Apple Watch Takes Two Hours to Charge, Only Delivers Notifications While on the Wrist - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Watch Takes Two Hours to Charge, Only Delivers Notifications While on the Wrist

notifications_largeApple Watch will take approximately two hours to fully charge and deliver all-day battery life with normal on-and-off usage, according to TechCrunch. Those estimates corroborate a previous report that also claimed the Apple Watch will deliver all-day battery life and support up to five hours of heavy usage per charge.

The report also claims that the Apple Watch will only deliver notifications while worn on the wrist. The smartwatch will not ping you for notifications without being in contact with skin so that the device is not disruptive at unnecessary times. Apple Watch will also stop delivering notifications when the battery reaches 10% or lower in an effort to conserve the remaining power.

"Here’s a tidbit you might not know — in order to receive notifications from apps, the Watch must be on your wrist and locked. They require contact with your skin. There will be no in-app dropdown notifications or constant pinging while it’s off your wrist. Push notifications also cease when the battery reaches 10 percent. Those decisions speak to the care with which Apple is handling notifications."

Apple continues to tweak Digital Crown on the Apple Watch, giving the button a "weightier, higher-end feel." Pressing and holding down the Digital Crown activates Siri, which the report claims works well and can be used for labeling, directions and commands using a paired iPhone. The goal of the Apple Watch, the report describes, is to return some of your attention away from your smartphone by allowing you to communicate from your wrist on the go.

While both reports this afternoon have provided a closer look at the Apple Watch, there are still several question marks surrounding the wrist-worn device. That will change in less than three days, when Apple provides more details about the Apple Watch at its highly-anticipated "Spring Forward" media event in San Francisco. The keynote begins on Monday at 10 AM Pacific and MacRumors will be providing live coverage of the event.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 12
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Apple Watch

Popular Stories

Surprise and Shine Live Coverage Article

Apple Event Live Blog: iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro, and More

Wednesday September 9, 2026 9:10 am PDT by
Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event kicks off today at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, where we're expecting to see the foldable iPhone Duo, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 models, new AirPods 5 earphones, and perhaps some other announcements. Apple is providing a live video stream on its website, on YouTube, and in the company's TV app across various platforms. We...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium

New Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 Features Revealed

Sunday August 30, 2026 7:54 am PDT by
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today further outlined what to expect from the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 set to be unveiled on September 9. While it was initially rumored that Touch ID may be coming to the Apple Watch this year, Gurman reiterated that he does not expect the Series 12 or Ultra 4 to have any major design changes compared to the current Series 11 and Ultra 3 models. ...
apple surprise and shine event

Apple Event Today: iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo Cheat Sheet

Tuesday September 8, 2026 10:24 am PDT by
Apple's biggest event of the year is almost here, and all eyes are on Cupertino. With the first foldable iPhone expected to headline Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event on Wednesday, September 9, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, the rumor mill has been running full throttle, fuelled by the biggest single design change in the life of the iPhone. To get you up to speed, here's a quick reference...

Top Rated Comments

151 months ago
I've never heard so much complaining in my life, and the product isn't even out yet.
Score: 71 Votes (Like | Disagree)
151 months ago
Eh,
I think they shoulda thought of a better battery life solution. All-week battery life would have been nice... Heck, they coulda thought of something ingenious like "Shake to recharge it" or something like that..

If only apple had the geniuses of MacRumors forum working for them instead of those silly engineers they have now. :rolleyes:
Score: 64 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JeffyTheQuik Avatar
151 months ago
I've never heard so much complaining in my life, and the product isn't even out yet.

Especially the complaining about the complaining...

:eek:

;)
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
extricated Avatar
151 months ago
I’m usually pretty chill on the forums, but holy crap. Why do people freak out so much about the battery?
Yes, the watch will have a ton of apps and be capable of cool things, but it is not a gaming device, a phone, a tablet, or a desktop computer. It’s a watch! Five hours of “heavy use” is good for a product like this. Everything about this watch is to complement what we already do; to simplify things. If you have to respond in lengthy fashion to an email, you’ll go ahead and take out your phone or use the computer. If you need more than a “yes”, “no”, or “maybe” on a text, you’ll likely pull out the phone. Let’s not even get started on movies and games (which I’ve heard people mention).

I’m totally cool with charging nightly. If it was 3 or 5 days, I’d probably forget what day it was or not pay attention to my battery. As it is, it looks to be a very simple matter of routine charging versus a sporadic every third day charge.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
151 months ago
How about some good news for once?

"Only delivers notifications while on the wrist."


That IS good news.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
taptic Avatar
151 months ago
That's not too bad...

I have a parrot spider drone that takes an hour and a half to charge for 9 minutes of flying time...
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)