Apple Watch Users Seeing Rapid Battery Drain and Overheating Following Update to watchOS 10.1

A good number of Apple Watch users are complaining that their Watch is showing extremely rapid battery drain and overheating after updating their Apple Watch to watchOS 10.1.

While the issue appears to be affecting a large number of users, not all Apple Watch users are complaining of the issue. A variety of Apple Watch models seem to be affected. including older devices, like the Apple Watch Series 4, as well as Apple’s newest wearables, the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2.

Apple Watch users experiencing the issue are saying their device’s battery is draining far more rapidly than usual. One Twitter user says their Apple Watch Series 9 battery charge dropped from a full charge to completely dead in just three hours. Meanwhile, an Apple Watch Series 7 owner says his Watch’s battery charge dropped 25% in a mere 30 minutes.

Many of these users also report they are seeing issues when charging their Apple Watch, apparently due to overheating problems. Affected users are seeing a message in the Settings app that says: “Charging was on hold due to Apple Watch temperature.” Some users report seeing the Apple Watch battery DRAINING while it’s on the charger.

9to5Mac reports that a quick Twitter search shows how widespread the Apple Watch battery drain problems are. A steady stream of complaints has appeared on the social site since the release of watchOS 10.1 earlier this week. However, some users report seeing the issue while using the watchOS 10.1 beta, which went unaddressed by Apple.

Several complaints have also appeared on Reddit (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) and Apple’s Support Forums (1) (2).

For example, Reddit user Sherpa14K said:

After the latest update 10.1 my series 6 battery is not charging over 50% and it drains the battery in about 15 minutes. Anyone with similar issues after updating ?

Naughty_Gnome claims:

Yup, I installed the update on my S8 just before bed. Went to sleep with the battery at 75% and woke up to the alarm on my phone sounding. Checked the watch. Completely dead (usually drops 5-7% over night). Have just put it on the charger. Charging at normal speed. Will see if a hard restart fixes it.

Apple support forums user tony.d commented:

After 10.1 update my battery only lasts a few hours. I can literally watch the percentage go down. Rebooted the watch. Shut off background app refresh after advised by a friend. Still drains ridiculously fast. It’s essentially useless now. I’m out of ideas. Anyone else have this problem? This is crazy.

Apple has not commented on this issue, and Apple’s watchOS 10.1 release notes do not mention any changes to the battery settings or battery life. On Thursday, Apple released the first developer beta of watchOS 10.2; however, we haven’t seen any word on whether the new beta contains a fix for the battery life issues.

Has your Apple Watch shown severely worsened battery life since updating to watchOS 10.1? Have you experienced any overheating issues? Share your experiences in the comments section below.