watchOS Update Coming Soon With Fix for Apple Watch Battery Drain

Apple is preparing a fix for an issue causing some Apple Watches to experience excessive battery drain after being updated to watchOS 10.1, the company said today in an internal memo shared with Apple Authorized Service Providers.

watchOS
In the memo, which MacRumors obtained from multiple sources, Apple said the issue will be fixed in a watchOS update that is "coming soon." Apple did not provide any additional details in the memo, so it is unclear what the underlying cause of the issue is, how many customers are affected, and if every Apple Watch model is impacted.

There have been complaints about this issue from customers across the MacRumors Forums, Apple Support Community, Reddit, and X since watchOS 10.1 was released in late October. The issue seems to affect a variety of Apple Watches, ranging from older models like the Apple Watch Series 5 to the latest Apple Watch Ultra 2.

"WatchOS 10.1 is killing the battery on my Apple Watch," wrote customer Martin Cooper on X. "100% to 50% in less than 60 mins."

Apple's developer release notes for iOS 17.1 said that update fixed an issue where "increased power consumption might occur" when an Apple Watch running watchOS 10.1 is paired with an iPhone running iOS 17, but evidently the Apple Watch battery drain issue has not been completely fixed, so a watchOS update will be necessary.

MacRumors recently reported that Apple is preparing to release iOS 17.1.1 for the iPhone, and it is likely that the Apple Watch battery drain issue will be fixed in a watchOS 10.1.1 update. However, it is possible that the fix might not arrive until watchOS 10.2, which is currently in beta testing and is expected to be released in December.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Monday June 30, 2025 1:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
replay all time playlist apple music

Apple Music Debuts All-New Personalized Playlist

Monday June 30, 2025 7:16 am PDT by
As part of its 10-year celebrations of Apple Music, Apple today released an all-new personalized playlist that collates your entire listening history. The playlist, called "Replay All Time," expands on Apple Music's existing Replay features. Previously, users could only see their top songs for each individual calendar year that they've been subscribed to Apple Music, but now, Replay All...

Top Rated Comments

mnsportsgeek Avatar
22 months ago
Hey Apple, how about you fix things before you release them with crippling bugs? Please and thank you.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
scrapesleon Avatar
22 months ago
Hopefully they don’t break something else with another update
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
usmaak Avatar
22 months ago

Hopefully they don’t break something else with another update
You mean hopefully they don't break something else too badly. Because I'm sure that they'll break something or somethings.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
22 months ago
Glad I haven't experienced this problem and good to see Apples acknowledgment of the problem with a fix pending.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
muziq Avatar
22 months ago
Hey Apple, hurry up and fix this.... It's so much fun having this watch die 6 hours after turning it on....
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Schtibbie Avatar
22 months ago
Maybe they’ll fix the broken optimized charge limit that was introduced in WatchOS 10 to non-ultra watches and still doesn’t work.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)