I have a first gen Watch and I regularly read threads on the Apple Discussion Forums. I can’t remember reading a single post about this issue. It has flown under the radar completely. Usually sites like AI who comb through those threads post articles about “some users are experiencing...” the issue du jour. But not in this case. Apple says it is affecting a very small number of users and I believe them. Yet immediately we see “me too” posts popping up. Really? Always makes me wonder about the anonymity of the Internet and motives of some people.
I have a first gen Watch as well and have never heard of anything like this. My main complaint with the first gen model is its too damn slow! Its sooooo laggy with nearly everything, even after this most recent watchOS update. I think I'll be looking for an upgrade this fall maybe.
What I really never understood too is where people would complain about the battery life of the first gen Watch. Very rarely do I ever go below 50% battery life with it and its on from early morning until pretty much just before I go to sleep. Maybe I just don't do as much as others I guess.
Try to "Reduce Motion" and "Increase Contrast" In Settings/General/Accessibility. Some third party applications may keep it too busy with background refreshes and alike. Test this first by disabling Background App Refresh for some applications, then for all applications and finally removing third party applications one by one. As a last resort you may try to restart the watch occasionally.
Done all of that. Apple has just crippled the CPU in the first gen it makes it frustratingly slow sometimes. Its not the transitions that are slow...its actually using the watch itself. Even something as simple as pressing a button on the screen is slow to respond. I have tried factory restoring the watch too which didn't really help at all.
I have a first gen Watch and I regularly read threads on the Apple Discussion Forums. I can’t remember reading a single post about this issue. It has flown under the radar completely. Usually sites like AI who comb through those threads post articles about “some users are experiencing...” the issue du jour. But not in this case. Apple says it is affecting a very small number of users and I believe them. Yet immediately we see “me too” posts popping up. Really? Always makes me wonder about the anonymity of the Internet and motives of some people.
I have a first gen Watch as well and have never heard of anything like this. My main complaint with the first gen model is its too damn slow! Its sooooo laggy with nearly everything, even after this most recent watchOS update. I think I'll be looking for an upgrade this fall maybe.
What I really never understood too is where people would complain about the battery life of the first gen Watch. Very rarely do I ever go below 50% battery life with it and its on from early morning until pretty much just before I go to sleep. Maybe I just don't do as much as others I guess.
Try to "Reduce Motion" and "Increase Contrast" In Settings/General/Accessibility. Some third party applications may keep it too busy with background refreshes and alike. Test this first by disabling Background App Refresh for some applications, then for all applications and finally removing third party applications one by one. As a last resort you may try to restart the watch occasionally.
Done all of that. Apple has just crippled the CPU in the first gen it makes it frustratingly slow sometimes. Its not the transitions that are slow...its actually using the watch itself. Even something as simple as pressing a button on the screen is slow to respond. I have tried factory restoring the watch too which didn't really help at all.
Reduce the number of applications in the Dock, these are open all the time. For example, both a complication and its Dock application are redundant, keep only the complication or the application. WatchOS 3.2 brought some improvements, so the first generation is not abandoned at all.
I have a first gen Watch and I regularly read threads on the Apple Discussion Forums. I can’t remember reading a single post about this issue. It has flown under the radar completely. Usually sites like AI who comb through those threads post articles about “some users are experiencing...” the issue du jour. But not in this case. Apple says it is affecting a very small number of users and I believe them. Yet immediately we see “me too” posts popping up. Really? Always makes me wonder about the anonymity of the Internet and motives of some people.
I have a first gen Watch as well and have never heard of anything like this. My main complaint with the first gen model is its too damn slow! Its sooooo laggy with nearly everything, even after this most recent watchOS update. I think I'll be looking for an upgrade this fall maybe.
What I really never understood too is where people would complain about the battery life of the first gen Watch. Very rarely do I ever go below 50% battery life with it and its on from early morning until pretty much just before I go to sleep. Maybe I just don't do as much as others I guess.
Try to "Reduce Motion" and "Increase Contrast" In Settings/General/Accessibility. Some third party applications may keep it too busy with background refreshes and alike. Test this first by disabling Background App Refresh for some applications, then for all applications and finally removing third party applications one by one. As a last resort you may try to restart the watch occasionally.
I agree. I have a first gen and the only time it is slow is when it is collecting data from the phone (like: "Find my friends") -- and a faster processor won't help that. For all other apps and functions it is nearly instantaneous response.
