Apple on Monday released watchOS 9.1 which delivers shocking Apple Watch battery life increase with a new Low Power Mode feature for Apple Watch Ultra. Low Power Mode reduces the amount of power that any Apple Watch uses so that you can save battery life. Apple Watch Ultra also gets a secondary lower-power workout mode that reduces the GPS readings to once every 2 minutes, and heart rate readings to once every 1 minute. In that mode, the unit can achieve up to 60 hours of battery life.
You’ve got basically four levels [on Apple Watch Ultra]:
• Normal usage/mode: 36 hours of smartwatch battery life
• Normal usage with workout mode: 12 hours of GPS battery life
• Low Power Mode (full workout fidelity): Roughly 15 hours of GPS battery life
• Low Power Mode (reduced HR/GPS updates): 60 hours of smartwatch battery lifeIn my case, I started an hour-long run with 86% battery… and… umm… ended the hour-long run with 86% battery. Obviously, it burned some battery, but I apparently stayed within the rounding errors of that to basically be 1% or under. I noted that Dave from Chase the Summit got 1% burn on one of his one-hour trail runs.
And while all that might sound impressive – let’s keep in mind the watch is basically entirely in a low-power-almost-sleep-mode for pretty much all but 60 seconds of ‘work’ out of the entire hour. In reality, it’s certainly a bit more than that, but practically speaking, the amount Apple has turned off here makes this kinda a non-usable situation.
My point here is that for *sports* usage, the new lower-power mode isn’t super helpful. Instead, the mid-tier lower-power mode that doesn’t sacrifice any data depth is where you want to be (and if you really need to make some battery savings there, connect a HR strap instead).
However, as with most things Apple – the benefit of certain features isn’t always endurance sports. Instead, it’s part marketing, and part more casual scenarios. If you just want better battery life in general, and don’t care about data depth, and aren’t moving all that fast, then for casual walks, the data losses aren’t that big a deal. Especially if you have your phone with you so Apple Maps can do some magic.
MacDailyNews Note: To enable/disable Low Power Mode (full workout fidelity) on any Apple Watch capable of running watchOS 9.1, go to Settings > Battery and toggle Low Power Mode on or off. When your Apple Watch is in Low Power Mode, a yellow circle icon appears at the top of the screen.
With Apple Watch Ultra, in the Watch app on your iPhone under the Workout settings, you’ll see the new “Fewer GPS and Heart Rate Readings” option. Here you can toggle it on or off.
Low Power Mode turns off these features
• Always On display
• Heart rate notifications for irregular rhythm, high heart rate, and low heart rate
• Background heart rate measurements
• Background blood oxygen measurements
• Start workout reminder
Low Power Mode turns off these features when your iPhone isn’t nearby
• Wi-Fi and cellular connections1
• Incoming phone calls and notifications2
Low Power Mode affects these features
• Making a phone call can take longer
• Background app refresh happens less frequently
• Complications update less frequently
• Siri can take longer to process a request
• Some animations and scrolling might appear less smooth
When you use the Workout app in Low Power Mode on any Apple Watch capable of running watchOS 9.1, metrics such as heart rate and pace are still measured. You can have Low Power Mode turn on automatically when you begin a workout:
- Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
- Scroll down, then tap Workout.
- Turn on Low Power Mode.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Shop The Apple Store at Amazon.
Not long after I got my Ultra, I started testing the battery. I did not turn on low power mode. Always-on was off. Cell was off. Most else that I usually use was on. In fact, I was nearly continually trying to download some audiobooks onto it (that was a problem, btw). I don’t do this for sports purposes, just as my regula” watch. Here is how long it ran on those normal settings.
Ultra fully charged at 12:30 PM 9/25/2022
48 HOURS LATER:
[44% at 12:30 PM 9/27/2022]
24 HOURS LATER:
[18% at 12:30 PM 9/28/2022]
[10% at 6:30 PM 9/28/2022]
OVER 78 HOURS!!
Since then, I’ve charged it when it’s convenient. If the new update extends that — remember, that was not in low power mode — I’ll be truly blown away.
I get 60 hours in low power mode on my Series 6.
Theater mode will also add lots of battery time. Swipe up and tap the icon with two theater masks. In this mode the display remains off unless you tap it.
I used this once when I was out of town without a charger.
Another tip. When I didn’t have my Watch charger I went to a nearby Apple Store and they let me charge up.
There a few YouTube videos that go over quite a few things you can do to extend your battery life. I’m easily getting 60 hours per charge by following all of them on my Series 6 Cellular 44mm Apple Watch. There are quite a few settings that reduce battery consumption.