Apple Watch Series 5 randomly unresponsive

[bodonnell202]

Over the last few days my Apple Watch Series 5 running WatchOS 10.0.1 has developed a strange issue. It will randomly vibrate like there is a notification, but when I look at it the screen will have turned off (I do keep the AOD on) and it will be unresponsive for a few minutes (tapping on the screen or any of the buttons does nothing). After a few minutes the screen will come back on and it is back to normal. It doesn't appear to be resetting either as the Apple logo doesn't pop up and I don't need to unlock it once the screen comes back on. Battery Health is currently 85%. Is this a WatchOS 10 bug, battery getting weak issue or just the watch getting old and unreliable? I've been torn between upgrading to a Series 9 now versus trying to hold out for 1 more year and waiting for a Series X but this may push me towards upgrading now...

 

[jz0309]

Over the last few days my Apple Watch Series 5 running WatchOS 10.0.1 has developed a strange issue. It will randomly vibrate like there is a notification, but when I look at it the screen will have turned off (I do keep the AOD on) and it will be unresponsive for a few minutes (tapping on the screen or any of the buttons does nothing). After a few minutes the screen will come back on and it is back to normal. It doesn't appear to be resetting either as the Apple logo doesn't pop up and I don't need to unlock it once the screen comes back on. Battery Health is currently 85%. Is this a WatchOS 10 bug, battery getting weak issue or just the watch getting old and unreliable? I've been torn between upgrading to a Series 9 now versus trying to hold out for 1 more year and waiting for a Series X but this may push me towards upgrading now...

upgrade to 10.0.2 (been out several. weeks) or to 10.1 (might release tomorrow).
if it stilll happens after that, do a un-pair/re-pair and ideally set up as new

 

[bodonnell202]

upgrade to 10.0.2 (been out several. weeks) or to 10.1 (might release tomorrow).
if it stilll happens after that, do a un-pair/re-pair and ideally set up as new

10.0.2 is exclusively for Series 9 and Ultra 2. 10.0.1 is still the latest available for Series 5. Will definitely give 10.1 a shot when it comes out though.

 

[Grid]

I've been experiencing this or a similar problem with my S5 since I installed the watchOS10 beta (but without the vibration). Once or twice a week the screen goes black and the watch is unresponsive for about 20-30 seconds. Since it only started with OS10 and seems to be triggered by a change in screen state (when I am starting to or about to interact with the watch), I have my fingers crossed that it is a software problem. Hopefully 10.1 will fix it because I'd like to get another year out of the S5 (especially if a big watch update is coming next year). I set the watch up as new when I upgraded my phone last month and that did not fix the problem with the watch.

 

[PhotoPhan]

I just registered here so I can follow and respond in this thread. I too have a series 5 and I just updated to 10.1 from 9.*. First noticed this issue yesterday (4 times!) and again this morning. Interested in following the comments here.

I sure hope this gets fixed with an early 10.1.1.

 

[bodonnell202]

Just an update. I actually haven’t had the issue since updating to WatchOS 10.1 and my battery life seems to have improved too so for the moment I’m going to stick with my Series 5. Perhaps it will make it to September 2024 after all.