Apple is apparently looking into a ‘ghost touches’ bug on the Apple Watch 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which (as the name suggests) means that taps and swipes are being registered even when the display isn’t being touched.
As per a memo sent to Apple Authorized Service Providers and seen by MacRumors, Apple is aware of the issue and is actively investigating it. If that’s the case and Apple is actually taking notice, the problem must be fairly widespread.
That said, we can’t find too many reports online from people who’ve been experiencing this specific problem. The mentions of it that we have discovered aren’t particularly recent, though of course not everyone who finds a bug on their Apple device then goes and posts about it on the internet.
“Some customers may report their Apple Watch Series 9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2 is experiencing false touches on their display,” says the memo, so it doesn’t appear that this is currently affecting older versions of the wearable.
Unwanted actions
These ghost touches can start phone calls and prevent a smartwatch’s passcode from being entered, according to the memo, so if you’ve been experiencing these problems on your own Apple Watch then you’re not alone.
Right now it’s not clear what’s causing the issue, or when Apple might be able to roll out a fix (if indeed it can be fixed by a software update). It’s also not clear just how many users have reported the bug.
If your Apple Watch 9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2 is exhibiting this kind of behavior, at the moment there’s no temporary fix that’s guaranteed to work for everyone – though Apple’s memo suggests that force restarting an affected watch and keeping its software right up to date may help to an extent.
The comments underneath the MacRumors article indicate that a reboot or a hard reset could also help fix the problem, at least for a while. If we hear anything that’s more official from Apple, then we will of course let you know.