Some Apple Watch Users Experiencing Charging Issues After Updating to watchOS 8.3

A number of Apple Watch Series 7 owners have been experiencing issues with charging after updating to the latest watchOS 8.3 software, according to reports on the MacRumors forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Communities.

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Many of the complaints are related to third-party Apple Watch chargers, with users finding that these devices no longer work to charge their Apple Watches. From Reddit:

Updated my watch last night to 8.3, set it on my 3rd party charger this morning, came back after an hour and it had gained maybe 2%?

Tried the same thing with my spouse's watch and her 3rd party charger with the same result.

Put them on the official charger, zoom, done charging in no time. Argh!

There are reports about multiple third-party chargers, and it seems to be a widespread problem affecting several different models rather than an issue with a few select chargers. Many of the complaints are about the affordable third-party chargers that come from Amazon, and there are fewer reports about brands like Belkin being non-functional.

In many cases, the Apple Watch will charge for a few minutes, and then charging will suddenly stop. Restarting the Apple Watch can help jump start charging, but it does not appear to be a permanent solution for most people, with the charging issues recurring.

A smaller number of users are also having issues charging with Apple-supplied Apple Watch charging pucks, and still others are seeing very slow charging speeds or the Apple Watch battery draining while on the charger. From the MacRumors forums:

Charging problems are more often with watchOS 8.3. It has become ridiculous, it charges around 2% in 10 minutes. What is this? The new ultra slow charging exclusively for Watch Series 7 or what.

This is everything but not the advertised fast charging.

There have been complaints about Apple Watch Series 7 charging issues since early November, and Apple initially addressed a problem that was causing slow charging speeds in the watchOS 8.1.1 update.

Some users continued to see issues even after that November watchOS 8.1.1 update, and the watchOS 8.3 update appears to have introduced issues for even more Apple Watch owners. It is not clear if Apple has a fix in the works for the issues that users are experiencing after the watchOS 8.3 update, but it is likely that the problem will be addressed in a future update.

Most of the affected models are Apple Watch Series 7 devices, but there have also been a handful of charging complaints from Apple Watch Series 6 owners.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
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Top Rated Comments

TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
46 months ago
I did! I had my Apple Watch Series 7 plugged in last night and I woke up in the morning it wasn’t charged.

Yes, I used official Apple charger.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
46 months ago

I did! I had my Apple Watch Series 7 plugged in last night and I woke up in the morning it wasn’t charged.
That’s because i was using it all night
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
willdude Avatar
46 months ago
Not sure why this is being reported as a Series 7 issue when there are threads all over about it affecting every model with 8.3. (Including my Series 5.)
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
46 months ago
Glad I stick with official chargers.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
46 months ago

Wonder what you were using it for? ?
It’s a watch. I use it for watching.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
46 months ago

That’s because i was using it all night
Wonder what you were using it for? ?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)