The Apple Watch is a formidable piece of hardware, but daily charging is still a reality unless you have the brand’s Ultra 1 or Ultra 2.
Sure, you can employ some of our tried and tested battery hacks for the Apple Watch if you want to extend the life of your smartwatch past a couple of days. But, even if you frequently dip into Low Power Mode and turn off essential features, the time will come to charge it.
This guide is the place to learn everything about charging the Apple Watch.
We’ll explain how to quickly check battery level, how long charging takes (as well as which can access fast charging), what to do if it won’t charge, and why the Apple Watch doesn’t have ‘true’ wireless charging.
How to check the Apple Watch battery level
If you’re unsure how much battery your Apple Watch has, press the Side Button to bring up the Control Center. You should see a battery level percentage among the icons in the panel.
Tap it to get a better view of that percentage point, and to jump into Low Power Mode.
You can also add a battery level complication to most Apple Watch faces if you want to view battery percentage directly from the watch face.
How to charge the Apple Watch
Every Apple Watch model ever released has charged the same way: via the magnetic puck that covers the underside of the smartwatch.
Once you’ve taken off your Apple Watch, here’s how to charge it:
- Plug the Apple Watch’s magnetic charging cable or dock into a wall socket or USB.
- Position the back of the Apple Watch on the charging puck, as shown above, ensuring it locks into place. The green lightning bolt icon should subsequently appear on the watch face.
- Wait for the Apple Watch to charge by following the battery indicator on the screen. When charging, the device goes into Nightstand Mode, which means only the time, date, and battery level are displayed.
- When you want to take the device off charge, pull the magnetic puck away from the back of the Watch.
Apple Watch fast charging: Compatible watches
- You’ll need an Apple Watch Series 7 or newer (or the Apple Watch Ultra 1/2)
- Fast charging unlocks speeds twice as fast as legacy Apple Watch devices
If you have an Apple Watch Series 6 or older, or even the Apple Watch SE 2, your charging speeds severely lag behind the brand’s latest watches. That’s because those newer models are fast-charging compatible.
To put numbers around this, the Apple Watch Series 6 (and below) takes around 90 minutes to go from 0% to 80% charge (reaching 100% after a whopping 2.5 hours). However, newer Series devices and the Apple Watch Ultra 1/2 are around twice as fast overall.
They can go from 0-80% in 45 minutes and complete their charge cycle after an hour (though this does vary very slightly depending on model and wattage).
To take advantage of this, you can use any of Apple’s power adapters (ranging from 18W-96W), or any third-party charger able to deliver over 5W.
Can the Apple Watch charge wirelessly?
The Apple Watch cannot charge wirelessly, as it is incompatible with the Qi charging standard.
So, you can’t simply throw the Apple Watch onto your wireless charging mat. However, if you want to keep all your Apple charging needs in one place, we recommend picking up a solid 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 Qi charger.
What to do if your Apple Watch won’t charge
Providing there’s no damage to the charging magnet on the rear, there aren’t many reasons why the Apple Watch would fail to charge. Our first port of call with any unusual issues like this is always to perform a soft reset of the Apple Watch.
However, if you need more troubleshooting tips, start with these:
- Check the cable is connected properly and completely covers the heart rate monitor on the rear
- If you’re using third-party equipment, return to basics with the standard, supplied cable from Apple
- Try a different wall outlet, charging plug, or cable
- Clean the Apple Watch charging magnet or charger with a dry cloth
- Ensure the plastic protectors have been removed after purchase.
