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AW SE2 died mid-run…maybe from the cold?

S

satchmo

macrumors 603
Original poster
Aug 6, 2008
5,267
6,174
Canada
This has happened twice in the past few weeks where my SE2 screen went black during a run. Wondering if this has happened to others.

It was like 80% battery prior and the run was only about a 40 minutes.

Now mind you the temps here with wind chill were like -14C so perhaps the watch was working extra hard and drained the battery faster than normal?

Also, my battery health on the watch is also at 81%
 
satchmo said:
This has happened twice in the past few weeks where my SE2 screen went black during a run. Wondering if this has happened to others.

It was like 80% battery prior and the run was only about a 40 minutes.

Now mind you the temps here with wind chill were like -14C so perhaps the watch was working extra hard and drained the battery faster than normal?

Also, my battery health on the watch is also at 81%
Click to expand...
so when you got back I assume you charged the watch - was the battery down to 0 at that point?
is the watch under a sleeve while running?

-14C is outside of the specified operating temp, see below

  • Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)
  • Nonoperating storage temperature: –4° to 113° F (–20° to 45° C)
  • Relative humidity: 5% to 90% noncondensing
  • Operating altitude: 0 feet to 10,000 feet (0m to 3000m)
 
jz0309 said:
so when you got back I assume you charged the watch - was the battery down to 0 at that point?
is the watch under a sleeve while running?

-14C is outside of the specified operating temp, see below

  • Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)
  • Nonoperating storage temperature: –4° to 113° F (–20° to 45° C)
  • Relative humidity: 5% to 90% noncondensing
  • Operating altitude: 0 feet to 10,000 feet (0m to 3000m)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I put it back on the charger when I got back, but don’t recall the battery level.

It was back to normal the next day.
I usually have the watch under a jacket sleeve but it does get exposed to the cold when I check my splits.

When it died each time, it was bloody cold, so I figure it was due to the weather.
 
satchmo said:
Yeah, I put it back on the charger when I got back, but don’t recall the battery level.

It was back to normal the next day.
I usually have the watch under a jacket sleeve but it does get exposed to the cold when I check my splits.

When it died each time, it was bloody cold, so I figure it was due to the weather.
Click to expand...
that's what it sounds like to me, a safety shutoff.
If it happens again and watch is in the house check the battery, and, whether it is totally turned off, meaning you see the Apple logo when turning it on
 
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Happened multiple times. Hide your watch under the jacket/thermo layer to not expose it to cold directly. If you want to check metrics during a run in cold weather, consider purchasing Ultra or Garmin.
 
Last edited:
Same here occassionally with my AW6 (purchased in Nov 2020, used daily), with a sudden shutdown resp. cutting connection to my AirPods Pro 2 and then going into a mode showing me a red flash and time only on the display. In my case its possibly the sign of an aging battery though, with battery health of 80% atm.
 
meetree said:
Happened multiple times. Hide your watch under the jacket/thermo layer to not expose it to cold directly. If you want to check metrics during a run in cold weather, consider purchasing Ultra or Garmin.
Click to expand...
Or run with AirPods and get notifications there .
 
meetree said:
Happened multiple times. Hide your watch under the jacket/thermo layer to not expose it to cold directly. If you want to check metrics during a run in cold weather, consider purchasing Ultra or Garmin.
Click to expand...

The recommended operating temperature is the same for the Ultra i believe.

Edit: it's not, just ignore post.
 
This happened to me this morning, so I'm glad to find this post so easily. Went out early AM, temp was -5C, watch was at 94%. About 40 minutes into the run, I changed my podcast which I guess was a longer exposure than a normal quick pace/HR check. Just after the new podcast started to play it stopped. I looked down and the watch was in dead mode (ie, just the time showing). I was annoyed and confused, so I powered it back on, and when it booted back up it was showing 10% battery. So now I'm super annoyed, take off my earbuds, set it to low power mode, and finish my run with only my own thoughts to occupy me [shudder].

Now here's what's kind of weird: I get home and after another 40 minutes of running, the watch is STILL showing 10%. I put it on the charger, and it went from 10 to 60% in like 10 minutes. (This is a S6, so no fast charging here).

It honestly never occurred to me to worry about the operating temps, especially since skiing is one of the built in workouts. But I guess I learned a lesson today. Hope I didn't do any permanent damage.
 
Agree with the others that it was likely weather related. Putting it under a jacket, glove or wristband should help. One thing that I will mention although I don't think it is the culprit. I had the exact same thing happen back with one of my first appple watches, maybe the Series 3. It would happen in summer so it wasn't weather related, but it would just die int he middle of a run. When I plugged it in, it would turn on & the battery was not at 0%. I eventually got inthe the habit of turning the watch off & then on every week to reset the system software. I've now moved to doing it monthly & it still works fine for me.

Like I said, this is probably not your issue, but if you continue to run into the problem, even when shielding the watch from the cold, it may be worth a try.
 
If max. battery capacity is 81%, it's effectively a dead battery. Get it serviced.

A low capacity means other aging factors come into play, particularly internal resistance. When the weather is cold, internal resistance increases. This means apps and functions that draw high current can't be met. The battery is overloaded, voltage drops to a point where the Watch shuts down.
 
