Apple Investigating 'Ghost Touches' Issue Affecting Some Series 9 and Ultra 2 Watches

[MacRumors]

In an internal memo shared with Apple Authorized Service Providers this week, Apple said it is "aware of" and "investigating" a touch-related issue affecting some Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 displays.

"Some customers may report their Apple Watch Series 9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2 is experiencing false touches on their display," reads Apple's memo, obtained by MacRumors. Apple said some customers may describe the issue as "ghost" touches.

The issue may cause the screen on affected Apple Watch models to "jump erratically" or exhibit other unexpected behavior, without any user interaction, according to Apple. The memo said the issue can also result in an Apple Watch starting a phone call unintentionally, and prevent users from entering the device's passcode.

Apple recommends that customers keep their Apple Watch's software up to date, suggesting that the company is hopeful it will be able to address the issue in a future watchOS update. Apple did not say how widespread the issue is, or provide a timeframe for a potential fix. It is unclear if defective hardware is a contributing factor.

Apple has instructed technicians not to repair affected Apple Watch models while it investigates. In the meantime, technicians are told to ask customers who are experiencing this issue to force restart their Apple Watch by holding down the Digital Crown and the side button at the same time for at least 10 seconds, until the Apple logo appears.

Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models were released in September 2023.

Article Link: Apple Investigating 'Ghost Touches' Issue Affecting Some Series 9 and Ultra 2 Watches

 

[Kissmo1980]

I bought mine almost immediately after launch.
It came with an exorcist band - never experience any ghosts.

 

[Jimmy Bubbles]

Those ghosts are messing around now, huh?

 

[krspkbl]

i've had the opposite issue. i touch the screen and it often doesn't recognise it so i need to tap again. very unresponsive and slow.

 

[ShivneelSingh]

Nah, they just want us to take it back to an Apple Store so they can "fix" it.
They're going to call it a "recall," but they just want to disable the blood-oxygen sensor.

They ain't getting a hold of mine. Nope.

 

[AstroRexaur]

Happened to me a few days ago. Did a hard reset, problem solved.

 

[Entilzha]

Nah, they just want us to take it back to an Apple Store so they can "fix" it.
They're going to call it a "recall," but they just want to disable the blood-oxygen sensor.

They ain't getting a hold of mine. Nope.

…you think Apple is doing this to disable your blood oxygen sensor?

If you believe that, I have some custom crypto for you to buy, only $10,000 per coin!

 

[jz0309]

Other than the widget screen popping up depending on what I do, I have not experienced this on my Ultra 2

 

[jz0309]

Nah, they just want us to take it back to an Apple Store so they can "fix" it.
They're going to call it a "recall," but they just want to disable the blood-oxygen sensor.

They ain't getting a hold of mine. Nope.

Gee, really, starting yet another conspiracy theory ;(

 

[munpip214]

Nah, they just want us to take it back to an Apple Store so they can "fix" it.
They're going to call it a "recall," but they just want to disable the blood-oxygen sensor.

They ain't getting a hold of mine. Nope.

I don’t think they would disable existing ones, but if they do replace with a new one then yes, that one might be disabled.

 

[Joe Rossignol]

Nah, they just want us to take it back to an Apple Store so they can "fix" it.
They're going to call it a "recall," but they just want to disable the blood-oxygen sensor.

They ain't getting a hold of mine. Nope.

Lol, what?

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

The ghost of Masimo protecting their patent

 

[JCCL]

I don't think it's limited to Ultra 2 and Series 9 models. I've had this issue happen with my Ultra 1. At times apps I didn't open are open.

 

[ghostface147]

How about Siri just activating on its own on my watch. I never say hey siri or Siri, I’m just talking to someone and I see it transcribing. Weird.

 

[happy2000hk]

I couldn’t unlock my ultra 1 today. Wouldn’t register my touches. Rebooted. Working fine for now.

 

[jdogg836]

I don’t think they would disable existing ones, but if they do replace with a new one then yes, that one might be disabled.

Only if the unit is out of warranty. If it's still within manufacturer's warranty or AppleCare+, the replacement will still have it. Out of warranty, you'll be asked to sign acknowledging that your replacement will not have the feature. It's easy to walk away at that point if you want to avoid losing the feature.

 

[Wingdinger]

i've had the opposite issue. i touch the screen and it often doesn't recognise it so i need to tap again. very unresponsive and slow.

Same issue here, although it’s only occasional. 99% of the time it’s fine. Edit to add that it’s an Ultra 2.

 

[whiteashsaturday]

Series 9 here, until the first watchOS 10.1 upgrade, mine was slow to respond to "changes" in the way the Series 7 with watchOS 9 did. Specifically was frustrated with the loss of "swipe to change watch face" missing. When they returned that feature, the speed of the touch was more responsive. I've yet to see any "phantom" touches.

What I do see, is if you take the watch off your wrist, and go to charge it, if you are looking at the watch face, it flicks 1 frame to a GREEN just before turning off, really rather weird.

 

[DolsJ]

Good to see this getting some attention.
My wife has had this issue with her Series 9. It has occurred twice, the first time immediately after unboxing and setting up. It was impossible to unlock the watch as the “ghost touch“ prevents being able to enter a passcode. I reset the watch and after doing the setup again the issue did not present itself. The second time it occurred in November, the display seemed to register multiple rapid touches. At the time my wife was wearing the watch and the false touches would launch random apps or toggle other settings in control center like ping iPhone etc. When attempting to reboot the watch the “ghost touch” prevented her from being able to slide the slider for power off and instead initiated a call to emergency services. A hard forced reboot resolved the issue and restored normal operation.

 

[vegetassj4]

Are they Vision Pro owners? Maybe it's their avatars doing it.

 

[cateye]

Haven't seen this on my ~1 month old Series 9, but Murphy's Law and all, I'm sure it'll ghost dial me a pizza any second now. Not that I would necessarily mind. Mmm pizza.

 

[xgman]

today it announced the time for no apparent reason . .

 

[vkodryan]

Well, I have a similar issue and I don’t know if it’s the same. I noticed that during my outdoor workout activities while wearing a winter jacket my AW9 spontaneously stops the workout or drops a distance mark like every 1 m or stops the music track playing or skips the current track All the while I am not touching it! I am just walking. It has become so bad that I have to lock the screen after starting the workout as if I am swimming. Initially, I thought that maybe my sleeve gets wet with sweat during outdoor workouts and interacts with the screen but then I never experienced this issue with AW6 or AW2 in the same situations.

Before I read this article about ghost touches I wrote a feedback on Apple support page on this issue. I have a call scheduled for tomorrow. I have never had such a disastrous experience with AW workouts in winter.

 

[BanjoDudeAhoy]

Haven't seen this on my ~1 month old Series 9, but Murphy's Law and all, I'm sure it'll ghost dial me a pizza any second now. Not that I would necessarily mind. Mmm pizza.

As long as one can pay with ghost money, I'm all for that

 

[sw1tcher]

"Some customers may report their Apple Watch Series 9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2 is experiencing false touches on their display," reads Apple's memo, obtained by MacRumors. Apple said some customers may describe the issue as "ghost" touches.

Do these "ghost" touches occur when the Watch is running a workout app and users are exorcising? 😜