Some Apple Watch Series 10 Users Experiencing Speaker Volume Issue

If the audio playing through your Apple Watch Series 10's speaker becomes harder to hear after repeated use, you are not alone.

Series 10 Volume Issues Feature
There are a growing number of complaints about a potential Apple Watch Series 10 speaker issue across the Apple Support Community and Reddit. Affected users say the speaker audio becomes quiet or muffled over time, even after using the Water Lock feature to eject water from the speaker following swimming or another water activity.

The low volume affects both phone calls and music, according to the complaints.

It is unclear how widespread this issue is, or if there is an underlying hardware or software problem. If a hardware issue affects enough customers, Apple sometimes opts to launch a service program offering free repairs. If a software issue is discovered, then Apple should be able to address it with a future watchOS update.

Apple Watch Series 10 models launched in September 2024. I was unable to replicate the issue on my Apple Watch Series 10, but I have only owned it for about six weeks and have not used the speaker much, as I tend to use AirPods Pro.

We have reached out to Apple for comment about this matter, and we will update this post in the unlikely event that the company responds.

Update: Apple has published a support document outlining steps to try if your Apple Watch's speaker or microphone are not working as expected.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
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...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
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 ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT 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 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...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
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...
iOS 26 Screens

Here Are All the iOS 26 Features That Require iPhone 15 Pro or Newer

Thursday June 12, 2025 4:53 am PDT by
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...
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Apple to Let iPhone Users Watch Videos on CarPlay Screen While Parked

Thursday June 12, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
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 on Three iPhones

Hate iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design? Here's How to Tone It Down

Wednesday June 11, 2025 4:22 pm PDT by
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 ...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
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 ...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
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...

Top Rated Comments

zilchfox Avatar
18 weeks ago
I guess I'm the only one who keeps my watch continuously muted forever, and never use it for music or phone calls since I use my iPhone and AirPods for that. Perhaps I should test this to see if I'm affected, too.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Razorpit Avatar
18 weeks ago
You're listening to it wrong. ?

I had what sounds like (see what I did there?) a similar issue. This was going back to the days of the 0. Turns out I had dirt behind the speaker grill that I could not see. Brought it in to the store and the Genius Bar was able to clean it out for me.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
goonie4life9 Avatar
18 weeks ago
Not to worry, everyone, because the official Apple Support protocol is in effect:
[LIST=1]
* This is not an issue because if it was, Apple Support would know about it before it ever affected a customer, because Apple Support talks to millions of customers a minute.
* For this known issue, the first step is to restart the device. If that doesn't resolve the issue, the next step is to force reboot the device.
* If the force reboot doesn't work, unpairing and re-pairing the device should resolve the issue. When you re-pair the device, be sure to set it up as new.
* If re-pairing the device doesn't work, Apple Support will need to make an RTA to Engineering. To do that, you'll need to submit logs. Apple Support will collect logs from the Settings app, with Mail logging enabled, just to be safe.
* Once the logs are collected, the RTA to Engineering will be started. Engineering will reply within 48 hr.
* Engineering's reply will be that they are aware of the issue, keep your device up to date, and no further troubleshooting will be provided.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Hayden_ Avatar
18 weeks ago
Weirdly enough, I literally had this issue yesterday. I woke up, and the speaker sounded muffled/distorted. I ran it under watch and using a little brush on the speakers, which seems to have resolved the issue. Maybe it's to do with the speak grille being big this time round and as such, easier for it to get obstructed with lint, etc?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Godspeed8230 Avatar
18 weeks ago

We have reached out to Apple for comment about this matter, and we will update this post in the unlikely event that the company responds.
:D So Apple is known for not responding to this type of inquiry?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
18 weeks ago
I had this issue on my SBSS S4, got it replaced under AC+
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)