When Apple first announced the Apple Watch earlier this fall, just about everyone noticed that the announcement was oddly silent about how long the device would last on a single charge. Some observers believed that Apple was still working on the problem. Others were convinced that the company didn’t want to talk about it, because battery life was not ever going to be a long suit for the Apple Watch.
The generally accepted rumor was that the Apple Watch was not likely to hold a charge for longer than a day. Well, out from the silence, Apple CEO Tim Cook this week confirmed what most of the experts were saying. Or maybe he didn’t.
When asked about the issue, Cook told a Wall Street Journal interview audience that “we think people are going to use it so much you will end up charging it daily”. Observers parsed the comment to mean that the life of the battery charge depends in part on how much the device is being used.
So one inference from that is that if you don’t use your Apple Watch very much, its charge may last longer than a day. But who wants a long-lasting device that you don’t use very much?
Observers wondered if the opposite is true: If you use the Apple Watch a whole lot, will its charge actually last less than a day? This is a critical issue, and Cook’s vague comment doesn’t really answer it.
Charging a smartwatch, while at the same time charging its connecting iPhone, on a daily basis is a big enough ask as it is. Having that wearable device run out of juice later in the day, we think, would be inexcusable.
Still, Apple will not likely provide full details about the battery life of the Apple Watch until it launches early next year. Let’s hope they are still working on it enough to have the battery last a full day under heavy use.