Optimized charge limit in watchOS 10
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In watchOS 10, your Apple Watch will pause charging at 80% to extend life battery service. Here's how to turn off the optimized charge limit and charge your watch to full capacity when needed.
“Battery life depends on its chemical age, which is more than just the time that has passed since the battery was assembled,” Apple mentions on its website. “The chemical age of a battery is the result of a complex combination of several factors, including temperature history and charging behavior.”
So your Apple Watch offers two different options for limiting charging — Optimized charge limit and optimized battery charging. Although the names are almost the same, both features offer slightly different strategies for extending your watch's battery life.
Optimized battery charging – — which was introduced in watchOS 7 — will study your usage patterns and determine when to optimize charging or charge to full power. Optimized charge limit — which is introduced in watchOS 10 — will freeze charging at 80% to extend battery life.
Because the Apple Watch doesn't get major updates every year, you won't be able to update it as often as you can on the iPhone. This means you'll want to make your battery last as long as possible.
However, although the Apple Watch's battery life can last almost an entire day — although it decreases over time — you may still want it to charge to 100%. While the battery percentage will be sufficient to track your sleep, it may not be ideal if you spend the entire day away from the charger.
If you prefer to fully charge your Apple Watch by placing it on the charger, you may want to turn off Optimized charging altogether.
How to fully charge your Apple Watch
You can tell your Apple Watch to fully charge directly from the home screen, without going into settings. Here's how to do it.
- Place your Apple Watch on the charger.
- Check that the optimized charge limit symbol appears, which will also be accompanied by the message Feature enabled.
- Tapthe battery widget in the top left corner while the watch is charging.
- SelectCharge to Full Now option
Allow Apple Watch to charge to 100%
Once you select it, your watch will not stop charging once the charge level reaches 80%. However, this change won't be saved, and you'll have to repeat these steps when charging your Apple Watch in the future.
How to disable the optimized charge limit
While optimizing charging is a great way to extend the battery life of your Apple Watch, it can be an inconvenience if you want your watch to be fully charged before continuing with your day. Depending on your Apple Watch series, you may be able to turn off Optimized Charging.
- Launch the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
- Scroll downuntil you see the Battery tab , and tap this
- Under the clickBattery Status tab
- Scroll downand find “Optimized Battery Charging.”
- Turn off this option to turn off optimized charging
Turn off optimized charge limit on Apple Watch
This will disable Optimized Battery Charging and Optimized Charge Limit for Apple Watch Series 8 and earlier, and SE models.
For Apple Watch Ultra and Series 9, you can turn off each setting independently. You can do this by turning off “Optimized Charge Limit” instead of “Optimized Battery Charging” and then choosing how long you want to turn it off for.
Control the charge
Battery life depends on its chemical age, which is influenced by charging circuits, so extending the life of your watch is important if you don't update it regularly. However, if you do, or want it to be fully charged every time you put it on the charger, then turning off the optimized charge limit may be the best option for you.
Optimized charge limit symbol on Apple Watch Ultra
Optimized charge limit is available on Apple Watch SE, Series 6 and later, and Ultra running watchOS 10.
