Apple Watch Battery Life Currently 'About a Day', but May Improve for 2015 Launch

Wednesday September 10, 2014 9:03 am PDT by Kelly Hodgkins

Apple on Tuesday unveiled its new Apple Watch, providing a number of details on the highly anticipated device but declining to address one critical issue: battery life. According to information obtained by Re/code, Apple's new Watch will require daily charging, keeping the device in line with similar smart watches from Samsung and Motorola.

applewatch4

“There’s a lot of new technology packed into Apple Watch and we think people will love using it throughout the day,” Kerris said. “We anticipate that people will charge nightly which is why we designed an innovative charging solution that combines our MagSafe technology and inductive charging.”

Sources tell Re/code that Apple is working to improve battery life before the product's 2015 debut, but the company still expects people will charge the device once a day.

The Apple Watch will go on sale in early 2015 with a starting price of $349. The smart watch will be available in two sizes with a variety of colors, materials and watch bands for personal customization.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 11

Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Don't Buy)

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Rethink Could See Debut of Round Model, Screenless Fitness Tracker, and More

Sunday August 9, 2026 8:37 am PDT by Hartley Charlton

Apple is re-evaluating the Apple Watch lineup and considering a host of radical new designs, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. In today's edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman compared plans for the Apple Watch's evolution to the "revolutionary design change" that the foldable iPhone represents. It will be "something that...

• 132 comments

Ceramic Case Could Return With Apple Watch Series 12

Sunday August 9, 2026 9:21 am PDT by Hartley Charlton

Apple is planning to reintroduce its striking ceramic Apple Watch casing as soon as this year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Writing in his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that the ceramic case option is expected to return either this year or in 2027. Apple first introduced a ceramic Apple Watch Edition with the Series 2...

• 78 comments

The MacRumors Show: Where Does the Apple Watch Go Next?

Friday August 14, 2026 9:35 am PDT by Hartley Charlton

On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss how the Apple Watch is seemingly heading into one of its least eventful new generations, yet the rumors stacking up behind it describe the most radical rethink in the product's history coming later. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos The most eye-catching change potentially coming this year is not a new...

• 62 comments

Top Rated Comments

Reason077

156 months ago

Battery life is not the biggest problem with the Apple Watch.

The biggest issue I see is that, for most functions, it must be tethered to your iPhone to work. Whats the point of being able to use Maps, Messages, etc when you could just pull your phone out of your pocket and get a better experience on a bigger screen? It has no GPS chip so you can't even use it to track your hiking/running route like most GPS watches.

Clearly, it's been designed with untethered use in mind. But current GPS chips and cellular radios couldn't fit in to the Watch without unacceptable battery drain.

Buying this version of the Apple Watch will be a bit like buying the first generation iPad: There's some cool technology there, and a lot of potential - but you know that in a year or so there'll be a second generation that's thinner, has better battery life, and has built-in cellular data and GPS.

Score: 58 Votes (Like | Disagree)

IJ Reilly

156 months ago

Insert unreasonable expectations here: _________________

Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)

ksnell

156 months ago

Bet you it gets thinner before they increase the battery life on it.

Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Dilster3k

156 months ago

It's a cool tech device, looks nice. Bravo to the engineering and design teams and everyone involved that brought this to life.

But it's still not my cup of tea, I may purchase one in the far future but I probably won't be wearing one in the coming years.

Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)