Apple
How to Fix Apple Watch SE Battery Life Problems
If your Apple Watch SE or Apple Watch SE 2 battery life starts draining faster than you think it should, there are several fixes you can try before getting in touch with Apple for support.
While we haven’t seen tons of complaints about Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch SE 2 battery drain, some owners have run into the issue.
In most cases, the problems are related to the software powering the watch or bad user habits. However, there’s also a chance the issue is hardware-related. If you try all of the fixes below and nothing works, you might have a problem with your watch’s battery.
If you think that might be the case, you’ll need to get in contact with Apple support so they can help diagnose the issue. If they find a problem, and your device is under warranty, the company should replace it.
11/13 Update: We’ve updated this guide to reflect the release of watchOS 10 and a software update that fixes battery life issues impacting Apple Watch SE.
Table of Contents
Before you contact Apple though, have a look at our fixes for Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch SE 2 battery life problems. These have worked for us in the past and there’s a chance they work for you too.
Restart Your Watch
Before you do anything else, try a simple restart. Power your Apple Watch SE or Apple Watch SE 2 down, wait a minute, and then power it back on.
If the battery drain is really bad, you can try force restarting your watch. If you don’t know how to do that, check out our walkthrough.
Update Your Watch
If that doesn’t resolve the issue, you’ll want to make sure your Apple Watch SE or Apple Watch SE 2 is running the latest firmware.
Check the Settings app on your watch or on your iPhone and determine if your software is up-to-date. If it’s not, consider upgrading.
New software has the potential to iron out bad battery life even if a specific fix isn’t listed in the firmware’s change log.
If your device is currently running software older than watchOS 10.1.1, upgrade immediately. Apple says watchOS 10.1.1 provided important bug fixes and addresses an issue that could cause the battery to drain more quickly for some users.
Update Your Apps
You also should make sure the applications on your Apple Watch SE or Apple Watch SE 2 are all up-to-date.
Developers roll out a constant stream of bug fixes and there’s a chance an update solves the battery drain issues you’re seeing on your watch.
In order to keep your apps up-to-date with the latest fixes, you’ll want to turn on automatic app updates. This will ensure you’re running the latest version of an app. Here’s how to turn this on.
On Apple Watch
- Open the Settings app on your watch
- Scroll down and tap App Store
- Make sure Automatic Updates is toggled on
On iPhone
- Open up the Watch app on your iPhone
- Scroll down and tap App Store
- Make sure Automatic Updates is toggled on
You might also want to close apps you aren’t using.
Manage the Display
Another way to help conserve battery life is by properly managing your Apple Watch SE or Apple Watch SE 2’s display. If the display is constantly at max brightness, it can drain the battery. Here’s how to manage screen brightness on your watch:
On Apple Watch
- On your Apple Watch, open the Settings app
- Tap Display & Brightness
- Use the slider at the top to adjust the brightness of the display
On iPhone
- Open up the Watch app on your iPhone
- Tap General
- Tap Display & Brightness
- Use the slider at the top to adjust the brightness of your watch’s display
If you don’t need the watch’s screen to turn on every time you move your wrist, try turning off the “Wake On Wrist Raise” function. Here’s how to do that:
On Apple Watch:
- Open the Settings app
- Tap Display & Brightness
- Toggle Wake on Wrist Raise off
On iPhone:
- Open up the Watch app on your iPhone
- Tap General
- Tap Display & Brightness
- Toggle Wake on Wrist Raise off
Adjust Haptic Feedback
If you’re really desperate, you might want to adjust the haptic feedback on your watch. You can adjust the strength of the alerts on your iPhone or the watch itself. If you want to turn them off completely, you can try that too.
On Apple Watch
- Open the Settings app
- Scroll down and tap on Sounds & Haptics
- Scroll down again and find the Haptics section
- Toggle Haptic Alerts to off or change from Prominent to Default
On iPhone
- Open up the Watch app on your iPhone
- Scroll down and tap on Sounds & Haptics
- Toggle Haptic Alerts to off or change from Prominent to Default
Turn Off Background App Refresh
Your Apple Watch’s Background App Refresh feature keeps app data fresh in the background. It can be useful, but it can eat up battery life. If you don’t need this feature active, try turning it off.
On Apple Watch
- Open up the Settings app
- Tap General
- Tap Background App Refresh
- Toggle Background App Refresh off
On iPhone
- Open up the Watch app on your iPhone
- Tap General
- Tap Background App Refresh
- Toggle Background App Refresh off
Optimize Battery Charging
As your Apple Watch SE/Apple Watch SE 2 gets older, its battery will start to degrade.
If you want to slow this process down, and you should if you plan on keeping it for several years, you’ll want to turn the Optimized Battery Charging function on.
- Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch
- Scroll down and tap on Battery
- Tap Battery Health
- Toggle Optimized Battery Charging on
This feature will help reduce battery aging by learning from your daily charging routines.
Unpair Your Watch
If none of these fixes/tips help, you can try unpairing your Apple Watch SE/Apple Watch SE 2 from your iPhone. This should only be used as a last resort. If you want to go through with it, check out Apple’s detailed guide.
If that still doesn’t help, you’ll want to contact Apple support and see if they can help remedy the issue.
[slides postid=494792]