I received one of the first Apple Watches, a 38mm sport in silver aluminum, arrived at 5pm on the 24th, or was it the 25th, of April 2015, having ordered it in the first hour of pre-orders. Serial # FH7PJJY2G99D. Slightly worse for wear, but still my favorite piece of technology and on my wrist all day everyday. If the last seven months of heat and humidity here in the Philippines hasn't swelled the battery, I expect nothing will.
Are you sure your watch is still sealed? Your sensor array looks fogged up.
I took the pic with my DSLR. That might account for why it looks different than the other Watch back shown in this thread. But it still functions perfectly in all aspects.
So? What does that have to do with this thread? Look, eventually you're going to get a battery or two that screw up and swell. Bottomline, this isn't a major issue for Apple and really never has been. When something occurs, they a look at the issue, see how widespread the issue is, find the root of the issue which they can do since they control their own hardware, and report a solution. Yes, it may not be immediately but it takes time to investigate these issues and come up with a solution.
Wait, what?
A battery or two?
Pretty much every single non-unibody MacBook battery Apple made swelled. Sure, a few failed in other ways, but at one point I had a stack of at least a few dozen of them waiting on my recycle guy.
The usual user call was for a trackpad button not working, they noticed that before they even noticed the MB not sitting on the desk evenly.
It finally got to where I would refuse to sell an Apple replacement if I couldn't get it covered under AppleCare, the Newer Technology ones weren't as bad.
I don' t think there is any aluminum corrosion, this appears to be the finish flaking off. I have very acidic hands and have had watch finishes last just month, have always had to have stainless steel. So far the Nike Watch 2 I purchased looks good after 3 months of use.
Glad for the discussion on corrosion on the Aluminum. My PowerBook G4 12" and MacBook Pro 15" 2006 as well. My MacBook Pro 15 2008 did not but maybe that was because by that time I was super paranoid and cleaned that sucker off like crazy.
While I don't believe in making things out of Gold or Unobtainium, it's nice to know that the Stainless Steel model is justified from a longevity perspective.
Pretty much every single non-unibody MacBook battery Apple made swelled. Sure, a few failed in other ways, but at one point I had a stack of at least a few dozen of them waiting on my recycle guy.
The usual user call was for a trackpad button not working, they noticed that before they even noticed the MB not sitting on the desk evenly.
It finally got to where I would refuse to sell an Apple replacement if I couldn't get it covered under AppleCare, the Newer Technology ones weren't as bad.
Yeah, those were the dark days. I think Apple ended up just doing a battery recall, an online page where you entered the serial number of the battery pack and they would mail you a new one. They encouraged you to send in your old one for recycling, but since it wasn't a safety issue they did not require you send your old one in. They were classy enough not to blame or skewer their supplier (at least not publicly) though some people collected their own stats and fingered one of the suppliers. Meanwhile other companies were experiencing actual fires, resulting in mass recalls for many brands of PC laptops.
Shortly after that, Apple started integrating cells for several reasons, including capacity, space savings, but also using their new charge controller that individually charged each cell - probably because they found that variations in cell conditions could cause a cell in a battery to fail or expand. They also said in the video they had their own cell chemistry (so they could get a 5 year life), and showed part of the construction process - a robot winding and flattening the sheets.
Meanwhile, they had to endure the lambasting the industry gave them over "planned obsolescence" and all that other crap, even though they publicly stated they would swap your cells for a very reasonable $99 or $139, labor included, (when other manufacturers were first putting only 3- or 6- cell batteries in their laptops, selling full size batteries separately, and selling replacement packs for more like $179 - $229 which lasted 18 months max).
Some PC users even went to the extreme of running their laptops with the battery removed because of all this superstition that it reduced battery life to leave it connected, and nobody wanted to pony up $200 every 18 months. And they laughed at how Mac users would be in for expensive battery replacements - which never happened, of course.
Anyway, the tradeoff for lithium ions cells seems to be something like: energy density, longevity/cycle count, safety. With the watch being ever so tiny, I suppose they pushed for higher energy density, but even in terms of "safety" there's "safety" as in: never swells (Unibody MacBooks, for the most part), swells when damaged or worn out or dendrites grow or whatever, and then downright Samsung S-Safety.
Pretty much every single non-unibody MacBook battery Apple made swelled. Sure, a few failed in other ways, but at one point I had a stack of at least a few dozen of them waiting on my recycle guy.
