Apple Watch’s Rumored Low Power Mode ‘Still in Development’ for watchOS 9

In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman said an expanded Low Power Mode is still in development for the Apple Watch and on track for release around the same time as the public release of watchOS 9 later this year.

While the Apple Watch already features a Power Reserve mode that displays only the time on the screen to preserve battery life, Gurman said the expanded Low Power Mode would allow for use of apps and other features in a low-power state. Gurman first reported that the feature was in development in April, but Apple did not announce the feature when previewing watchOS 9 at its developers conference WWDC in June.

Gurman believes that Apple could announce the new Low Power Mode at a later date, much like the new Lockdown Mode for iOS 16 was announced after WWDC. watchOS 9 is expected to be released in September alongside the launch of the Apple Watch Series 8, a new Apple Watch SE, and a new rugged/extreme version of the Apple Watch.

Gurman has previously claimed that the Low Power Mode could be a “hardware-exclusive feature,” suggesting that it may be limited to the Apple Watch Series 8 and potentially other new models. In his newsletter today, Gurman opined that Low Power Mode may work hand-in-hand with some of the rugged Apple Watch’s new features.