It appears that more of Apple’s new devices are experiencing bugs, with Apple Watch 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 users reporting screens flickering when set to Always-On.
While we were fortunate not to experience any inconvenience when testing the devices for our Apple Watch Series 9 review and our Apple Watch Ultra 2 review, many users took the plunge social media and official Apple Support forums to report the screen flickering bug. They have also reported complications occasionally flashing pink, seemingly for no reason.
Fortunately, it sounds like a solution is on the way – and best of all, you don’t have to send in your new smartwatch to have the hardware replaced.
That’s because – according to a leaked internal memo shared by MacRumors – Apple appears to be developing a fix that it will roll out via a watchOS software update. The memo reportedly instructs service providers not to attempt to repair affected hardware. Instead, Apple says they should encourage customers who own affected devices to keep their smartwatches up to date with the latest Apple Watch software.
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Hopefully this Apple Watch patch will roll out to Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 devices soon, but if you can’t wait, there’s an immediate, short-term fix: you’ll need to disable the Always-On setting.
Once this feature is disabled, it appears that Apple Watch users will no longer experience screen flickering issues. That said, turning it off has the downside of not being able to take advantage of the aesthetics and utility of your Apple Watch always telling the time.
We imagine that a good solution should be rolled out quite quickly, given Apple’s track record. Less than a week after identifying an overheating issue with the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple released a software patch that resolved the issue without any performance drawbacks.