watchOS 8.5 Breaking Fast Charging for Some Apple Watch Series 7 Users

The watchOS 8.5 update which was released for the Apple Watch last week is reportedly breaking fast charging support. The update had brought the ability to authorise Apple TV purchases and subscriptions directly from the users' wrist. Users could also use audio hints in Fitness+ with audio commentary of visually demonstrated moves during workouts following the update. But recent reports point to Apple Watch Series 7 users confirming that the watchOS 8.5 appears to break support for fast charging — a feature that was exclusive to the Apple Watch Series 7.

As highlighted in a report by 9to5Mac, following the watchOS 8.5 update, the Apple Watch Series 7 fast charging no longer seems to be working for some users. A number of affected Apple Watch Series 7 users have taken to Apple's support forums and Reddit to share how the fast charging support has slowed down since updating to watchOS 8.5.

A user on Reddit said, “Since updating to 8.5, my series 6 only charges to about 49 percent overnight. Tried turning off and restarting. No go. I hope an update is coming. Very frustrating. Another user said, “Well mine seems to be charging about half as fast as it was prior to update, maybe… the night before the update I got 40 percent in 15min, 20 percent -60 percent and then to 90 percent in another 15min. After updating to 8.5 I got 40 percent in about 30min 52 percent -92 percent. But maybe it slowed down cause it's at the higher end of the charge? I guess i should have run it down to 20 percent. It does seem to be charging pretty fast though. I mean it's quit acceptable nonetheless. Have you restarted the watch and tried it again?”

The latest watchOS release from Apple had updated irregular rhythm notifications designed to improve atrial fibrillation identification. The watchOS 8.5 release also included a list of patches that are detailed on the security updates page. Users with watchOS 8.5 also got a new tool to let users recover their Apple Watch wirelessly. Previously, users needed to visit a service centre to fix the firmware on the Apple Watch in case of an unresolvable issue.

As mentioned earlier, the update had also added the ability to authorise Apple TV purchases and subscriptions directly from the users' wrist. Users were also able use audio hints in Fitness+ with audio commentary of visually demonstrated moves during workouts following the update.