Apple Has a Fix for Your New Apple Watch’s Restart Bug

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Apple’s latest Apple Watches, the Series 12 and the Ultra 4, should be the “best” smartwatches the company has to offer. While they’re minor upgrades over the Series 11 and Ultra 3, there are some key improvements, including the new S11 chip and a heart rate monitor that checks your pulse every five seconds. If you picked up one of these watches, you might have put these new upgrades to the test—that is, if your watch didn’t restart on you.

As reported by MacRumors, Apple’s latest smartwatches appear prone to unexpected restarts. That’s according to numerous posts on the site’s forums, with users saying their watches abruptly show a blank screen with the Apple logo. There doesn’t appear to be any particular action that triggers it: Users say their watches rebooted when recording a workout, using Siri AI, editing watch faces, or using the Maps app. Many users on this Reddit thread share similar experiences with their new watches. Some users dug deeper, pulling their Apple Watches’ diagnostics at the time of rebooting. Rather than a specific function, the culprit appears to be a timeout with the Neural Engine, the hardware that processes Apple’s AI features.

Users tried multiple workarounds themselves: One Redditor simply turned the watch off and on themself, and the issue never returned; others tried resetting the watch as new, but experienced rebooting again. MacRumors highlighted one case where a user received a replacement from Apple, and it, too, rebooted unexpectedly. It does appear to be an issue with the Series 12 and Ultra 4, and, luckily, Apple figured it out.

watchOS 27.0.1 fixes unexpected reboots with Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4

On Wednesday, Apple unexpectedly released watchOS 27.0.1. The update has a brief changelog, with only one new addition: “This update provides bug fixes for your Apple Watch, including fixing an issue where Apple Watch may restart unexpectedly.” Apple didn’t clarify exactly what it changed to fix the issue, but at least the reboots should be over.

This update is only for Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 users, so don’t expect to see it unless you have one of Apple’s newest wearables. If you do, make sure to install it as soon as possible to avoid dealing with these unexpected restarts. To install watchOS 27.0.1, head to the Apple Watch app, then tap My Watch and go to General > Software Update.