The usual user call was for a trackpad button not working, they noticed that before they even noticed the MB not sitting on the desk evenly.
It finally got to where I would refuse to sell an Apple replacement if I couldn't get it covered under AppleCare, the Newer Technology ones weren't as bad.
Yeah, those were the dark days. I think Apple ended up just doing a battery recall, an online page where you entered the serial number of the battery pack and they would mail you a new one. They encouraged you to send in your old one for recycling, but since it wasn't a safety issue they did not require you send your old one in. They were classy enough not to blame or skewer their supplier (at least not publicly) though some people collected their own stats and fingered one of the suppliers. Meanwhile other companies were experiencing actual fires, resulting in mass recalls for many brands of PC laptops.
Shortly after that, Apple started integrating cells for several reasons, including capacity, space savings, but also using their new charge controller that individually charged each cell - probably because they found that variations in cell conditions could cause a cell in a battery to fail or expand. They also said in the video they had their own cell chemistry (so they could get a 5 year life), and showed part of the construction process - a robot winding and flattening the sheets.
Meanwhile, they had to endure the lambasting the industry gave them over "planned obsolescence" and all that other crap, even though they publicly stated they would swap your cells for a very reasonable $99 or $139, labor included, (when other manufacturers were first putting only 3- or 6- cell batteries in their laptops, selling full size batteries separately, and selling replacement packs for more like $179 - $229 which lasted 18 months max).
Some PC users even went to the extreme of running their laptops with the battery removed because of all this superstition that it reduced battery life to leave it connected, and nobody wanted to pony up $200 every 18 months. And they laughed at how Mac users would be in for expensive battery replacements - which never happened, of course.
Anyway, the tradeoff for lithium ions cells seems to be something like: energy density, longevity/cycle count, safety. With the watch being ever so tiny, I suppose they pushed for higher energy density, but even in terms of "safety" there's "safety" as in: never swells (Unibody MacBooks, for the most part), swells when damaged or worn out or dendrites grow or whatever, and then downright Samsung S-Safety.
Here is my personal experience. In spite of being registered, having AppleCare and having known battery issues on two different MBP models, Apple made no attempt to contact me to make me aware of extended warranties.
When the batteries finally began to swell and I eventually saw the tech notes, they read 'lf you are experiencing any of these issues' but I duly visited an Apple retail store anyway only to be told that the battery swap period had ended and the battery in question was no longer being made. After some people here actually accused me of lying I went back to confirm with Apple. They stood by what they had said. I had spoken to numerous certified tech repair shops by phone with the same answer.
As for swelling, AFAIK there is no way to stop a lithium battery from swelling once the process begins. Manufacturing improvements can reduce the incidence but unibody Macs can have these issues too.
There have been recent improvements in battery design (Huawei has developed a lithium battery technology using graphene to increase the top temperature the battery can operate at and double the lifespan). I think this tech is not planned for telephone usage yet.
Why even mention Samesung? They had Exploding battery's. It wasn't the Exploding battery's that were a issue. Lithium Battery's have their issues if they're not 100% perfect, and even then,. No what was a bigger deal with Samesung is that they rushed out a FIX for their exploding phone and only made a guess at what the problem was and released a supposedly FIXED version of the phone and then those started Exploding also.
I had wondered how the hell they figured out what was wrong, and released a bunch of fixed phones in like a month or less. My guess at the time was they knew of the problem just before launch and was already figuring out the issue to get out fixed phones later. Of course we come to find out they just didn't know what the issue was and just assumed it was a battery issue from one company and not the other company. Ops, that blew up in their faces.
Anything massed produced using a Lithium Battery is going to have a few defects. That's a given. My Original Apple Watch I wear every day is just fine. I have it on right now. But for the few that are having a issue, great, Apple is stepping up and taking care of the minor problem.
Apple on Friday alerted authorized repair facilities to an Apple Watch service coverage extension for first-generation devices suffering from battery swelling, a rare issue impacting a small segment of owners.
Apple Watch screen thought to be impacted by battery swelling. | Source: Apple Support Community
According to an email sent out to Apple Authorized Service Providers, a copy of which was obtained by 9to5Mac, Apple is extending repair coverage for first-generation Apple Watch devices impacted by swollen batteries. With the new policy in place, users are provided two years of service beyond the gratis one-year limited warranty.
