An important aspect when choosing one product or another, especially when it comes to electronics, is The battery life. In fact, it is one of the elements that Apple tries to maintain from one generation to the next of all its devices. Even more important is the battery in the Apple Watch, the big apple's smart watch, being a device for daily use. With the launch of Apple Watch Series 9 and from the Apple Watch Ultra 2 we see that there have been variations with respect to the autonomy of its batteries. We analyze all the generations after the jump.
A look at battery basics
The Apple Watch is a small but very capable device. Many times we have talked about the importance of the two aspects within the power of a device. On the one hand, the hardware that changes and advances from device to device. Within this field we introduce chips, battery capacity and structure, materials, integrated circuits and much more. Many times having new hardware implies modifications to the autonomy: Greater resource consumption by the hardware implies a greater battery. Either that or we make the hardware as efficient as possible while maintaining battery consumption. On the other hand, we have the software, in this case watchOS, which is responsible for shaping the operation of the Apple Watch using 100% of all hardware. Thanks to powerful software we can use the device every day.
The rechargeable batteries like those of the Apple Watch, they are consumable products that, like everything else, have a limited useful life. According to Apple, over time, their capacity and performance decreases. We see it with other devices such as iPhones or iPads that decrease their capacity and we have to charge them more frequently. With the Apple Watch it happens in a similar way but with the characteristic of being a smaller device with smaller batteries.
In the case of the Apple Watch battery, it is technology. lithium ions. These batteries allow faster charges, longer life and greater energy density, which prolongs the duration in a lighter format, which allows further development of the hardware without worrying about the internal structure of the watch.
This is the battery life of all Apple Watches
A very important part for the The autonomy of the Apple Watch is its hardware. A device with efficient hardware will increase battery life. But let's not fool ourselves, another very important part is the software. And Apple knows that since last year with watchOS 9 integrated a battery saving mode to try to make the watches stretch their batteries more and more.
For comparisons and the characteristics of each watch we differentiate between the battery life with normal or "real" use and the duration with low power mode activated. With this data and all that Apple has offered over the years, we have the following distribution:
- Actual duration:
- Apple Watch Ultra 2: Up to 36 hours
- Apple Watch Ultra: Up to 36 hours
- Apple Watch Series 9: Up to 18 hours
- Apple Watch Series 8: Up to 18 hours
- Apple Watch Series 4, 5, 6 and 7: Up to 18 hours
- Low power duration:
- Apple Watch Ultra 2: Up to 72 hours
- Apple Watch Ultra: Up to 60 hours
- Apple Watch Series 9: Up to 36 hours
- Apple Watch Series 8: Up to 36 hours
- Apple Watch Series 4, 5, 6 and 7: Up to 36 hours
The new Apple watches, the Series 9 and the Ultra 2, have achieved Maintain standard battery life times. However, the Series 9 fails to increase the time in low power mode, it only matches the data with respect to the Series 8. But the Ultra 2 increases up to 72 hours with low power mode. And for many users this is reason enough for an upgrade from Ultra to Ultra 2. Do you think it's worth it?
Why does my Apple Watch battery last less time?
As we saw at the beginning of the article, the batteries of all devices degrade and their capacity changes over time. The capacity of lithium ion batteries decreases over time, which affects the charging duration and instantaneous power.
This is due to what is called chemical aging. Other factors such as highest impedance are factors that influence this decline. The Apple Watch, for example, relies on the battery for optimal performance, but higher impedance can affect instantaneous power distribution. The battery impedance It is the resistance to flow of the battery when passing through the device. As a battery ages, the resistance to charge passing to the Apple Watch increases. That is, the impedance of the battery increases.
If your Apple Watch lasts less time, you see that the battery drains faster or that you have to charge it more frequently, these are signs that battery drain is high. It is not something strange considering that like any consumable product it has degradation. In fact, if you are near an official Apple store you can go there to see if there is a possibility of changing it. A new battery will restore the correct functioning of the device. If you do not have a store nearby, you can make inquiries directly from Apple technical service from your official website.
