Usually, new Apple product launches always go well. However, for this fall 2022, Apple has faced bugs on the iPhone 14 Pro, connectivity problems with the AirPods Pro 2 and now… it is the Apple Watch Series 8 and Ultra which are at the heart of the criticisms by dissatisfied customers.
A microphone problem
The Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch Series 8 have been on the wrists of their users for several days, the two connected watches have had excellent feedback and have shines in media tests. However, the Series 8 and Ultra have an issue that a small number of Apple customers have noticed.
On support forums and social networks, some complain that the microphone integrated into the new Apple Watch just does not work.
This would crash with some third-party apps and even those from Apple including the Noise app which says sound level check is unavailable when water mode is on or when the speaker is playing sound. Which was obviously not the case.
This anomaly which seems more software than hardware is explained by Brujulap on the Apple support forum, he declares:
Hi there,I recently purchased Series 8. However, the noise app (and also Siri & dictation) shows up with a “Measurement suspended” message (see attachment). It’s like the mic is being used by another app, we closed all apps on the watches, restarted them, updated them to the latest version of Watch OS (iPhone 14’s pro also updated to 16.0 .1) but without success. If it is a software problem, please solve it soon. Otherwise, I would unfortunately have to return the product. Thanks in advance.
Same story on the side of the forum of our colleague MacRumors, a user describes exactly the same problem and cannot find solutions despite several manipulations:
Hi there,My partner and I both received and set up our 8 series today. However, the noise app (and also Siri and dictation) both appear with a “Measurement suspended” message (see attached). It’s like the mic is being used by another app, we closed all apps on the watches, restarted them, updated to the latest Watch OS (iPhone 14 is also updated to 16.0.1 ), but no success.
Our previous watches (series 4) have worked fine without issue.
Do you have any suggestions on what to try next please? Thanks !
If the “Noise” application is not very important, it becomes much more annoying when it comes to Siriit is impossible to program a reminder, to dictate a message, to send an iMessage… The error that you see in the photo above is systematic as soon as the microphone is to be used.
According to the responses on the self-help forums, Apple would not be closed to the idea of a replacement of the Series 8 or Ultra, several customers approached the technical department, which accepted the free exchange of the watch without any attempt to dodge.
A hotfix might be coming soon, but it might take a while before it’s released. Note that the urgency is not absolute for Apple, because this bug would affect a number restricted Series 8 and Ultra users.