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NYT: Apple Watch includes ‘Power Reserve’ mode, shows only the time but conserves battery life

applewatchbattery

The New York Times has published a piece about the culmination of the Watch project, as Apple transitions from product development stages to production and marketing to consumers. The piece reiterates that Apple was working on a vast array of health tracking sensors that were later dropped, which 9to5Mac covered extensively at the time.

However, the post includes one new piece of information about a previously-unannounced mode called ‘Power Reserve’. According to the report, users will be to enable a special low-power state that conserves battery life. In this mode, users will be able to see the time but cannot interact with the ‘smarter’ watch features like other apps. It is likely that other power-sapping features, like the constant connection to an iPhone for notifications, will also be disabled in this mode…

Apple has said the watch battery is estimated to last a full day, requiring a user to charge it at night, similar to a smartphone. The company also developed a yet-to-be-announced feature called Power Reserve, a mode that will run the watch on low energy but display only the time, according to one employee.

9to5Mac has previously reported that Apple was targeting to achieve approximately 19 hours of average usage time per day, combining in-app functions with standby time, as well as 2.5 hours of straight heavy app usage. According to many reports, improving battery life has been a key goal of development since the Watch’s initial debut in September. It is unclear exactly what battery life was finally attained, but Tim Cook has repeatedly said that the device will need to be charged every night, implying approximately one day of battery life. Apple may offer more specifics at its event on March 9th, where the company will reveal more details about Apple Watch.

One more perhaps humorous tidbit from the NYTimes: Supposedly Apple used specialized cases for the AppleWatch which disguised it as a Samsung watch, though we’re not certain how widespread this was since lots of Apple Watch sightings have happened around Cupertino and elsewhere.

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Comments

  1. Jörg Wißemann - 9 years ago

    I would like that feature

  2. Avenged110 - 9 years ago

    Sick. Since I’m never leaving iOS 6, that’d be my mode.

  3. nickp91 - 9 years ago

    I would be so happy if Tim Cook got on stage next week and said apple watch includes Safari

  4. Paul Franklin - 9 years ago

    anybody thought of making a solar powered wrist band?

  5. The interesting bit for me is that they said there will not be notifications.

    Apple is having developers supply short & long look variations of their notifications when being displayed on the  Watch, but they ALSO must send a static notification along side that could, “be displayed in a low power state,” according to Apple.

    I think it will include notifications.

  6. Jasper Yeung - 9 years ago

    i still have no faith in this product ..

  7. Tinny (@Tinny) - 9 years ago

    Hopefullym also the vibration alarm will continue working

  8. NerdShouts - 9 years ago

    Power Saving mode is one of those features that Samsung users are bragging about lately. It would be awesome, if Apple debuts such function with Apple Watch and continue rolling in iOS 9.

  9. Margaret Vasilchik - 9 years ago

    A terrific idea. I like it.

  10. Apple, ditch the Retina display (yes, I know, it’s an ego thing and hence hard to do).

    Go for a more energy-efficient one. Maybe a color e-paper one? We might be doing a few things with it, but it won’t be browsing pictures of our loved ones etc. The phone will be much more useful if it stays alive 3 days minimum, rather than 1.

    And, being a person who loves the outdoors, having one more thing to keep charged while out and about is not my idea of fun. For city-dwellers, maybe.

    • strawbis - 9 years ago

      I doubt many people will pay a premium for a watch that looks like a reproduction of a 1978 LCD affair. If it’s to display an HD image of a watch face it needs the retina screen to do so. What would make more sense is a solar charger of some description or a slide in\out replaceable battery to prolong functionality.

  11. Daniel (@TweetThatSheet) - 9 years ago

    Wonder if you can select which notifications your watch paid attention to? Could you set it so you could only see the time and check texts? Leaving off everything else like weather/email/app notifications etc? Could communicating with your phone only for select reason also help decrease battery?

    If so, it would be interesting to see live feedback about how much battery remaining is estimated based on how much you’ll allow you’re watch to do. Say “50 minutes remaining” if you leave on just the clock and texts. “30 minutes remaining” if you leave on just clock, texts and emails. “10 minutes remaining” if you leave on just clock, texts, emails and one or two specific apps, etc.

  12. deminthon - 9 years ago

    getpebble.com

Author

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.