Apple to fix ghost touches in Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2

Apple is looking into an issue that has been causing ghost touches in some units of Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches.

A memo obtained by MacRumors shows that Apple is “aware of” and “investigating” a touch-related issue affecting some Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 displays.

The memo mentioned that users of these two smart wearables could report false touch issues. The Cupertino-based tech firm said that customers may describe this issue as “ghost” touches.

Ghost touches registers touch on the display even when you’ve not even touched it. This issue is quite common in touchscreen devices and could be very disturbing.

Compared to smartphones, touchscreen watches may have some serious problems in interactions. This problem may occur in different ways including random touch activations, unresponsive areas, and frozen or erratic behavior.

Some watches even start a call unintentionally and cause passcode login failure. The company said that customers should keep their watches updated with the latest OTA software update. It’s expected that the issue will be fixed with future build versions.

Other than software, there may also be hardware issues that may contribute to ghost touches as well. Amid this new memo, Apple has instructed retail units to not engage in any repair for this issue until the investigation concludes.

If any customer is facing ghost touches on Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2, Apple has suggested a temporary fix by holding down the Digital Crown and the side button simultaneously for at least 10 seconds until the watch initiates the restart process.

Controversy:

Last December, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) banned the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 for infringing a technology patent for a blood oxygen feature from Masimo, a medical technology company.

Apple later relisted these two models online and offline after removing the feature.