Some Apple Watch Series 8 and Ultra Users Experiencing Microphone Issues

A growing number of user reports online suggest the microphone on some new Apple Watch Series 8 and Ultra models can become persistently unresponsive after an unspecified amount of time, causing apps that rely on the mic to throw up errors and stop working.

measurement suspended apple watch bug

Photo shared by MacRumors forum member 2259 depicting the issue

Users have taken to the MacRumors forums and the Apple Support Community forums to relate the issue, which results in the following error notification from the Noise app, and also prevents system functions including Siri, Dictation, and Handwashing detection from working:

Measurement Suspended
The Noise app cannot check sound levels when Apple Watch is in Water Lock or while the microphone or speaker is in use.

Based on reports, the issue can be temporarily resolved by restarting the Apple Watch until the bug eventually manifests itself again, suggesting the problem is software-related rather than a hardware defect.

Updating affected Ultra watches to the latest post-release version of watchOS 9 doesn't fix the issue, which Apple is apparently aware of. The company has been replacing new models under warranty, presumably until it patches the bug in a forthcoming software update. We'll update this article if we learn more.

(Thanks, Henrik and Anthony!)

Related Forum: Apple Watch

Popular Stories

Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...

Top Rated Comments

David1964 Avatar
42 months ago
Problem after problem after problem ?‍♂️
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Eldaerenth Faexidor Avatar
42 months ago

Microphones, and quality sound in general, have never been a thing for Apple. For each sound engineer there are probably five accountants watching over them, forbidding and admonishing absolutely anything and everything they want to do to improve the sound.

Quality microphones are EXPENSIVE, and Apple excels at “the cheapest possible component that is just barely good enough” sold with the finest marketing, and with a higher than previously considered possible price.

Sound engineering is probably the saddest job at Apple.
Lol. The OG HomePod is the most sophisticated piece of engineering feat Apple has ever created. The beamforming mics on those things are absolutely bonkers. They’re so good that they’re able to pick up sound from the other side of my house and I have a pretty big house (just for reference). The speakers on the iPhone 14 Pro are crystal clear and have an incredibly wide soundstage. The APP2’s are very pleasant to listen to without developing any ear fatigue. Apple’s sound engineering is close to stellar and I’m not an Apple fanboy.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JonathanParker Avatar
42 months ago
Here we go again
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FridgeToaster Avatar
42 months ago
I've got the exactly same issue on my Series 7.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
42 months ago

I've got the exactly same issue on my Series 7.
I randomly have had that issue on Series 6 as well. Not even on the latest OS
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aries81 Avatar
42 months ago
In before “this would not have happened if Steve Jobs was still around”
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)