A number of Apple Watch Series 7 owners are reporting issues with charging after updating to the latest watchOS 8.3 software. Apple Watch owners are complaining of it on the MacRumors forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Communities.
Many of the complainants are using third-party Apple Watch chargers and complain that the chargers no longer charge their Apple Watches properly.
From Reddit:
Updated my watch last night to 8.3, set it on my 3rd party charger this morning, came back after an hour and it had gained maybe 2%?
Tried the same thing with my spouse’s watch and her 3rd party charger with the same result.
Put them on the official charger, zoom, done charging in no time. Argh!
The reports don’t center on a particular third-party charger and it appears that it is a widespread problem affecting various models. Affordable third-party chargers from Amazon, as well as brands like Belkin are being reported as not working properly.
While most complaints have centered on the Apple Watch Series 7, some Apple Watch Series 6 users have also complained of a similar issue.
Many users report that their Apple Watch will charge for a few moments and then will stop charging. Restarting the Apple Watch seems to initially fix the issue, but charging issues eventually recur.
There are users that report charging issues while using the first-party charger that was supplied in the box with the Watch. Other users are seeing very slow charging or are actually seeing the battery charge drain while on the charger.
The complaints about the Apple Watch Series 7 charging issues have been around since early November and Apple said that it addressed a problem with slow charging in the watchOS 8.1.1 update.
However, some users continue to have issues with charging after applying the watchOS 8.1.1 update, and additional complaints come from those that have updated to watchOS 8.3.
While Apple has not announced that a fix is on the way, something will likely be done about the issue in a future update.
