Apple Watch will feature 'all-day' battery life of 18 hours
The Apple Watch will need to be recharged nightly, as Apple revealed on Monday that its upcoming wearable accessory will offer an average of 18 hours of runtime on a single charge.
According to Apple, the Apple Watch will feature "18-hour all-day battery life," though the company admits in fine print that real-life battery life will depend on device settings, usage and other factors.
Users will recharge their Apple Watch nightly with a new charging cable utilizing MagSafe technology. The quick connection simply snaps into place and begins regenerating the battery.
Apple's tests show that 1.5 hours of charging will restore the battery to 80 percent, while 2.5 hours will completely fill it to 100 percent. The 42mm model typically experiences longer battery life.
Talk time is rated at up to 3 hours, workout tests up to 7 hours, audio playback up to 6.5 hours, and the special power reserve mode will operate up to 72 hours.
Spare chargers will cost $29 for the smaller 38-millimeter Apple Watch size, while the larger 42-millimeter variant will be accompanied by a $39 charging cable.
The cable will feature a circular MagSafe charger on one end, and a traditional USB port on the other.
Battery life of the Apple Watch was one of the biggest unknowns about the device after it was unveiled last year. The company laid out all of the final details on the device and its capabilities at a media event on Monday, where it also revealed that the Apple Watch will become available on April 24.
Users will be able to make reservations at Apple Stores to try out the new device two weeks earlier, on April 10. That same day, Apple will also begin taking Apple Watch preorders ahead of the launch.
The Apple Watch will start at $349 for the 38-millimeter Sport version, while the 42-millimeter size will be $399. The stainless steel version starts at $549/$599, while the 18-karat gold Edition will have limited availability and a $10,000 starting price.
According to Apple, the Apple Watch will feature "18-hour all-day battery life," though the company admits in fine print that real-life battery life will depend on device settings, usage and other factors.
Users will recharge their Apple Watch nightly with a new charging cable utilizing MagSafe technology. The quick connection simply snaps into place and begins regenerating the battery.
Apple's tests show that 1.5 hours of charging will restore the battery to 80 percent, while 2.5 hours will completely fill it to 100 percent. The 42mm model typically experiences longer battery life.
Talk time is rated at up to 3 hours, workout tests up to 7 hours, audio playback up to 6.5 hours, and the special power reserve mode will operate up to 72 hours.
Spare chargers will cost $29 for the smaller 38-millimeter Apple Watch size, while the larger 42-millimeter variant will be accompanied by a $39 charging cable.
The cable will feature a circular MagSafe charger on one end, and a traditional USB port on the other.
Battery life of the Apple Watch was one of the biggest unknowns about the device after it was unveiled last year. The company laid out all of the final details on the device and its capabilities at a media event on Monday, where it also revealed that the Apple Watch will become available on April 24.
Users will be able to make reservations at Apple Stores to try out the new device two weeks earlier, on April 10. That same day, Apple will also begin taking Apple Watch preorders ahead of the launch.
The Apple Watch will start at $349 for the 38-millimeter Sport version, while the 42-millimeter size will be $399. The stainless steel version starts at $549/$599, while the 18-karat gold Edition will have limited availability and a $10,000 starting price.
Comments
18 hours is not all that bad for such a smartwatch, actually a little better than what I was expecting.
I'm glad I ordered my Pebble Time Steel. 7 days battery life, and the display is always on. So far the Apple Watch is not winning me over.
I'm glad I ordered my Pebble Time Steel. 7 days battery life, and the display is always on. So far the Apple Watch is not winning me over.
Great! More availability for us.
I'm glad I ordered my Pebble Time Steel. 7 days battery life, and the display is always on. So far the Apple Watch is not winning me over.
Monotone vs color with full apps? It's like comparing 1970 CRT with current 4K LED TV. Are you not on drug?
I'm glad I ordered my Pebble Time Steel. 7 days battery life, and the display is always on. So far the Apple Watch is not winning me over.
Hey if you don't want the features don't buy the features: totally understand.
I like my G-shocks so there's no way I'd buy a Pebble, steel or any other flavor.
Not one word on how long it takes to charge. But hey...video of terraced batteries in a MBA. Cool. But not interesting to me right now.
