Changes in Apple Watch Charging and Performance

Posted by Kirhat | Friday, January 15, 2016 | | 0 comments »

Apple Watch Dock
Apple Watch is expected to last for 18 hours of battery life, which would translate into about a full day if the user is keeping to a normal sleeping schedule.

Apple Watch depletes the battery in three hours if used for non-stop phone calls. Working out with the heart rate monitor or listening to music does the same in six hours. Conversely, just checking the time every so often boosts it to 48 hours. But that's about to change.

As developers get their hands on the Watch and start making use of the inbuilt NFC or other sensors, users will find the battery life will drop faster as more apps start making a play for its reserves. Talking of which, a 72-hour Power Reserve mode kicks in when the Apple Watch battery reaches 0 percent so that it doesn't shut off completely. It only tells the time doesn't keep the fancy watch face.

This will usually send any user running to a charger since Apple Watch does nothing else in this catatonic state. Making it even more perilous, it was actually a bit difficult to exit this catatonic state. The watch takes a solid minute and a half to reboot.

The official Apple Watch recharge time is 1.5 hours to 80 percent and and 2.5 hours to 100 percent. That's a bit slower than the average smartwatch. For instance, Moto 360 charges up in 2 hours flat.

The 205mAh battery pack is predictably sealed into the device, and is smaller than the battery on other Android Wear devices.

Apple Watch's inductive magnetic charger takes cues from the company's popular MagSafe chargers, which come with all MacBook Air and MacBook Pro computers (but not the New Macbook).

It combines a MagSafe magnet with an inductive charger for a wire-free solution. It helps when the user is in the dark or in tight situations, like a coach seat on an airplane, and need to simply clip on a charger and be done with it. Magnets, boss.

So far, Apple Watch "charging stands" have been relegated to carved wood / plastic / metal blocks that require users to thread the proprietary Apple cable through elaborate grooves. It's an inelegant and at times unsightly solution. That's hopefully about to change as well; 9to5Mac is reporting that Apple will soon let its MFi licensees (as in, Made for iPad, iPhone, and iPod) create products that integrate Apple Watch charging. Specifically, 9to5Mac says that as of this week, MFi partners can now order "sample quantities" of magnetic charging modules.

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