Apple Watch Series 8 battery drain so fast? 21 Best Fixes

Recently, many users have been reporting that their Apple Watch Series 8 battery is draining fast – the Apple Watch series 8 battery drain overnight etc. In this article, I’ll explain why your Apple Watch series 8 battery is draining fast and show you how to fix the problem for good.

The Apple Watch Series 8 has a battery life of approximately 18 hours before it requires charging. With the new Apple Watch low power mode, which disables battery-draining features like the Always On Display and automatic workout tracking, the Apple Watch Series 8 lasts up to 36 hours.
If your Apple Watch Series 8 battery is draining quickly, there are a few tricks to drastically extend it.
Apple Watch Series 8 battery-saving tips include reducing wake screen time, turning off push notifications, updating your Apple Watch, and turning off low power mode.
Compared to other smartwatches, the Apple Watch Series 8 does not have a particularly robust battery life.

The Apple Watch Series 8 lasts for just 18 hours, which means you need to charge it daily. This typically involves charging it overnight, but if you’re finding that your watch needs charging well before that, there are a few things you can do to save battery life and get more out of a single charge.

See also: Apple Watch series 8 not charging? 10 Ways to Fix it

Why is Apple Watch Series 8 battery draining fast?

The Apple Watch Series 8 is by no means the longest-lasting smartwatch, but if it’s draining within a matter of hours, there are bigger problems at play. There’s no single answer for this either, but these problems are usually simple to fix.

Software update

Apple suggests checking for new software upgrades regularly. We’d recommend only upgrading to the latest software a few days after release, once it’s clear that the software is mainly bug-free. Be sure to keep abreast of software updates and the changelog for battery and efficiency improvements.

Pairing issues

Believe it or not, your Apple Watch will require more power if it struggles to hold a connection or is disconnected from your iPhone. Try re-pairing the watch to your phone if this seems to be an issue. Additionally, be sure to keep Bluetooth activated on your iPhone.

Atmospheric conditions

Batteries don’t operate well when they’re too hot or too cold. If you’re in a particularly frigid or hot region of the world or keep your watch in direct sunlight, your climactic conditions could be decreasing your Apple Watch’s battery life. Apple suggests keeping the watch “in ambient temperatures between 32° to 95°F (0° and 35°C).”

Ways to fix Apple Watch Series 8 battery drain problem

1. Restart Apple Watch

If you have noticed fast battery drain on your Apple Watch 8, the first troubleshooting step to perform is a restart. This may sound silly, but a lot of times restarting devices is all that’s needed to solve problems.

To restart your Apple Watch, press and hold the side button and the digital crown for at least 10 seconds. You can let go of the buttons once the Apple logo shows up on the watch display.

2. Re-pair your Apple Watch and iPhone

If restarting didn’t fix your Apple Watch Series 8 battery drain issue, you should definitely give unpairing and pairing again a shot. You can resolve a lot of issues by un-pairing your watch and then re-pairing it as a new watch, which should wipe out any of the corruption that caused the battery glitch.

1. Open the Watch app on iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, tap All Watches at the top-left of the screen.
3. Tap the information button next to your Apple Watch.
4. Tap Unpair Apple Watch.
5. Re-pair your Apple Watch.

3. Change Notification Settings

The Apple Watch 8 is amazing for staying up to date with incoming notifications on your iPhone. However, sending notifications to your watch can also seriously drain your battery. To extend battery life, you should only enable the most essential notifications.

1. Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, tap Notifications.
3. Go down the list of apps to turn notifications off for apps you use less frequently. Tap the toggles next to apps you don’t want Apple Watch notifications for.

4. Delete apps you don’t use anymore

Apps take up space, and if they’re running in the background they can also cause your Apple Watch Series 8 battery to drain fast. Getting rid of unused apps can save you battery life.

To delete apps on an Apple Watch:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Scroll down to see the list of installed apps.
3. Tap on any app you want to remove, and disable the toggle that says “Show on Apple Watch”.

