<https://9to5mac.com/author/chmiller44/> Chance Miller
When I wrote my first
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/09/21/apple-watch-series-6-upgrade-diary/> Apple
Watch Series 6 diary piece on Monday, I was still waiting for my graphite
stainless steel model to arrive. I was concerned about the graphite
replacing the space black, and after some hands-on time, it's apparent that
the differences are noticeable, but I don't think they are a dealbreaker.
Graphite Apple Watch Series 6 vs space black
Over the years, Apple has offered
<https://9to5mac.com/2018/04/16/space-gray-odyssey/> an array of different
shades of black across its product lineups, ranging from the jet black
iPhone 7 to the space gray used in the iPhone 11 today. The stainless steel
space black Apple Watch finish fell closer to the jet black end of the
spectrum. It was a glossy, dark black finish with little visible
reflectiveness.
This year, Apple has replaced the Apple Watch space black finish with an
all-new graphite stainless steel finish. From afar, it looks similar to the
space black option it replaces: it's darker than the silver stainless steel
model but not quite as dark as the space black model was.
The differences between the space black and graphite finishes are different
enough that space black fans will easily be able to notice a difference,
even if they look similar from afar. The graphite is noticeably lighter than
the space black and much more reflective.
Battery tests
Moving away from aesthetics, my other main reason for upgrading from my
Apple Watch Series 4 was its aging battery life. As I explained earlier this
week, my Apple Watch Series 4's battery had a maximum capacity of 82% after
two years.
While Apple promises the same 18-hour battery life with the Series 6 this
year, iFixit's teardown recently revealed that the actual battery itself is
around 3% larger. Apple also says that the Apple Watch Series 6 can charge
20% faster than the Series 5. I've been monitoring my real-world Apple
Watch Series 6 battery life since last week, including sleep tracking,
workouts, and more. Here's a two-day sample size of the results:
* Friday night 10:00 p.m.: 93%, off the charger
* Saturday 6:30 a.m.: 83%, after sleep tracking
* Saturday 11 a.m.: 55%, after 100 minutes of workouts tracking
* Saturday 8 p.m.: 8%, on the charger
Time between charges: 22 hours
* Saturday 9:15 p.m.: 100%, off the charger
* Sunday 6:30 a.m.: 78%, after sleep tracking
* Sunday 12:00 p.m.: 48%, after 90 minutes of workouts tracking
* Sunday 8:00 p.m.: 10%, on the charger
Time between charges: 23 hours
* Sunday 8:58 p.m.: 87%, off the charger
One of the most concerning factors to me is the inconsistency of sleep
tracking's impact on battery life. Some nights, it's between 5% and 10%,
while other nights it's as high as 22%. I noticed this throughout the
watchOS 7 beta testing period, but the issue persists even with the stable
release of watchOS 7.
Still to come
In the next edition of my Apple Watch diary, I'll have more details on the
blue Apple Watch Series 6 and how well it matches with various Apple Watch
bands, as well as details on my cellular usage, performance improvements
with the S6 processor, and more.
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