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Battery draining rapidly on new Apple Watch Series 8 45mm

I've had my Apple Watch Series 8 45 mm a little over a month and for the last 2 weeks, my battery percentage has drained rapidly going from 100% at 10:30 am to 16% at 1:30 pm.


I'm not running any fitness apps with GPS tracking. All I'm doing is sitting around the house and working remotely.


I've reset the watch to factory settings a dozen times and even had Apple CS run a diagnostic on the watch. No issues could be found by them.


The watch, when it was working correctly has been an enjoyable product for this first time Apple watch user but the battery drain is disappointing and frustrating to the point I'm about to swear off Apple watches.


Any insights into this battery issue would be appreciated.


Thanks in advance.

Apple Watch Series 8

Posted on May 1, 2023 1:24 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 24, 2023 5:34 PM

most definitely a software issue. my watch 6 started doing this in early March 2023. I tried to explain to them that the performance literally changed overnight (which is not how batteries decline) but they refused to acknowledge that is was a software (ecosystem) issue (phone and iPad also discharging rapidly but not as big an issue as a watch that has to be removed from wrist to charge. they suggested I buy a new one since battery health was 82%. new watch 8 had the same issue. After 4 months (and several calls to service) the problem continues on the new device which has battery health of 100%. completely wiping it and setting up as new will solve the problem for a week or so but I can't continue to wipe my devices and set up as new once a week. There is clearly a problem that they are not acknowledging....

12 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 24, 2023 5:34 PM in response to HansKloss

most definitely a software issue. my watch 6 started doing this in early March 2023. I tried to explain to them that the performance literally changed overnight (which is not how batteries decline) but they refused to acknowledge that is was a software (ecosystem) issue (phone and iPad also discharging rapidly but not as big an issue as a watch that has to be removed from wrist to charge. they suggested I buy a new one since battery health was 82%. new watch 8 had the same issue. After 4 months (and several calls to service) the problem continues on the new device which has battery health of 100%. completely wiping it and setting up as new will solve the problem for a week or so but I can't continue to wipe my devices and set up as new once a week. There is clearly a problem that they are not acknowledging....

Sep 13, 2023 11:29 AM in response to karlabe

I’m done with watch. If it won’t last the whole day and Apple can’t figure out why after 6 months and two different watches (1 brand new) it’s just no longer a useful tool. After using since launch (and never experiencing anything like this) I just need to use a watch that works. Clearly there is a problem and they aren’t very interested in solving. Hard to know how widespread it is but at least it’s not just me.

Jul 6, 2023 2:19 AM in response to HansKloss

Yes I went through a couple months of drama with battery draining and after sending in my series 7, replacing it, getting a series 8 and still having the issue I finally was advised to erase my phone to eliminate the phone giving data directing the watch to drain I’m having normal 24-35 hours of battery life however I have restored my full phone data yet. Hopefully the watch will still operate properly.

Sep 8, 2023 6:09 PM in response to timothyfromwesthaven

I had the issue on my watch 6 which started suddenly after 2 years of ownership. They advised me to buy a watch 8 which had the same issue from the get go--clearly a software/ecosystem issue. Also crazy delay in response on messages on the phone. only thing that solves the issue for a bit is wiping all devices and setting up as new but the problem returns. probably something in the cloud apps. it's only apple apps that are implicated in battery use and it's all of them. started with Home (which get minimal use by me) lately it's been phone (using like 45% of usage leading to 3x daily charging despite minimal phone use) and even News (again despite essentially no use). 3 advisors have "owned" my issue with no response and screenshots to engineers with a promised call back time (which did not occur as scheduled) and I'm no closer to a solution after 6 months. I'm going to recycle both watches and stop using them. Stuck with iPhone until something better comes along. They have lost their way...

Battery draining rapidly on new Apple Watch Series 8 45mm

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