You should do this for apps you don’t really use on your Apple Watch. Don’t worry, you can always add them back easily if you later change your mind.

5. Enable Reduced Motion

watchOS 9’s animations and transitions give the system a smooth look and feel. However, that also means it uses more battery. If the battery life on your Apple Watch is getting really bad, you can try disabling these animations and transitions to get slightly better battery performance.

1. Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, select Accessibility.
3. Tap on Reduce Motion.
4. Tap the toggle next to Reduce Motion.

6. Turn off Wake on Wrist Raise

Apple Watch uses its sensors to figure out when you raise your wrist to look at the screen. Then it turns on the display so you don’t have to tap on it to wake it up. This is very useful, but turning this off can resolve your Apple Watch Series 8 battery drain issue since the watch will not be using those sensors to detect when it needs to wake the screen.

1. Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, tap Display & Brightness.
3. Tap the toggle next to Wake on Wrist Raise.

7. Disable Always on Display

If you’ve enabled always on display feature, turning it off can also help in fixing Apple Watch Series 8 battery drain problem. Here’s how to do that.

1. On your Apple Watch, go to Settings.
2. Tap Display and Brightness.
3. Turn off the toggle next to Always on Display.

I have noticed that the Apple Watch battery life without always on display is slightly better, so you can definitely use this tip to solve Apple watch Series 8 battery drain issue.

8. Turn off Mobile Data for Cellular Watches

If you are using a cellular Apple Watch 8, you should disable mobile data on your watch when you have your iPhone around. This way, your watch won’t be constantly hunting for cellular signals and draining power.

1. Open the Control Center on your Apple Watch.
2. Tap on the Mobile Data icon.
3. Disable the toggle to turn off Mobile Data.

Technically you can also disable WiFi while you’re at it if you are desperate to improve the battery life of your Apple Watch. You can also remove data plan from your watch if you want.

9. Turn off Background App Refresh

When Background App Refresh is enabled, apps can exchange data between the iPhone and Apple Watch, so they always have current data when needed.

This can cause your Apple Watch Series 8 battery to drain faster, so you can turn the feature off entirely, or select specific apps to turn off.

1. Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, select General.
3. Tap on Background App Refresh.
4. Turn off the feature entirely by tapping the toggle next to Background App Refresh. To turn off the feature for specific apps, tap the toggle next to the respective app.

10. Lower Screen Brightness

If you’re like me, you probably keep the screen brightness at its maximum value. That’s good for visibility, but it does impact battery life. So if you want to improve your Apple Watch Series 8 battery life, reducing screen brightness could be helpful for you.

1. On your Apple Watch, go to Settings.
2. Tap on Display and Brightness.
3. Lower the brightness.

11. Use Power Reserve Mode

When your iPhone battery is running low, Power Reserve lets you see the time––and only the time––by pressing the side button.

When Power Reserve is on, your iPhone and Apple Watch do not communicate with each other, and no other watch features are available.

But if all you need is the time, this will conserve your battery until you can charge your watch.

1. On your Apple Watch, swipe up to bring up the Control Center.
2. Tap the battery percentage.
3. Drag the power button across the Power Reserve slider, then tap Proceed to confirm.

Quick tip: To turn off Power Reserve, press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo. Wait for the device to restart, and recharge it first if necessary.

12. Ensure Optimised Battery Charging is On

The Apple Watch uses a Li-ion battery. Which means it is prone to degrading over time. You should enable optimised battery charging on your Apple Watch to ensure the battery health of your Apple Watch remains as good as it can. You can also read more about the Apple Watch’s battery here.

To do this,:

1. Head into Settings.
2. Tap on Battery.
3. Select Battery Health.
4. Scroll down and ensure the toggle for optimised battery charging is enabled.

13. Use Greyscale Mode

Many people suggest, based on their experiences, that greyscale mode also helps with battery life in watchOS 9. I haven’t tested this particular thing myself, but if you’re looking for options, this is one you can try out.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap Accessibility.
3. Scroll down and enable the toggle that reads ‘Greyscale’.

