‘Ghost Touch’ bug affects more Apple Watches than previously thought

A serious bug known to affect the two most recent Apple Watch models is more widespread than previously thought, Apple has admitted in a memo to authorized repair companies. As well as the Series 9 and Ultra 2 launched in late 2023, it also affects three models from previous years: the Series 7, Series 8, and Ultra 1.

Back in February, an apparently leaked internal memo revealed that Apple was aware of a screen problem with its newest smartwatches which the company referred to as “false touches.” Despite Apple’s somewhat mild description of the issue, customers reported that it could cause the screen to jump around or behave erratically without any input, and coined the term “ghost touches.”

This week, Twitter/X user StellaFudge (reported by MacRumors) has revealed the existence of another memo, this time one shared with Apple Authorized Service Providers. In the memo, Apple further admits that false/ghost touches can affect the Apple Watch Series 8 and Ultra 1 from 2022, and the Series 7 from 2021.

“Apple has advised us not to replace watches for this issue,” StellaFudge says, “and to tell people to basically force restart the watch by holding both buttons together for 10 seconds and also keep your watches [software] up-to-date.” The first part is the same advice that was given in February for the newer watches, but the latter part is significant: watchOS 10.4 is understood to have contained a fix for the ghost touch problem, and the instruction to make sure customers have the latest version of watchOS suggests that this fix is likely to work on older models too.

For help read How to update software on your Apple Watch.

Author: David Price, Editor