Apple Watch users complain of rapid battery drain and overheating with watchOS 10.1

Seemingly coinciding with the release of watchOS 10.1, a number of Apple Watch users are complaining of abnormal battery drain issues. A number of 9to5Mac readers have reached out to share that their Apple Watches are facing this problem…

This problem appears to be rather widespread, but it does not affect all Apple Watch users. The people who are affected, however, are using a range of different Apple Watch models. This includes older devices like the Apple Watch Series 4 as well as Apple’s newest Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2.

Affected Apple Watch users are reporting battery drain at far more rapid rates than usual. One user on Twitter says that their Apple Watch Series 9 went from 100% to dead in just three hours. Another user reports that their Apple Watch Series 7 battery drained 25% in just 30 minutes.

Simultaneously, many of these people also say that they are having problems charging their Apple Watch due to apparent overheating problems. In the Settings app, users are seeing this message: “Charging was on hold due to Apple Watch temperature.” This leads to the Apple Watch battery actually draining while it’s on the charger for some people.

A quick search on Twitter reveals the extent of these Apple Watch battery drain problems. There has been a steady stream of complaints since watchOS 10.1 was released on Monday. Some users say the problem was present in the watchOS 10.1 beta, and Apple didn’t address it.

A number of complaints have also surfaced on Reddit and Apple’s Support Forums:

Reddit (1)

Reddit (2)

Reddit (3)

Reddit (4)

Reddit (5)

Apple Support Forums (1)

Apple Support Forums (2)

Apple hasn’t commented on these problems. Apple’s release notes for watchOS 10.1 make no mention of changes to the battery life or battery settings. Apple released the first developer beta of watchOS 10.2 on Thursday, but it remains to be seen whether or not this update resolves the battery life problems.

Have you noticed worse battery life on your Apple Watch since updating to watchOS 10.1? Have you encountered any overheating issues? Let us know down in the comments.

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