The email includes internal links to related Apple Watch issues, including a service articles covering enclosure separation due to expanding battery packs and processing repairs related to swollen batteries.
Like most lithium-ion battery packs, the pouches used to power Apple Watch are susceptible to swelling and expanding when punctured, overcharged, overheated or otherwise damaged. Apple products are tested and manufactured with tight tolerances to ensure consumer safety, however. For example, when a properly engineered and produced battery pack fails the incident does not snowball into an explosion or, as seen with Samsung Galaxy Note 7 devices, combustion.
The number of users affected by expanding Apple Watch battery packs is unknown, but a few reports have shown up on Reddit and Apple's own support forums. According to reports, display displacement or cracking are telltale signs of battery expansion.
Apple has not made an announcement regarding the Apple Watch repair extension, suggesting the issue is not widespread.
The new warranty protocol comes just days after the original Apple Watch celebrated its second anniversary earlier this week.
I received one of the first Apple Watches, a 38mm sport in silver aluminum, arrived at 5pm on the 24th, or was it the 25th, of April 2015, having ordered it in the first hour of pre-orders. Serial # XXXXXXXXXXXX. Slightly worse for wear, but still my favorite piece of technology and on my wrist all day everyday. If the last seven months of heat and humidity here in the Philippines hasn't swelled the battery, I expect nothing will.
Damn. It seems that your watch is suffering from sweat-induced corrosion just like the one seen on other products like the Magic Mouse (I know mine is full of little holes, but I've had it since 2009) and MacBook Pro palm rests. And here I was thinking that the whiz-bang 7000 series alumin[i]um was impervious to sweat…
It really must depend on how acidic your sweat is, too… Mine isn't that much newer (I got it on Dec. 2015), I've worn it almost every day as well, and it looks much, much better; do check it out:
But it does give me pause, because my Magic Mouse didn't start exhibiting corrosion until after some four or five years of (arguably less) continuous use. If my watch ends up looking like yours, I see no other option than getting the stainless steel version the next time round… I should start saving for one, I guess.
As for my second-hand 2011 13'' MacBook Pro, and seeing that I'll have to use it much more frequently very soon, I guess that if I don't get myself one of those protective stickers for its palm rest STAT I'm pretty much screwed.
P.S.: By the way, if I were you, I wouldn't be posting photos with uncensored serial numbers (or, worse even, the actual serial numbers themselves in text form) of your Apple gadgets (or from any other brand, really) around the internet. Just some friendly advice.
Felt my Apple Watch getting hot, took it off and the face popped off. Go figure... Looking under the faceplate the battery is swollen, face will not fit back onto the watch.
Called Apple yesterday to see about a repair and was has gingerly taken care of. They kept asking if I was injured...
Anyways after over an hour speaking to several supervisors and safety technicians, they tell me they want to capture my watch to examine it. They said they would replace it.
Exactly the same thing happened to my series 2 watch the other day.
Apple are disputing it is a battery issue and claim it was caused by impact but when has an impact to a screen ever caused it to pop off in a perfect line round all four edges!
It happened while I was sitting at my desk not even moving. So disappointed in Apple customer service.
Happened yesterday, left watch charging, when I got home from work, I noticed the screen came off. Battery swells, expands pushing the screen. And it gets warm easily whenever i try to charge it.
I received one of the first Apple Watches, a 38mm sport in silver aluminum, arrived at 5pm on the 24th, or was it the 25th, of April 2015, having ordered it in the first hour of pre-orders. Serial # XXXXXXXXXXXX. Slightly worse for wear, but still my favorite piece of technology and on my wrist all day everyday. If the last seven months of heat and humidity here in the Philippines hasn't swelled the battery, I expect nothing will.
Damn. It seems that your watch is suffering from sweat-induced corrosion just like the one seen on other products like the Magic Mouse (I know mine is full of little holes, but I've had it since 2009) and MacBook Pro palm rests. And here I was thinking that the whiz-bang 7000 series alumin[i]um was impervious to sweat…
It really must depend on how acidic your sweat is, too… Mine isn't that much newer (I got it on Dec. 2015), I've worn it almost every day as well, and it looks much, much better; do check it out:
But it does give me pause, because my Magic Mouse didn't start exhibiting corrosion until after some four or five years of (arguably less) continuous use. If my watch ends up looking like yours, I see no other option than getting the stainless steel version the next time round… I should start saving for one, I guess.
