The Apple Watch 10 doubles down on fast charging over longer battery life, and I think that's a mistake

Apple Watch 10
(Image credit: Aplpe)

Apple has announced the Apple Watch Series 10 at its iPhone 16 event, and there’s a lot about it that I really, really like, including the new larger screen, thinner body, and lighter weight. I’m also itching to try the improvements made possible by the new S10 chipset, such as improved call clarity and the Translate app, while the new Jet Black colorway looks awesome. 

As a keen surfer, the Tides app is also guaranteed to be a game-changer for me: my go-to app was always the now-defunct Magic Seaweed, which was bought out by Surfline, and a dedicated Apple replacement on my wrist seems too good to be true.

However, for many people, the new sleep apnea detection functionality, Breathing Disturbances, could have been the biggest game changer. Breathing Disturbances, a feature reportedly soon-to-be FDA certified, checks across 30 days of sleep tracking for signs of sleep apnea and presents the information in a report to be read by your doctor. It could help millions of undiagnosed sleep apnea sufferers.

Along with the new Vitals app from watchOS 11, Apple seems to be doubling down on sleep and sleep tracking data. 

However, for these new features to be able to work effectively, users need to be able to wear their Watch overnight, and there's still a big obstacle here: battery life. With no changes advertised at this point, it's almost certainly still going to be a measly 18 hours."

Apple Watch Series 10

(Image credit: Apple)

The Apple Watch Series 10 did make strides in the battery department this year, with the introduction of the fastest-ever charging capabilities in an Apple Watch to date. It can reportedly reach 80% battery capacity in just 30 minutes of charge thanks to the new “innovative” metal back design. Theoretically, it’s not a problem at all to dap it on a charger for 30 minutes before bed time.

However, if you were to charge it to full capacity at 9pm, the watch would be theoretically dead again by 5pm the following day. You’d have to charge it again in the middle of the day, and if you don’t have a cable or 30 minutes to hand, you’re left with a useless piece of aluminum on your wrist. If you charge it first thing in the morning, it may even die overnight. I know Apple’s battery life tends to exceed the stated value, but it’s still ludicrously short. If you forget to charge it, or you’re out and about for most of the day, you’re left with a new 50mm black mirror on your wrist.

Samsung, which made a similar investment in sleep features this year, has its watch batteries cap out at 40 hours. Even the Google Pixel Watch 3 manages 24 hours with the always-on display mode active.

I believe Apple would get far more people using the new Breathing Disturbances and Vitals features on their watches, as it so clearly wants people to do, if it could extend the battery life to just 24 hours. If the Apple Watch Ultra 2 can manage 36 hours, what’s the holdup?

You might also like

Matt Evans
Fitness, Wellness, and Wearables Editor

Matt is TechRadar's expert on all things fitness, wellness and wearable tech. A former staffer at Men's Health, he holds a Master's Degree in journalism from Cardiff and has written for brands like Runner's World, Women's Health, Men's Fitness, LiveScience and Fit&Well on everything fitness tech, exercise, nutrition and mental wellbeing.

Matt's a keen runner, ex-kickboxer, not averse to the odd yoga flow, and insists everyone should stretch every morning. When he’s not training or writing about health and fitness, he can be found reading doorstop-thick fantasy books with lots of fictional maps in them.

Read more
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra
5 things the Apple Watch Ultra 3 should steal from the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra
Apple Watch Series 10 42mm vs 46mm side by side
Apple Watch Series 11: Everything we know so far
Apple Watch Series 10 42mm vs 46mm side by side
After 10 years of Apple Watch, the company reveals the one thing it got wrong about its users
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra
5 features I think the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 should steal from the Apple Watch Ultra 2
OnePlus Watch 3
OnePlus seeks FDA approval for Sleep Apnea Detection on its watch and takes on Apple in the process
Apple Watch Ultra 2 displaying a step count and distance
Apple Watch Ultra 3 could bring a massive health upgrade
Latest in Smartwatches
Pebble smartwatch countdown
Pebble confirms its smartwatch announcement is just hours away
Apple Watch Ultra 2 settings
I've been using an Apple Watch for 10 years – here are three common mistakes even I've made
Huawei Watch Fit 3
The Huawei Watch 3 is a decent Apple Watch alternative, and its successor could be close at hand
Garmin Instinct 3 in Neotropic Green
"I'm an idiot": Garmin user reveals how fixing one setting completely changed their training after months of making no progress
A garmin forerrunner 55 on an orange background with the phrase lowest price
Sprint! The best cheap Garmin for runners is back down to its lowest-ever price
Half-Life running on a smartwatch
This Redditor installed a game engine on their smartwatch, and now it runs Doom, Quake, and Half-Life
Latest in Opinion
AI writer
AI innovation in business: moving beyond scale to drive real results
Cyber-security
Dealing with the issue of CISO stress
Stephen Graham in the Netflix show Adolescence
I can't recommend Adolescence on Netflix enough - it's the best crime drama you'll watch all year
Sakata in Demon City holds a large cleaver-like weapon
Demon City on Netflix is Japan's answer to John Wick with a dash of Oldboy, and it rocks
A person typing on a laptop to check battery life
How Google's new anti-scraping measures are forcing an industry evolution
An abstract image of digital security.
Technology monitoring solutions are becoming obsolete