I was thinking the same thing. Mine sometimes comes off the charger quite warm. Could be softening whatever adhesives are used.
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Back fell out of Apple watch
- Thread starter melburstein
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Never heard of the iOpener, but when I want to soften up a product's glue, I just leave it out in the sun for a while. If it's a particularly tough job, half an hour sitting in the car in the sun does it.
You should email that to Tim Cook. Their decision not to stock white box replacements for the Watch doesn't make for a good customer experience whether or not you have AC+.
From my link earlier in the thread:
Here's the teardown page, and the iOpener is used in Step 7:
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Apple+Watch+Teardown/40655
You could be right. My wife had left the watch on the charger for maybe 48 hours before removing it. She kept telling me: "Maybe I left it on he charger too long." I'm the computer "expert" in our family and I've said repeatedly:"No, that has nothing to do with it." I owe my wife an apology.
It's less than a year old so the standard warranty covers it. AppleCare+ doesn't come into play here.
It doesn't come into play as far as getting a replacement. However, it makes a difference in how fast you get the replacement. Without AppleCare+, you send the defective watch back to Apple, they inspect it, and send out the replacement. With ApleCare+, they ship out the replacement immediately (with a hold placed on your credit card), you get the replacement, then pack up your defective watch and send it back (and Apple releases the hold when they get the defective watch). Could make a difference of a few days to week or more in getting the replacement watch.
I assume that Apple will be considering stocking replacements now that supplies aren't constrained, although only they know what makes sense financially based on the failure and sales rates for various models. But, in the meantime, there's no reason why someone who bought AC and calls Apple or uses their online support should get a faster turnaround than someone who goes to an Apple Store for the same service. I think we agree on that.
Agreed, although I doubt supply constraints were the reason. Supply has always been constrained at every iPhone launch, yet they've managed to stock white box replacements for iPhones. It'd just be the Watch body only as white box replacements so it has nothing to do with some of the bands (Link Bracelet, Modern Buckle, etc.) being unavailable for many weeks right off the bat.
those guides demonstrate how the watch is put together, and it gives us a good idea why a back would pop out.
I believe that Apple has branded their warranty services as AppleCare. However, if the off chance that you mean "has AC coverage" as something more than the standard warranty that almost all vendors offer for their products, then I's say that this should be the case if for any defective device within its standard warranty for workmanship. AC, AC+ be damned.
[edit - clarified AC and standard warranty as one and the same in Apple's eye]
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If sliding the puck off was required to maintain the watch, then Apple should engineer that in, IMO. I say live with it as you expect to in the longterm. If reasonable use causes it to fall apart, better to learn about it early when you might have some coverage than later when you are well out of warranty.
Not necessarily. Before AC+, we had AppleCare for iPhone, which offered no accidental damage coverage but merely extended the standard warranty and phone support into the second year.
Some members may use the term indiscriminately to refer to either AC+ or the standard warranty, hence the confusion. We should call the one-year standard warranty "standard warranty" to prevent confusion.
I just removed my Apple Watch from the charger and noticed the 4 rings on the back were not symmetrical. Then I tried twisting it and it indeed moved! Going to just walk in the Apple Store today without an appointment since they are probably booked. Will update after.
You'd think the engineers would have added at least a slight twist-lock mechanism to aid the glue.
Maybe next revision.
Maybe next revision.
Chinese factories really need to start using robots for stuff like this.
Quanta is the sole Apple Watch factory at this time. They're used to making laptops, not wrist devices. And they use robots almost exclusively for packaging and testing, not manufacturing.
Ouch! But your experience adds credence to the theory that heating while charging softens the glue sufficiently to loosen the back in a presumably small percentage of watches. (I say small because we'd probably know if this phenomenon were widespread.) Makes me wonder why Apple didn't come up with a more foolproof method of securing the back, though. Every other watch I've owned has had its back held in place by screws or some sort of robust locking mechanism. In any case, please let us know what happened at the store.
I'm visiting here in San Diego and they said I would need to have it shipped so specialists could take a look at it then decide if they should repair it or get me a replacement. They also said I might be able to exchange my Milanese band for a new one since it won't lock right away when sliding it in and needs a couple tries.
But I'm leaving Saturday so I will request a FedEx prepaid box when I get back home.
Your not the only one this has happened to, there is a page in the apple discussion forum with at least eight others that wrote about it, me being one of them.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7130986
They will replace the watch with a another one, but how long before this happens again, I mean why would you glue the back of the watch on anyway?
It's a manufacturing defect, it should not happen that often -- having it happen again would be about as likely as winning a lottery.
Gluing means less parts and thinner products. iPhones and iPads are all glued together as well.