Apple Investigating Display Flickering Issue Affecting Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2

Apple is investigating an issue where the display brightness briefly flickers or "pulses" on some Apple Watch models when Always On mode is enabled, according to an internal service memo shared with Apple Authorized Service Providers today.

Apple Watch Ultra 2 hero feature white
The memo does not indicate which Apple Watch models are affected, but the issue appears to be most prevalent on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models released last month. There are complaints from customers about this issue across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community website. The issue appears to be present on all watchOS 10 versions, including the latest watchOS 10.0.2 release.

Apple says service providers should not repair affected watches, and instead advise customers to keep their Apple Watch software up to date, suggesting that Apple will eventually make a fix available in a watchOS update. It's unclear if Apple has addressed the issue in watchOS 10.1, which is expected to be released to the public next week.

As a temporary solution, Apple says customers can turn off Always On mode in the Settings app under Display & Brightness → Always On.

Apple Watch Pink Complications
Apple is also investigating an issue where complications like Activity rings on a watch face might "temporarily turn pink," according to the memo. This is another issue that has been reported by some customers online in recent weeks.

Related Forum: Apple Watch

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Production Will Reportedly Begin Ramping Up in October

Tuesday July 23, 2024 2:00 pm PDT by
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Kuo: Ultra-Thin iPhone 17 to Feature A19 Chip, Single Rear Camera, Semi-Titanium Frame, and More

Wednesday July 24, 2024 9:06 am PDT by
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
icloud private relay outage

iCloud Private Relay Experiencing Outage

Thursday July 25, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature Purple

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Mechanical Aperture

Tuesday July 23, 2024 9:32 am PDT by
Apple is planning to release at least one iPhone 17 model next year with mechanical aperture, according to a report published today by The Information. The mechanical system would allow users to adjust the size of the iPhone 17's aperture, which refers to the opening of the camera lens through which light enters. All existing iPhone camera lenses have fixed apertures, but some Android...

Top Rated Comments

whoknows2597 Avatar
10 months ago
Here for the “quality control under Tim Apple” posts
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Royksöpp Avatar
10 months ago
Jesus H Christ. What is going on this year? Did they lose all their top software engineers? Overheating iPhones and Screen Retention are huge issues. Now, one of the headline features of the premium Apple watches should be turned off as a workaround? Simply unacceptable for a company of this caliber.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kerplunknet Avatar
10 months ago
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mxrider88 Avatar
10 months ago
We came to a point where we are excited about new iOS updates not for the features but for the bug fixes. It’s a joke.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mxrider88 Avatar
10 months ago
Let me guess…. It’s a software issue!

What a bunch of morons they have in the software department. I don’t understand why they don’t give a termination letter to the one in charge of software over there. They terminated Forstall over maps. Why can’t they terminate this one over the mess that the whole ecosystem turned out to be???
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
synv Avatar
10 months ago
10.1 Beta RC appears to have addressed the issue, for anyone curious.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)