New Apple Watches unexpectedly restart for users
Reports may point to a software problem, but Apple has not officially confirmed the complaints.
Owners of the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 report unexpected restarts. Shared diagnostic logs appear to show a Neural Engine timeout affecting several users, but no independent error rate has yet been established.
The reports appeared shortly after the new watches had been delivered to customers. Users describe the screen suddenly going black, followed by the Apple logo appearing and the watch restarting. This is said to happen with Siri, Maps, the App Store, phone calls and workouts, but sometimes also when the watch was not actively being used.
MacRumors counted around thirty reports in its forum discussion. At least four users shared a so-called panic-full log in which an Apple Neural Engine timeout allegedly appears. According to the analysis, the processor hangs for about two seconds before the firmware restarts the watch because of a kernel panic.
The reports do not constitute a representative sample. Forum users experiencing problems are more likely to post a message than people whose watches work normally. As a result, these reports cannot establish how often the problem occurs or whether all the reports have the same cause.
The restarts have been reported on both the original version of watchOS 27.0 and the update that new watches received during installation. Some users say that erasing the watch and setting it up as a new device did not help. Other users, however, report that a software update reduced the complaints.
Apple presented the Series 12 and Ultra 4 as devices with a redesigned health-sensor system and new features for heart-rate variability, vital signs and a daily readiness score. These features use new sensors and software, but the user reports do not prove that these health functions are causing the restarts.
As far as has been publicly reported, Apple has not published a statement or recall concerning these complaints. It therefore remains unclear whether this involves a software bug, a specific combination of hardware and watchOS, or several separate problems. The reports are therefore primarily a user signal and not yet a confirmed product-defect report.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The text clearly distinguishes between reported user experiences and established facts. The product features were checked against Apple’s own announcement.
- confirmed Users of the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 report unexpected restarts. — MacRumors documents reports on forums and other public platforms. source
- confirmed At least four shared diagnostic logs point to a Neural Engine timeout. — MacRumors describes the shared panic-full logs. source
- confirmed Apple has not yet officially confirmed the complaints. — MacRumors reports that Apple has not responded to the issue. source
- confirmed The new watches have a redesigned health-sensor system and a readiness score. — Apple describes these features in the official product announcement. source