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JPack said:
If max. battery capacity is 81%, it's effectively a dead battery. Get it serviced.

A low capacity means other aging factors come into play, particularly internal resistance. When the weather is cold, internal resistance increases. This means apps and functions that draw high current can't be met. The battery is overloaded, voltage drops to a point where the Watch shuts down.
Click to expand...
Apple doesn't "service" a battery that is at 81% health, has to be below 80%.

Edit - it's 81% per OP, not 8%
 
jz0309 said:
-14C is outside of the specified operating temp, see below

  • Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)
  • Nonoperating storage temperature: –4° to 113° F (–20° to 45° C)
Click to expand...
It's that "designed in California" thing. People here think 0° C is "unimaginably cold". As I type this, the Amazon delivery guy is wearing shorts and t-shirt in mid-January. I bet the spec would be different if the box read "Designed in Finland".
 
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jz0309 said:
yes, that is always the case and hence Apple's requirement is that battery health has to be below 80% in order to "service" your watch
Click to expand...
Well I don't know what to say then, because I had mine replaced at 83% health last year. Nobody mentioned anything about it, and 2 days later I picked up my refurbed replacement.
 
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AgeOfSpiracles said:
Well I don't know what to say then, because I had mine replaced at 83% health last year. Nobody mentioned anything about it, and 2 days later I picked up my refurbed replacement.
Click to expand...
consider yourself lucky. see thread below as an example of where folks did not get their watch "serviced" because of the <80% rule, there are many other threads here too.
Also this:

Apple Watch Service and Repair - Apple Support

Need to repair your Apple Watch? See your service options, their costs by coverage type, and how long they take.
support.apple.com support.apple.com

 
Happened to me again with my AW6 yesterday. Left my home for a run at ~ 70% battery capacity, finished the run ~ 40min later with ~ 50% remaining battery. With just the AW with me (no iPhone), enabled cellular, tracked the run, listened to downloaded music thus not over cellular. All good outside, no issues. Temperature ~ 2° Celsius. Thought great. Issue perhaps gone.

Then I went inside and somewhere ~ 1-2 minutes later, still wearing the AW on my wrist, the AW went into the red flash showing only time mode, then triggered a restart within seconds automatically and came back with 10% remaining battery.

But as mentioned earlier, in my case likely really a battery aging thingy after ~ 4 years of using it daily and battery health being at 80% according to Settings.

Is it still worth to service the battery in a AW6 (outside AppleCare+) in context of how long Series 6 still receives major watchOS upgrades or should I jump immediately onto a Series 10 replacement? Or wait until fall for Series 11, if there are any rumors for some ground-breaking stuff compared to Series 10.
 
tomstone74 said:
Is it still worth to service the battery in a AW6 (outside AppleCare+) in context of how long Series 6 still receives major watchOS upgrades
Click to expand...
The AW6 might get one more wOS version this September. Whether or not it does, it's gonna be usable on wOS 11/12 for the lifespan of a new battery, easily, that's 2-2.5 years. Your AW6 isn't going to get any major new features or see significant changes that require a new wOS. If you do want the less bulky housing of the 10 with the improved fast charging and bigger display, go for it, I did and don't regret it. But it doesn't do anything much better honestly, workouts are the same, playing music over Airpods sounds the same, and if my 10 were "stuck" on wOS 11 forever then I wouldn't mind either. It does everything perfectly and if anything I'm worried a future wOS version could introduce bugs or change the UI in a way I don't like.

Either way, a battery replacement is way cheaper.
 
tomstone74 said:
Happened to me again with my AW6 yesterday. Left my home for a run at ~ 70% battery capacity, finished the run ~ 40min later with ~ 50% remaining battery. With just the AW with me (no iPhone), enabled cellular, tracked the run, listened to downloaded music thus not over cellular. All good outside, no issues. Temperature ~ 2° Celsius. Thought great. Issue perhaps gone.

Then I went inside and somewhere ~ 1-2 minutes later, still wearing the AW on my wrist, the AW went into the red flash showing only time mode, then triggered a restart within seconds automatically and came back with 10% remaining battery.

But as mentioned earlier, in my case likely really a battery aging thingy after ~ 4 years of using it daily and battery health being at 80% according to Settings.

Is it still worth to service the battery in a AW6 (outside AppleCare+) in context of how long Series 6 still receives major watchOS upgrades or should I jump immediately onto a Series 10 replacement? Or wait until fall for Series 11, if there are any rumors for some ground-breaking stuff compared to Series 10.
Click to expand...

I have a S6, and did a battery service like 18 months ago. I feel that was the right choice for me at the time, but if I were facing that decision again today, I think I'd go ahead and get an S10. If you're happy with the S6 and have no interest whatsoever in getting new features or software updates beyond 2025, then $99 is a bargain. But personally, I feel like 4 years is a pretty good run for such a device; I'm back at 86% health again (I'm a heavy user, putting 2 cycles on the battery on bad days) and will be upgrading in the next few months. FWIW, your trade-in value is not affected by the battery health.
 
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