch Series 1.
I got an Apple Watch in June of last year (2017), and it worked fine, but kept draining my iPhone 5s. The battery life was fine on the iWatch until I upgraded to a iPhone 6s on Black Friday 2017. It worked fine until December, where I saw that the battery life was not that good on my iWatch. It would fall to 90% within the first 15 minutes of wearing it without any usage. I found myself resetting my Apple Watch 3 times each week, so I decided to go to the Apple Store near me and get it fixed. They shipped it to the Apple Repair Center in Pennsylvania, where they replaced it for me. I got the replacement back, and then after a few days, the same thing happened, except that it would remain at 100% for 2 hours, and then start draining after it reaches 99% (without any usage). I then reset all content and settings on my phone. It didn't help. Then I got it shipped again to the Apple Repair Center, this time in California. They said nothing's wrong with my replacement. I haven't gotten it yet, but I know nothing is going to be fixed. I need help with my watch. (Sorry for the long essay!)
Thanks,
RocketOnMC

 

[Mikeeee]

Hello Everyone,
My first post on the MacRumors Forums is going to be about my Apple Watch Series 1.
I got an Apple Watch in June of last year (2017), and it worked fine, but kept draining my iPhone 5s. The battery life was fine on the iWatch until I upgraded to a iPhone 6s on Black Friday 2017. It worked fine until December, where I saw that the battery life was not that good on my iWatch. It would fall to 90% within the first 15 minutes of wearing it without any usage. I found myself resetting my Apple Watch 3 times each week, so I decided to go to the Apple Store near me and get it fixed. They shipped it to the Apple Repair Center in Pennsylvania, where they replaced it for me. I got the replacement back, and then after a few days, the same thing happened, except that it would remain at 100% for 2 hours, and then start draining after it reaches 99% (without any usage). I then reset all content and settings on my phone. It didn't help. Then I got it shipped again to the Apple Repair Center, this time in California. They said nothing's wrong with my replacement. I haven't gotten it yet, but I know nothing is going to be fixed. I need help with my watch. (Sorry for the long essay!)
Thanks,
RocketOnMC

It's probably 1 or 2 of your apple watch apps and/or Complications that's not shutting down properly. I've had this problem before and was able to troubleshoot the issue. This is what I did:

1) Check battery usage vs standby on your iPhone Apple Watch app. If usage is very high vs standby it confirms that problem.
2) (Optional) Unpair the watch and then re-pair.
3)Uninstall your non apple apps on your iPhone Apple Watch app
4) fully charge watch
5) when 100% put the watch in Theatre Mode.
6) Observe the battery drain. Should stay at 100% for some time. Check Usage and Standby again and notice Usage is significantly less the Standby time. If everything is working ok charge back to 100% and reinstall apps one at a time.
7) continue through the process as above. You should be able to identify the app and/or Complication that's causing the high drain.

It's tedious but will help solve the problem.

Tip - As you're charging to 100% and then testing you only have to go to 96,97 or 98% to see how it's performing.After that you can just charge back to 100% and continue testing with the next app. The big thing to look for is Usage vs Standby. If you are showing 2.5 hours Usage and 3 hours Standby it's an app problem.

 

[RocketOnMC]

It's probably 1 or 2 of your apple watch apps and/or Complications that's not shutting down properly. I've had this problem before and was able to troubleshoot the issue. This is what I did:

1) Check battery usage vs standby on your iPhone Apple Watch app. If usage is very high vs standby it confirms that problem.
2) (Optional) Unpair the watch and then re-pair.
3)Uninstall your non apple apps on your iPhone Apple Watch app
4) fully charge watch
5) when 100% put the watch in Theatre Mode.
6) Observe the battery drain. Should stay at 100% for some time. Check Usage and Standby again and notice Usage is significantly less the Standby time. If everything is working ok charge back to 100% and reinstall apps one at a time.
7) continue through the process as above. You should be able to identify the app and/or Complication that's causing the high drain.

It's tedious but will help solve the problem.

Tip - As you're charging to 100% and then testing you only have to go to 96,97 or 98% to see how it's performing.After that you can just charge back to 100% and continue testing with the next app. The big thing to look for is Usage vs Standby. If you are showing 2.5 hours Usage and 3 hours Standby it's an app problem.

Thank you for your response, however I've done all that. Is there anything else I can do?

 

[Mikeeee]

Thank you for your response, however I've done all that. Is there anything else I can do?

Did you uninstall all the non Apple apps and then add them one at a time? Testing each app's performance. Coincidentally I'm going through this right now. Went from 100% to 99% in 39 minutes with 33 minutes usage. I'm suspecting MLB app and going through the process.

 

[RocketOnMC]

Did you uninstall all the non Apple apps and then add them one at a time? Testing each app's performance. Coincidentally I'm going through this right now. Went from 100% to 99% in 39 minutes with 33 minutes usage. I'm suspecting MLB app and going through the process.

I didn't have any 3rd-party apps installed either.

 

[Mikeeee]

I didn't have any 3rd-party apps installed either.

Sorry. That's all I can suggest.

 

[Mikeeee]

I didn't have any 3rd-party apps installed either.

When I unpaired and re-paired I did it as new. This worked. Did you re-pair as new?

 

[0004986]

I got the replacement back, and then after a few days, the same thing happened, except that it would remain at 100% for 2 hours, and then start draining after it reaches 99% (without any usage).

It’s normal for an Apple Watch to stay at 100% for the first few hours and then drain gradually over the next few hours. It drains way faster once it’s less than 50% level.
To sum it up, the battery drain isn’t linear.

How’s the battery drain for you after it goes down to 99%?

 

[RocketOnMC]

When I unpaired and re-paired I did it as new. This worked. Did you re-pair as new?

Yes, over and over again!

It’s normal for an Apple Watch to stay at 100% for the first few hours and then drain gradually over the next few hours. It drains way faster once it’s less than 50% level.
To sum it up, the battery drain isn’t linear.

How’s the battery drain for you after it goes down to 99%?

It's really bad; goes down 10% in 15 minutes without any usage!

 

[Mikeeee]

Yes, over and over again!

It's really bad; goes down 10% in 15 minutes without any usage!

Sounds like a defective battery problem if you've done all that and this is going on.