Apple Watch Ultra Elevation Way Off

[PGeorgeMD]

So I restored my iPhone 13 Pro from backup as well as my watch and it works so far! The phone restoration seemed to make the difference.

 

[PGeorgeMD]

Great, thanks. I’ve just gone through diagnostics with Apple. Nothing wrong with the AWU hardware. I did go through a iPhone update to 16.1 so might see if that works before the full reset!

Thanks for that info. So resetting and restoring my iPhone 13pro worked for me! Elevation seems to be what it should be now.

 

[B737]

Apple Watch 7 here, have also been dealing with this bug for a long time. I fly for a living and thought it was some confusion going between surface, up to cabin altitude and then back down several times a day...

Sometimes it fixes itself and reads correctly for a few weeks, then randomly it will start indicating about 5,000' high for a few weeks. Phone is always accurate but the watch isn't.

 

[Jackbequickly]

My vehicle GPS says 10 ft as does my Series 7 SBTi.

 

[RazorV]

I live in the Rocky Mountains here in Colorado and I work in Estes Park. My home Altitude is 8,655'. I bought the Apple Ulta Watch Friday and it's been reading fine at home. I've been at home since Friday (sick). I'm back to work now and Estes Park is at 7,600' (approx). My Ulta still says 8,383'.

I have always used and worn my Garmin Tactix Delta and it never - ever, misread the altitude. But thought I would try the Apple Ulta Watch. $800+ with tax and the damn thing can't even keep up with the elevation changes out here in the Mountains. We had a major winter storm push through yesterday too which dropped pressure, maybe that affected it. Got 8" of snow up here.

So what am I to do now? Any suggestions?

 

[RazorV]

Great, thanks. I’ve just gone through diagnostics with Apple. Nothing wrong with the AWU hardware. I did go through a iPhone update to 16.1 so might see if that works before the full reset!

That is just what I want to do after spending $800+ on a Watch that is supposed to tell the Altitude and bearing. What the hell does the AWU have to do with the iPhone in order to tell these statistics? Is it not supposed to be able to display the Altitude and Compass bearing w/o an iPhone?

I think I'm going back to my Garmin Tactix Delta. Never an issue - I went through major elevation changes out here in Colorado and storms that drop the pressure in a few hours. The Garmin never had an issue and provides storm alerts based on pressure changes at a stable altitude of incoming storms when out in the field.

 

[surfzen21]

I see. Mine matches my iPhone pretty closely. The Watch does say +/- 20ft and maybe that margin changes depending on circumstances

I know this thread is old but I just got an Ultra about a week ago.

Mine isn't as off as some of the others but it does seem to be off or swing up and down by about 20ish feet.

I went for a beach run the other day. It was low tide and I was right at the shore line. After my run I decided to review my metrics. It said my elevation varied from about 2ft to about 25ft. That's not possible based on my run. A 3 foot swing would be the max.

If im siting on my couch it will show anywhere from 5ft to 35ft depending on the day.

 

[velorandy]

Mine is off too, about 3000’ too high… then all of a sudden it’s dead nuts on??? If this isn’t fixed within the return window, back it goes. Main reason I bought this device over a Garmin was for its new “improved” GPS. Online chatted with Apple Support, they had no solution… except be patient. Pretty disappointed.

Update - I ended up sending mine back after months of inaccurate readings. They sent me another Ultra, this one has been completely accurate. So this leads me to believe it’s a hardware issue instead of a software problem as Apple suggested.

 

[surfzen21]

Update - I ended up sending mine back after months of inaccurate readings. They sent me another Ultra, this one has been completely accurate. So this leads me to believe it’s a hardware issue instead of a software problem as Apple suggested.

I wonder how much it has to be off before they consider it a hardware error. Im guessing my 20-40 feet difference wont be enough.

 

[Jon J]

Similar issue, was working correctly at one point but seems to have changed. It's lumping elevation spikes doing stair climbs and not tracking with HR intervals. Was getting about 1500 ft for 2.5 miles but now it's 600ish. Annoying,

 

[Ament]

Guys, do you know an app for the AWU that shows elevation graph for the last 24h?