How long does apple watch last on power reserve

Battery life has long been the Apple Watch’s biggest drawback. The issue only became more pronounced when the company went all-in on sleep-tracking with watchOS 7 in 2020. Rather than increasing the mAh on the hardware, Apple presented a workaround: an alert that pops up if the user dips below a certain percentage before bed time, requiring a recharge.

Table of Contents Show

Apple Watch low power mode: What does it do?
How to turn on low power mode on Apple Watch
Is Power Reserve good for Apple Watch?
How long will an Apple Watch last on low power mode?
How long can an Apple Watch go without being charged?
Can Apple Watch go on low power mode?

The Watch Ultra, which goes on sale today, finds Apple addressing the problem head-on. The larger case (49mm to the Series 8’s 45), coupled with a slimming down of components like the haptic motor, offer more internal space for the battery. As a result, the sports-focused model effectively doubles the Series 8’s 18 hours to 36, in spite of a slightly larger screen and double the brightness (from 1,000 to 2,000 nits).

As for the rest of the line, Apple is once again looking to improve battery life without any meaningful hardware changes. Instead, it’s addressed the issue through a new Low Power mode rolling out with watchOS 9. Before this announcement, the Apple Watch had a Power Reserve Mode, a feature designed as a kind of last resort when your battery dips into the double digits. Once in that hibernative state, the device isn’t good for much other than telling time.

The new Low Power Mode is different. It’s about turning off power-hungry and, perhaps, unnecessary features to help you eke out more life — but for the most part, it’s still a fully functional smartwatch. During its “Far Out” event, Apple said the Low Power Mode can give you up to 36 hours of battery life on a full charge for the Apple Watch Series 8 and 60 hours of battery life on a full charge for the new Apple Watch Ultra.

When you turn on the Low Power Mode, the system disables the always-on display, background heart rate and blood oxygen measurements, workout reminders, auto workout detection and notifications for irregular heart rate rhythm, high heart rate and low heart rate. This mode also reduces Cellular pings to hourly and on-demand to preserve battery life.

The Low Power Mode also extends battery life on the Apple Watch Ultra by increasing GPS-based long duration of workouts like a triathlon beyond 12 hours in the regular power mode.

Here’s how you can turn on the Low Power Mode on your Apple Watch:

Head to Settings
Scroll down to the Battery section
Turn on the Low Power Mode toggle under that.

Once the Low Power Mode is turned on, you’ll see a yellow circle atop your screen. Plus, the battery percentage in the control center, the charging animation and the time in Nightstand mode will turn yellow.

Users will get a notification asking them to turn on the Low Power Mode when the Apple Watch’s battery level hits 10%. While charging, the mode is automatically turned off at 80%.

The company is also working on a Reduced GPS and HR mode, which will reduce sampling for both measures to increase the battery life during longer workouts. This new mode will live in a separate toggle under the Low Power Mode and will be rolled out later this year.

Because the Low Power Mode feature is part of the watchOS 9 update, all devices starting from Apple Watch 4 will have it in their settings via a software update.

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Low power mode for Apple Watch is the biggest change to the Apple Watch’s battery life in years. While the smartwatch did already have a last-ditch Power Reserve setting, now users can be more proactive in preserving battery.

Apple announced low power mode with the Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra, but the feature actually works with existing devices updated to watchOS 9 — the Apple Watch Series 4 or newer, or all the watchOS 9 supported devices.

But what does it do? The short answer is it extends the Apple Watch’s battery life. And as someone who’s used the Apple Watch for many years, low power mode addresses one of my consistent complaints.

The Apple Watch has remained synonymous with a 18-hour or “all day” battery life, even with many of the best smartwatches on the market right now lasting several days on a full charge. Now, with low power mode, the Apple Watch starts to catch up, staying powered up 36 hours per Apple’s estimates. The Apple Watch Ultra, meanwhile, can last up to 60 hours.

Apple Watch low power mode: What does it do?

Certain features are sacrificed in order to make the Apple Watch last more than two days. The most significant of them is Always-On Display, which has been available for Apple Watch Series 5, (and is a feature of the iPhone 14 Pro, by the way.) Since the Apple Watch SE (2022) doesn’t have an Always-On Display, it won’t make a difference for the new $249 smartwatch.

Low power mode for Apple Watch also disables background heart rate monitoring and blood oxygen readings (Apple Watch Series 6 and newer.) It stops automatic workout tracking for the eligible exercise types, too.

Launching a workout by default will turn off low power mode, but you can also toggle on ‘Low Power Mode’ in the Workout menu in Settings. When this is enabled, it limits heart rate and GPS demands during workouts where you don’t require as precise data. Walking is a good example of a workout you’d want to use with low power mode, while race training is not.

Finally, Cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity will be limited in low power mode for Apple Watch, with the Apple Watch checking for important notifications every hour.

How to turn on low power mode on Apple Watch

To turn on low power mode, swipe up to open the Control Center on your Apple Watch. Tap the bubble that shows your battery percentage and toggle on low power mode.

You'll be prompted to review the impact of low power mode, with the option to turn the feature on or turn it on for a certain duration. You can turn on low power mode for 1 Day, 2 Days or up to 3 Days.

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Kate Kozuch is an editor at Tom’s Guide covering smartwatches, TVs and everything smart-home related. Kate also appears on Fox News to talk tech trends and runs the Tom's Guide TikTok account (opens in new tab), which you should be following. When she’s not filming tech videos, you can find her on an exercise bike, mastering the NYT Crossword or channeling her inner celebrity chef.

Is Power Reserve good for Apple Watch?

In watchOS 8 and earlier, Power Reserve shows only the time on your Apple Watch while preserving your battery life. When your Apple Watch is in Power Reserve, press the side button to show the current time. In Power Reserve, your Apple Watch and iPhone won't communicate, and you can't access other watch features.

How long will an Apple Watch last on low power mode?

Each time you turn on Low Power Mode, an information screen appears. Scroll to the bottom, then tap Turn On or Turn On For. If you select Turn On For, you can choose 1 Day, 2 Days or 3 Days.

How long can an Apple Watch go without being charged?

How long should the Apple Watch battery last? Apple says that in general use the Apple Watch will last around 18 hours between charges.

Can Apple Watch go on low power mode?

You can turn on Low Power Mode in Control Center or Settings, or you can have Low Power Mode turn on automatically: Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch. Scroll down, then tap Workout. Tap Low Power Mode.