As for my second-hand 2011 13'' MacBook Pro, and seeing that I'll have to use it much more frequently very soon, I guess that if I don't get myself one of those protective stickers for its palm rest STAT I'm pretty much screwed.
P.S.: By the way, if I were you, I wouldn't be posting photos with uncensored serial numbers (or, worse even, the actual serial numbers themselves in text form) of your Apple gadgets (or from any other brand, really) around the internet. Just some friendly advice.
Nice looking strap. Which is that?
It's an off-the-shelf 24 mm-wide leather strap bought at a watch shop from a local chain (I don't recall which brand it is, but it's store-branded as well, so it's super cheap, like €20 or something) paired with a matte Luvvitt strap adapter bought on Amazon UK ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/5fn/LUVVITT-Stainless-Steel-Adapter-Apple-Connector-Buckle/B015GMZG82 ). The adapter colour is a bit off, as in darker and more pinkish than the 7000 Series anodised aluminium, but the difference is not that noticeable unless you really stare at it (and definitely less so if it than if it was polished stainless steel or plastic, as the Apple strap adaptors are). There's also another brand of adapters, Watch Shoppe ( https://www.watchshoppe.co/collections/for-apple-watch/products/apple-watch-band-adapter-aluminum ) that seems to be even better quality, though they are more than twice as much expensive.
All in all, it's a much cheaper solution than buying Apple's straps (like 5x cheaper!), so much so that I also have a blue one, and may buy a black one too in the future, all for less than the price of a single Apple leather bracelet. It's also a great solution for people with slender but wide wrists like mine (I could have bought the 38 mm. model but it would look too small, and I would have to make do with a lesser battery as well), because you won't feel as wary of having extra holes punched in a generic-brand strap as in an Apple one… I know I didn't!
Comments
I have a first gen and the only time it is slow is when it is collecting data from the phone (like: "Find my friends") -- and a faster processor won't help that. For all other apps and functions it is nearly instantaneous response.
A battery or two?
Pretty much every single non-unibody MacBook battery Apple made swelled. Sure, a few failed in other ways, but at one point I had a stack of at least a few dozen of them waiting on my recycle guy.
The usual user call was for a trackpad button not working, they noticed that before they even noticed the MB not sitting on the desk evenly.
It finally got to where I would refuse to sell an Apple replacement if I couldn't get it covered under AppleCare, the Newer Technology ones weren't as bad.
You others - "trolling"??? lol - talk about 'cast[ing] the first stone'...
When the batteries finally began to swell and I eventually saw the tech notes, they read 'lf you are experiencing any of these issues' but I duly visited an Apple retail store anyway only to be told that the battery swap period had ended and the battery in question was no longer being made. After some people here actually accused me of lying I went back to confirm with Apple. They stood by what they had said. I had spoken to numerous certified tech repair shops by phone with the same answer.
As for swelling, AFAIK there is no way to stop a lithium battery from swelling once the process begins. Manufacturing improvements can reduce the incidence but unibody Macs can have these issues too.
There have been recent improvements in battery design (Huawei has developed a lithium battery technology using graphene to increase the top temperature the battery can operate at and double the lifespan). I think this tech is not planned for telephone usage yet.
Felt my Apple Watch getting hot, took it off and the face popped off. Go figure...
Looking under the faceplate the battery is swollen, face will not fit back onto the watch.
Called Apple yesterday to see about a repair and was has gingerly taken care of. They kept asking if I was injured...
Anyways after over an hour speaking to several supervisors and safety technicians, they tell me they want to capture my watch to examine it.
They said they would replace it.
Kudos to Apple Customer Care...Thanks!
Apple are disputing it is a battery issue and claim it was caused by impact but when has an impact to a screen ever caused it to pop off in a perfect line round all four edges!
It happened while I was sitting at my desk not even moving. So disappointed in Apple customer service.
All in all, it's a much cheaper solution than buying Apple's straps (like 5x cheaper!), so much so that I also have a blue one, and may buy a black one too in the future, all for less than the price of a single Apple leather bracelet. It's also a great solution for people with slender but wide wrists like mine (I could have bought the 38 mm. model but it would look too small, and I would have to make do with a lesser battery as well), because you won't feel as wary of having extra holes punched in a generic-brand strap as in an Apple one… I know I didn't!