The newest Apple Watch is here, complete with an Always-On display, a built-in compass, and all-new design materials. For the most part, the Apple Watch Series 5 is a solid upgrade, but you might experience some battery drain problems out of the gate.
Contents
Related:
- Top 3 features you’ll miss if you don’t upgrade to the Apple Watch Series 5
- Here are the 4 major Health and Fitness improvements in watchOS 6
- Can’t find the compass on your Apple Watch? How to fix
- How to reset or restart and Apple Watch
Battery drain problems in watchOS 6

With a new watch comes a new update to watchOS, in this 6th iteration we get new watch faces, new apps, and a dedicated Watch App Store. But we also get a bug that causes series battery drain on all Apple Watch models.
Users with watchOS 6 on their wrist have seen up to 30% of their battery drain every hour. That’s only a three-hour battery life, which is substantially shorter than the 18 hours Apple boasts for their watch.
Fortunately, this battery drain issue is down to a software bug, making it easy to fix with three simple steps.
If you haven’t updated to the latest watchOS, this would be the time to update it since the new software addresses some of the battery woes.
Step 1. Unpair and repair your Apple Watch
- On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app.
- Go to the ‘My Watch’ tab and select the i next to your Apple Watch.
- Tap ‘Unpair Apple Watch’ and confirm you want to unpair.
- If prompted, enter your Apple ID password.
- When unpairing is complete, follow the prompts to set up your Apple Watch again and restore its backup from your iPhone.

Step 2. Restart your Apple Watch
- Press and hold the Side button.
- Slide to power off your Apple Watch.
- Wait 30 seconds before pressing the Side button to restart your watch.

Step 3. Restart your iPhone
- Press and hold the Side button with either Volume button.
- When prompted, slide to power off your iPhone.
- Wait 30 seconds before pressing the Side button to restart your iPhone.

Most users saw a drastic improvement in their battery life after completing these steps. Some Redditors said they saw battery drain drop from 30% to 5% an hour. That’s much better!
If it didn’t work for you, repeat the steps but do a Force Restart for your Apple Watch and your iPhone instead.
Get even better battery life on the Apple Watch Series 5

If you wear your Apple Watch Series 5 to bed, the Always-On display might seem more of an inconvenience than an improvement. Not only does the light brighten your room and shine in your face, but it could use as much as 20% extra battery power through the night.
There’s an easy solution to this, and it was introduced to the Apple Watch back with watchOS 3.
Turn on Theater Mode while you sleep
- Swipe open Control Center on your Apple Watch.
- Scroll down and tap the Theater Mode icon to turn it on.
- Now your watch face turns off unless you tap it or raise your wrist.
With Theater Mode switched on through the night you should be able to sleep in greater darkness and wake with extra battery power.

How are you getting on with the Apple Watch Series 5 and watchOS 6? We’d love to hear your stories in the comments. Do you like the Always-On display? Do you sleep with your watch on? Or do you miss the impressive battery life of the Apple Watch Series 2?
I agree with you 100%. This is the same reason Apple was sued regarding the IPhone 6.
I have an Apple Watch Series 5. I always got great battery life from my watch even when using GPS and activities. Since updating to the newest software I have to charge it 3 times a day and do not use activities as much. Also the GPS has stopped working. This is so bloody annoying. I’ll try your method. I have also tried to get info about how to reinstate the gps. I have contacted Apple regarding the poor battery life. They are such a big company and really need to do something to fix this battery problem. Garmin have a great battery life, so why can’t apple do that. Regards Sue