Rumours say Apple has boosted Watch battery life to 5 hours with heavy app use

With the big debut scheduled for Monday, the trickle of Apple Watch rumours has been upgraded to a steady stream. The latest info brings more details on the battery life of the Apple Watch, something that’s been talked about a lot over the last month or so.

Back in January, there was a report that said the Apple watch would last a full day with mixed use but only four hours when constantly tracking fitness. What’s more, if all you want is for the screen to remain always on and showing the time, word on the street was that you could only expect three hours of use.

Now, just days ahead of the Apple Watch’s debut, 9to5Mac has some additional information on the device’s battery life. 9to5Mac was the source of January’s battery life reports, but it’s not clear if this latest information comes from the same sources. Regardless, these sources say that Apple has improved the battery life to bring it up to about five hours of heavy app usage. These people also detailed the Power Reserve mode that will help stretch the battery life even further.

Activated via the Battery Glance, Power Reserve can be switched on at any time, not just when you’re low on battery, but the amount of functionality it will allow remains unclear. For example, while one demo unit allowed access to all of the watch’s features, another unit in Power Reserve mode could only show the clock face. Aside from offering the ability to switch on Power Reserve mode, the Battery Glance will change colour over time (eventually hitting red) to indicate your steadily declining battery.

The Battery Glance will ship already installed on your watch, along with several other default Glances. These pretty much mirror what Android Wear users are used to seeing on their watches. 9to5Mac’s sources say pre-installed or default Glances will offer access to the battery life, heart rate monitor (which will be capable of showing BPM at the touch of a button), fitness stats, weather, music, quick settings, calendar, and maps.

Additional details reveal that prototype units have featured 8GB of internal storage, speedy performance, and an intuitive force-sensitive display with vibrant colours.

[source]9to5Mac[/source]