A bug in watchOS software is causing Apple Watch batteries to drain excessively, but Apple says a fix is coming soon in a future update.
Some Apple Watch owners noticed the battery in their wearable is draining much faster than usual after installing the watchOS 10.0.1 update.
The bug affects a small percentage of users who installed the update. Apple has informed its technicians and authorized service providers that a fix is coming.
A fix for Apple Watch battery drain is coming
MacRumors spotted user complaints on online forums, including Apple Support Community, Reddit and X documenting the problem. The battery drain problem doesn’t seem to affect any specific Apple Watch model, with some people noticing it on their Series 5 and others confirming having it on their Ultra 2.
For some affected customers, their Apple Watch battery goes from full to fifty percent in less than an hour. Apple’s internal memo does not offer any of the usual temporary fixes to alleviate the issue. It’s unrelated to a temporary battery drain that occurs when a system update performs post-install tasks like re-indexing user data.
Earlier watchOS versions don’t appear to have this bug. Interestingly, iOS 17.1 includes a fix for an issue where “increased power consumption might occur” when an Apple Watch running watchOS 10.1 is paired with an iPhone running iOS 17.
“Evidently, the Apple Watch battery drain issue has not been completely fixed, so a watchOS update will be necessary,” the site notes.
watchOS 10.1.1 might fix excessive battery drain
MacRumors speculates that the Apple Watch battery drain issue will probably be fixed in a watchOS 10.1.1 software update. “However, it is possible that the fix might not arrive until watchOS 10.2,” the site cautions.
Apple is currently testing watchOS 10.2 with its registered developers and public testers, and it should be ready for public consumption in December.