Apple Watch’s battery life unlikely to be better than other smartwatches

Apple Watch’s battery life unlikely to be better than other smartwatches
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According to 9to5Mac, Apple's much awaited Apple Watch will have roughly two to three days in standby mode, and between 2.5 and 3.5 hours of active application use – which means it will not be much better than current smartwatches.

Battery life has remained one of the main challenges for smartwatch makers. Sadly, Apple's much awaited Apple Watch isn't going to be very different from other smartwatches in terms of battery life. According to 9to5Mac, Apple has fallen short of its targeted battery life for its smartwatch.

The site further says Apple chose to deploy a powerful processor and high quality for Apple Watch, resulting in more power drain. The smartwatch runs a variant of iOS, codenamed SkiHill, and S1 chip  that is said be to close to performance of Apple's A5 chip.

According to reports, Apple initially wanted the Apple Watch battery to deliver about a day of usage. Later, the company changed the target to 2.5 to 4 hours of active usage and 19 hours of combined active and passive use, 3 days of standby time, and 4 days in sleep mode. But, Apple is now reportedly trying to achieve 2-3 days of standby or low power modes. 9to5Mac says Apple is aiming at 2.5 hours of heavy app usage including processor-intensive games, and 3.5 hours of standard app use.

“We’re told that the Watch should be able to display its clock face for approximately three hours, including watch ticking animations, if nothing else is done with the device. However, it’s unlikely that most people would actually keep the Apple Watch clock face turned on for even three hours straight in a single day. When the Watch screen is not in use, the display is powered off, and the clock demands much less energy,” says 9to5mac.

“Considered separately, the active use app, clock, and fitness numbers sound very low, but the reality is that people will passively wear the Apple Watch for most of the day, actively interacting with it only for short periods of time. That’s why the Watch will be able to last the average user roughly a day on a single charge. We’re told that Apple has been shooting for roughly 19 hours of mixed usage each day, but that the company may not hit that number in the first generation version.”

Apple is likely to start Apple Watch sales in March this year. The Apple Watch will come in three collections, including standard, Sport, and Edition and will have several distinct wristband designs.

Kul Bhushan
Digit.in
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Digit.in
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