14. Use Workout Power Saving Mode

For people who workout often with their Apple Watch, this option might help save battery life on watchOS 9. With workout power saving mode, your Apple Watch will disable the heart rate sensor on the watch to save battery.

1. Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Go to Workout.
3. Here, enable Power Saving Mode.

Obviously, this will affect heart rate readings and calorie counts, but if battery life is of utmost importance to you, this is a small price to pay.

15. Enable Silent Mode

You can also try keeping your watch on silent mode to stop it from using the speaker. This can also help slightly in improving battery life on your Apple Watch Series 8. Doing this is really simple, here’s how.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap Sounds and Haptics.
3. Enable ‘Silent Mode’.

16. Turn off Blood Oxygen Measurement

The Apple Watch Series 8 has a blood oxygen measurement feature. While this is useful, it does use up your battery. If your Apple Watch Series 8 battery is dying quickly, you should try turning off the SpO2 measurement feature.

1. Go to Settings on your Apple Watch and tap on Blood Oxygen.
2. Turn off the toggle for Blood Oxygen measurement to disable the feature.

17. Keep Your Watch Updated

In most cases, the Apple Watch Series 8 battery drain issue arise from software bugs. As such, it’s always a good idea to keep the latest version of watchOS installed on your Apple Watch 8 to ensure that any such software problems are fixed for you.

You can check for software updates by following these steps:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap General.
3. Tap Software Update.

18. Turn off Hey Siri

iPhone screenshot of Siri menu

When your watch display is on, it’s listening for “Hey Siri” to activate Apple’s personal digital assistant. It’s convenient, but it could be the cause of your Apple Watch Series 8 battery drain issue. To disable Siri, follow these steps:

1. Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, tap Siri.
3. In the Ask Siri section, tap the toggles next to the features you want to turn off, like Listen for “Hey Siri” and Raise to Speak.

19. Reduce the Wake Screen time

When you raise your wrist to see your watch or tap the screen, it “wakes” the display for a short period of time.

If you have the wake time set to 70 seconds, that will cause your Apple Watch Series 8 battery to drain quickly. You should set it to 15 seconds instead.

1. Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, select Display & Brightness.
3. Tap Wake Duration, then Wake for 15 Seconds.

20. Turn on low power mode on Apple Watch

The Low Power Mode feature extends the Apple Watch Series 8 battery life, however, certain features are sacrificed in order to make the Apple Watch last more than two days. The most significant of them is Always-On Display, which has been available for a few years now.

Low power mode for Apple Watch also disables background heart rate monitoring and blood oxygen readings. It stops automatic workout tracking for the eligible exercise types, too.

Launching a workout by default will turn off low power mode, but you can also toggle on ‘Low Power Mode’ in the Workout menu in Settings. When this is enabled, it limits heart rate and GPS demands during workouts where you don’t require as precise data. Walking is a good example of a workout you’d want to use with low power mode, while race training is not.

Finally, Cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity will be limited in low power mode for Apple Watch, with the Apple Watch checking for important notifications every hour.

To turn on low power mode:

1. Swipe up to open the Control Center on your Apple Watch.
2. Tap the bubble that shows your battery percentage.
3. Toggle on low power mode.

You’ll be prompted to review the impact of low power mode, with the option to turn the feature on or turn it on for a certain duration. You can turn on low power mode for 1 Day, 2 Days or up to 3 Days.

21. Get your Apple Watch serviced

If you have tried all these tips and your Apple Watch Series 8 battery is still draining fast, it’s likely that there’s a hardware problem with your Watch — the battery may even be defective. Contact Apple customer support for servicing.

Use These Tips to Improve Apple Watch Series 8 Battery Life

As you can see, there are a lot of ways you can improve the battery life of your Apple Watch Series 8. Obviously, if there is something seriously wrong with the battery on your watch, you should consider taking it in for a repair.

Till then, however, you can use these tips to save Apple Watch Series 8 battery life, and use your Watch for a longer time per charge.