A Few Apple Watch Users Experiencing Band Locking Issues
Less than a week after the release of the Apple Watch, a few issues with the wrist-worn device have been spotted by early adopters. The first issue involves full sleeve tattoos interfering with the Apple Watch's heart rare sensor and skin contact registration, while MacRumors forum member Smickers has shared a new video that shows an Apple Watch with a nonfunctioning band locking mechanism.
"So, I took off my jacket Sunday and out of the sleeve comes my SS Apple Watch and drops on the floor and slides for a bit before stopping. Turns out the locking mechanism wasn't locking the strap," writes MacRumors forum member Smickers. "On closer inspection it requires a number of tries, pulling and pushing the strap to get it to lock. It's just the top strap. One scratched casing, with the glass fine."
The user claims that after he contacted Apple on Monday to have the Apple Watch replaced through AppleCare, the company requested that he ship the device to Ireland for inspection by an engineering team. Three days later, he allegedly received confirmation from Apple that the Apple Watch was indeed faulty, and the company will be expediting him a brand new device in sealed retail packaging within 24 hours.
Fortunately, this issue does not appear to be widespread and is only affecting a limited number of users. "I had this same problem when I first received my SS Apple Watch with Milanese Loop," said
MacRumors forum member Ryxmd. "I had it on my wrist and noticed that the top strap had some movement. I took off the watch and tried to get it to lock in. After 3-4 tries, it finally locked into place."
It is largely unsurprising that the first-generation Apple Watch has a few isolated issues that Apple will inevitably fix, especially given that the wrist-worn device is Apple's first new product category since 2010. Yesterday, it was reported that defective Taptic Engines from one of Apple's suppliers has contributed to Apple Watch supply constraints, but fortunately no faulty devices were shipped to customers.
Popular Stories
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why.
In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup.
If you skipped the iPhone...
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro.
The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
With iOS 26, Apple has introduced some major changes to the iPhone experience, headlined by the new Liquid Glass redesign that's available across all compatible devices. However, several of the update's features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, since they rely on Apple Intelligence.
The following features are powered by on-device large language models and machine...
Apple this week announced that iPhone users will soon be able to watch videos right on the CarPlay screen in supported vehicles.
iPhone users will be able to wirelessly stream videos to the CarPlay screen using AirPlay, according to Apple. For safety reasons, video playback will only be available when the vehicle is parked, to prevent distracted driving. The connected iPhone will be able to...
iOS 26 features a whole new design material that Apple calls Liquid Glass, with a focus on transparency that lets the content on your display shine through the controls. If you're not a fan of the look, or are having trouble with readability, there is a step that you can take to make things more opaque without entirely losing out on the new look.
Apple has multiple Accessibility options that ...
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March.
As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta.
Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device.
The revised beta addresses an...