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Apple Watch Battery Life in 2024: Does the Series 11 Finally Deliver?
Apple’s smartwatch has long been criticized for its limited battery life, a concern that persists even with the release of WatchOS 26 and the new Series 10. While Apple promises up to 18 hours of use, real-world performance frequently enough falls short. A recent, in-depth test comparing the Series 10 and the brand-new Series 11 reveals a nuanced picture of battery endurance, especially for active users.
One long-time Apple Watch user opted to stick with their Series 10, a decision driven by a preference for incremental upgrades and a belief that newer features, like blood pressure monitoring, aren’t yet essential. “Anyway, the new features brought by Series 11 did not convince me,” they stated, adding that improved autonomy was the only compelling reason to upgrade.
The Achilles’ Heel of Apple Watch
From its inception,autonomy has been a sensitive point for the Apple Watch. Apple promises up to 18 hours of battery life for the Series 10, but modern usage patterns – including sleep monitoring, constant notifications, and intensive sport sessions – put a meaningful strain on the battery. The arrival of WatchOS 26 prompted a rigorous evaluation of the Series 10’s performance under typical conditions,with a side-by-side comparison
The test began at midnight on Saturday with a fully charged Series 10.By 8 a.m., the battery had dropped to 92%. Throughout the day, with the Always-On Display enabled, the battery continued to decline. At 1 p.m.,it registered 73%,and by 6 p.m., it was down to 43%.To conserve power, the user deactivated for the remainder of the day to conserve power.
The evening continued to deplete the battery rapidly: 19% at 6:05 p.m.,15% at 7:55 p.m. after 30 minutes of strength training, and entering power-saving mode at 9 p.m.with 10% remaining. The watch ultimately shut down at 11:15 p.m. The overall result was 23 hours of autonomy, but only with limited Always-On Display use and thorough daily activity.
A second test on Sunday, with reduced sporting activity, yielded similar results, confirming the initial findings.
Series 11: A Step Forward?
The Apple Watch Series 11 aims to address the battery life concerns with a larger battery capacity. Initial testing with the Always-On Display active shows more promising figures. A separate tester, Nicolas, achieved 90% battery remaining at 8 a.m. after starting the day at 100% at midnight, suggesting a slightly slower overnight drain. By noon, after an 8km bike ride, the Series 11 registered 81% battery. At 8 p.m.,it still held 55%.
In conventional use, the Series 11 experiences a loss of around 4% per hour, appearing less power-hungry than the Series 10 during typical use cases like sleep tracking, heart rate monitoring, and notifications. However, the impact of different sports varies significantly. Cycling consumes approximately 7-6% of battery per hour, while swimming drains the battery at a much faster rate of nearly 25% per hour.
This discrepancy is attributed to the intensive sensor usage during swimming, including gyroscope data collected at each turn and continuous tracking of speed, length counts, and heart rate. The Watch application’s extensive data logging during swimming further contributes to the battery drain. .
The Verdict: Incremental Improvements, But Still room to grow
According to one tester, there has been no noticeable enhancement in battery life with WatchOS 26, and possibly even a slight decrease. This isn’t entirely surprising, they noted, and further optimization may be required with WatchOS 26.1. After a year of use, the Apple watch Series 10 reliably lasts a full day but requires daily recharging. Athletes or users who prefer the Always-On Display may need to consider a midday charge.
The Apple Watch Series 11 offers a modest improvement thanks to its larger battery. Under test conditions – including 300 hour checks, 90 notifications, 15 minutes of app use, a 60-minute training session, and 6 hours of sleep
