Apple has rolled out its new battery saver mode for Apple Watch Ultra – as part of the watchOS 9.1 update.
The new mode augments the Low Power Mode which was launched in watchOS 9, and enables running, walking and hiking workout modes to use fewer GPS pings and heart rate samples.
It means that outdoor workouts will last up to 15 hours – an increase of 3 hours over the full GPS mode.
It’s quite a drastic reduction, and using it would cause a dramatic impact on accuracy for normal running sessions.
That's why it's designed for hiking and trekking when you’re moving slower than an all-out run, which means the lower frequency of GPS pings won’t make a difference to your post-workout analysis.
Key features
- Heart rate readings will reduce to 1 time per minute
- GPS readings will reduce to 1 time every two minutes.
- Turns off the Always-on display
- Reduces cellular connectivity to only update hourly
- Makes cellular on-demand when not in proximity of your iPhone
- Limits certain background features such as auto-workout detection and irregular heart rate notifications
So how do you turn on the new mode?
Go to the battery percentage on the control panel and tap on the battery percentage,
1. Toggle on Low Power Mode (you may need to scroll down
2. Go to Settings > Workout > Fewer GPS and heart rate readings
3. Start a running/walking/cycling workout
If you’re looking to max out the amount of time for your Apple Watch Ultra, then you’ll also want to make sure that the Optimized Charge Limit is enabling your smartwatch to be charged to 100%
1. Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health
2. Turn off Optimized Charge Limit
The watchOS 9.1 update is quite a big one, and also means users can sync music to their Apple Watch when it's away from the charger – which is a major pain point solved.
watchOS 9.1 also offers support for the new smart home standard Matter – which enables seamless connection and implementation of compatible smart home devices.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.