Funny...I was watch Kevin Lynch's demo, and realized that just about everything he was showing me...could be done without an Apple Watch on the iPhone 6. Yes, some doodles, yes, some taptic feedback; sure some health monitoring that seems...uninteresting.
I'm not buying a pebble. Those things look even worse. But did you really have to dick me for another $10 for a second charger? Really?
I'm glad I ordered my Pebble Time Steel. 7 days battery life, and the display is always on. So far the Apple Watch is not winning me over.
And my solar powered calculator has much longer battery life than my MacbookPro. Single purpose vs. multi-purpose? Are you sure you are comparing the devices correctly.
The ?Watch (especially version 1) will not hit the sweet spot for many, and IMO a big part will be due to battery life. I am on the fence about it until I get to try one out - although I am 99.9999% certain I will have one come version 2.
So if it isn't for you, then of course get what you want. But to keep these threads from completely disintegrating, it would be good if such battery comparisons were made to like devices.
I'm glad I ordered my Pebble Time Steel. 7 days battery life, and the display is always on. So far the Apple Watch is not winning me over.
You pre-ordered a Pebble Time Steel, and didn't even realize that the battery life is 10 days and not 7 days
There is a lot they can do still to improve on that. The watch could be made self charging using solar or kinetic engineering.
Guess they want to hold all that for future versions.
Monotone vs color with full apps? It's like comparing 1970 CRT with current 4K LED TV. Are you not on drug?
pebble steel time is color - not as rich a color, or as fast responding, but it is always on color.
the pebble steel time and apple watch share many similar capabilities, and then there are differences. they may appeal to different people, besides Pebble also works with Android...
18 hours is fine for me, since I don't wear my watch when I'm sleeping, it's no big deal to charge it at night.
What I hate though, is Apples current trend of describing things that don't last 24 hours as "all day".
Not one word on how long it takes to charge. But hey...video of terraced batteries in a MBA. Cool. But not interesting to me right now.
Here is more info on battery life:
http://www.apple.com/watch/battery.html
It answers your question: 1 1/2 hours for 80% charge, 2 1/2 hours to full charge.
What's a 1970?
I'm thinking the Pebble is like a Gameboy. A Gameboy vs. Retina Display.
No, you're thinking about the warranty.
I think I would pony up the extra $100 and get the Apple Watch Sport unless you had an Android phone of course. They may share similar capabilities now, but Apple's version has more developer potential. Also Apple Pay is just getting started which is a nice plus. Not too big on the "love taps" and the whole sending heartbeats thing though.
I'm not sure this article is correct, that the more expensive charger is for the larger watch. In the Apple Store iOS app, it describes the $39 charger as (2m) and the $29 charger as (1m). In the "what's-in-the-box" for each watch, it just says that it comes with a charger.
I could be wrong about this, but it seems that the more expensive charger just has a longer cable, and either cable would work with any watch.
BTW, the Apple Store app has lots of other useful info, like a sizing chart for the watchbands and a screen that displays the 38mm and 42mm watches in actual size.
Yeesh...a $10 upcharge on the larger charger too. That's disappointing. Perhaps the biggest disappointment in a day full of let downs for me.
Not one word on how long it takes to charge. But hey...video of terraced batteries in a MBA. Cool. But not interesting to me right now.
Funny...I was watch Kevin Lynch's demo, and realized that just about everything he was showing me...could be done without an Apple Watch on the iPhone 6. Yes, some doodles, yes, some taptic feedback; sure some health monitoring that seems...uninteresting.
I'm not buying a pebble. Those things look even worse. But did you really have to dick me for another $10 for a second charger? Really?
WTF? Give me your address and I will send you $10 bucks if it will shut you up...the things people piss and moan over.
Better not use that talk via watch feature Tim Cook was so excited about. There's only 3 hours of talk time. And music playback drops the battery life to only 6.5 hours. So forget the watch replacing your iPod and iPhone. A heavy phone day and listening to music will probably knock the useful life of that watch down to about 4 hours before needing to be recharged for two hours.
18 hours sounds really good until you start using the features Cook was bragging about on stage this morning.