The Apple Watch continues to be one of the top-selling smartwatches, with a variety of models available. Its reputation stems from its smooth integration with iOS, user-friendly watchOS interface, and dependable health and fitness tracking capabilities. As of July 2025, whether your priorities lie in fitness, wellness, or daily productivity, there’s an Apple Watch suited for everyone.
Regardless of whether you have the latest Apple Watch Series 10 or an earlier version, one fact remains: Apple Watch batteries deteriorate over time. Similar to all lithium-ion batteries, the battery inside your Apple Watch undergoes chemical aging, limiting its charge retention as time progresses. Frequent usage, elevated temperatures, and standard charging cycles all contribute to this gradual performance decline.
Apple states that a standard Apple Watch battery is intended to maintain up to 80% of its initial capacity after 1,000 complete charge cycles. You can track your device’s battery health directly within the watch settings to identify if a replacement is necessary.
Apple Watch battery duration is influenced by several factors, including the specific model you possess. For instance, when it’s brand new, the Apple Watch Series 10 is rated for as much as 18 hours of battery life per charge. The more robust and premium Apple Watch Ultra 2 significantly enhances performance, offering up to 36 hours of battery life in standard mode and up to 72 hours when utilizing Low Power Mode.
### How to assess your Apple Watch battery health
While it isn’t necessary to check your Apple Watch battery health every day, it’s wise to review it from time to time, especially if you encounter issues like unexpected shutdowns or if your watch isn’t lasting as long on a full charge as it used to. These indications often suggest battery degradation, a normal aspect of any lithium-ion battery’s lifecycle.
The primary metric to examine is the Maximum Capacity, which shows how much charge your Apple Watch battery can hold in comparison to when it was new. For example, if the maximum capacity significantly falls below 100%, your watch may struggle to last a full day on one charge. This figure aids in assessing whether your battery is still in sound condition or if it’s time for a replacement.
You can verify your battery health on your Apple Watch in just a few straightforward steps. Here’s what to do:
1. Press the crown to access the Home Screen.
2. Tap on the Settings icon.
3. Tap on Battery.
4. Scroll down to Battery Health.
When reviewing your Apple Watch battery health, you will see a Maximum Capacity percentage. A healthy battery usually displays above 80%, and anything under that may necessitate a battery replacement, no matter how long you’ve had the watch. Although a brand-new Apple Watch should show nearly 100% capacity, Apple acknowledges that minor discrepancies can occur due to the time between manufacture and purchase. Following regular usage, it’s typical to observe a decrease in capacity.
### How to enhance your Apple Watch battery
Apple provides several integrated features to optimize Apple Watch battery life, and keeping your device updated guarantees that you benefit from the latest energy-efficiency enhancements in watchOS. Activating Low Power Mode (accessible via Control Center or Settings) turns off non-essential features, like always-on display, background heart and oxygen monitoring, and cellular connections.
For long-term battery health maintenance, Apple suggests using Optimized Battery Charging, available in watchOS 7 and later, which learns your routine and pauses charging past 80% when necessary. Optimized Charge Limit further fine-tunes charging behavior to maintain battery longevity on supported models (Series 6 and later, SE, and Ultra). You can also minimize screen wake-ups by deactivating Wake on Wrist Raise, or activating Theater Mode, and enabling Bluetooth on your iPhone ensures efficient syncing and reduced power drain on the watch.
While exercising, you can enable Power Saving Mode, which will turn off the heart rate sensor. Simply navigate to the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, select My Watch, and then choose Workout. From there, you can activate Power Saving Mode; however, keep in mind that calorie burn estimates may be less precise.
