You bought an Apple Watch, had fun for a few weeks, and then somehow left it by your nightstand for a few days because you forgot about it. Don’t worry, it happens. The problem is that you saw a strange charger symbol that you’ve never seen before, with a red lightning bolt and the current time, or, even worse, nothing happens. Well, the answer is simple: you need to put your Apple Watch on charge. However, rather than just attaching the MagSafe to it, you also have to wait until it has enough charge to turn it back on, which can take a few minutes longer than a usual charge if the battery has just been drained.
According to Apple, in situations like this, you may have to wait up to 30 minutes for the watch to turn on because its battery has been dead for too long. However, the company says that if you don’t see a lightning bolt on the watch even though it’s already charging, you may need to do a few workarounds, such as using the original accessories, repositioning the back of the watch on the charger (larger Apple Watch models may actually need to be adjusted to a different angle), cleaning the back of the watch and the magnetic charger, and even force restarting it by pressing and holding the side button and digital crown for at least least 10 seconds.
Tips and Tricks to Improve Apple Watch Battery Life
Although you may have forgotten your Apple Watch for a few days or weeks once or twice, there are several things you can do to improve its battery life and longevity if you ever start using it again. For example, something as simple as choosing a watch face with more black elements can help save battery since the watch uses an OLED display. If you disable wrist lift, you can avoid false triggers which can, over the course of a day or two, lead to battery deterioration.
When you go on a long trip and forget the Apple Watch charger, the best way is to turn on low power mode. In the notification center, tap your battery percentage to activate this power reserve feature. Apple says new models like the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 can last up to half a day longer with this feature enabled.
Another way to preserve battery life is to avoid using the Apple Watch speakers: turn off notification sounds and don’t play songs or podcasts through them. Using the Apple Watch to make calls, especially over a cellular connection, will also significantly drain the battery since it must remain constantly connected to LTE.
