Apple Watch Ultra locking while on wrist

I received my Ultra mid-December and it locks while on my wrist. Been doing this since new, but only under certain conditions. I think I've finally got the cause figured out, but not the fix. It's only happening when I'm riding my bike outside in temps of 25 degrees to about 50 degrees and when I'm wearing it under long sleeves and/or gloves. Upon locking, it prompts for the passcode. Once the passcode is entered it locks up again for about 10 minutes with just the Apple logo showing. So frustrating for an $800 disposable watch. However, I've ridden with the watch in warmer temps with short-sleeves and no issues. I'm not sure what the takeaway is here. Apples's only solution is for me to send the watch in for a replacement, which I'm doing.

Issue was persisting for me even on this most recent OS release, watchOS 9.3.1. What seemingly worked for me was disabling 'Wake on Wrist Raise'. Afterward, the display would remain unlocked until I removed it from my wrist. Might not work for everyone, but I'd recommend giving it a shot.

I just had this issue crop up on my series 7. I found that on the control panel (which you get to by swiping up from the bottom of the watch) there is a setting for when you are wearing the watch to track sleep (represented by a half-moon icon) that somehow got turned on. Turning it off fixed the issue for me.

well, all it took was about 17 phone calls and having the techs ask me to reboot my watch about 5 X. I then had to send it in for "diagnostics". Of course, they came back saying everything was fine.

I am now happy to report I think it's fixed. The ultimate fix seemed to be having Apple give me a new watch. I honestly think I just had a bad apple. Went on my first ride this morning and this was the first time it didn't brick up after 30-45 minutes. Time will tell.

Same issue here. Apple Watch Ultra randomly locking while wearing it. I'm using the Ocean band, I have no tattoos or anything else on my skin and I wear it tight. I've been using a Series 2 for almost 5 years and never had this issue.

Apple Watch ultra running 9.4 and every morning when I wake up my watch is locked. I have wrist detection turned on and am using sleep tracking with a schedule set. This has only been a recent problem for me. I had apple replace my original ultra due to some wrinkling in the film under the screen but had zero issues with my second watch until about 3 weeks ago. It’s not that big of a deal as my watch is unlocked by my phone but it still is rather annoying every time I see my phone telling me it’s unlocking my watch after having just worn it all through the night and I don’t move much in my sleep if any. No tattoos on my wrist and pretty much no hair in the spot it rests. I wear it tight enough where there is zero movement. Apple, you’ve been really disappointing lately. Please get it together.

What does having tattoos have to do w it? Because my watch started doing the same thing right after getting my forearm and wrist tattooed. I took it off for two weeks while my tattoo healed and when I put it back on, it’s been locking itself, pausing my workouts, and not receiving notifications

Me too.... on the Series 8. No resolution. What I did today.... wearing the watch slightly higher on my wrist (as opposed to the exact same spot as I wore my Series4)... This has been the ONLY thing that has worked... SO FAR. It's been 3 hrs and no locking. WHY did I think of this? Apple Support said "something changed with your wrist". I thought how ridiculous...... well... maybe it did. I remember the last year of my Series4 I would get bruises under the watch. No clue why. It left me with a dent. So.... testing out the theory now.

tina3kid wrote:

I think it's the new software..... "enhanced feature" they say. Yet my husband and son both have the new Ultra and they aren't experiencing this. I have tried everything. Including a different watch band. nothing helps

If neither your husband nor your son is having this problem, it is unlikely to be any sort of "enhanced feature" or new software. Either there is something wrong with your device or there is something about the way you are wearing it that is causing a problem. Do you have any tattoos on that wrist?

My first guess is that it's too loose on your wrist. The second possiblity is that you're wearing it to close to your hand and when you flex your wrist, it moves. Or both. I wear my watch to bed and, sometimes find it locked in the morning because of how I move around at night.

You might consider trying to wear it on your other wrist. It would certainly take some getting used to but, it's possible it would do the trick.

Nope. Not loose. It is snug. Not close enough to my hand that it would lock it. And I don't sleep with the watch. I have shifted it up a bit and that doesn't seem to help because it will slide down. Wearing it on the other hand... yea tried that, it is better but........ ridiculous that I can't wear the watch on my preferred arm because it keeps locking. I will say that the watch (series4 did it too) is causing marks on my wrist. Not a band issue. Directly below the watch. The detection eye is causing a "bruise" on my wrist. It goes away after a couple days, yet it should not be happening. That must have something to do with it. I showed it to my friend and she was surprised because I don't know how this could be happening.

Whether or not you wear the watch while sleeping is not the point. I was simply using that as an example of how it can happen.

If the watch is leaving marks on your arm, it is, in fact, too tight. The back of the watch is convex and will press into your arm. It has nothing to do with the sensors themselves.

I suspect that when you flex your wrist, it's moving the watch out of contact with your arm enough to lock it. Unless and until you can find a way to stop that, you'll continue to have this problem. Unfortunately, your individual anatomy and how you move are not things that Apple can solve.

Best of luck.

I realize it was an example. I was covering all angles. Band is not tight... it slides a bit. And when it slides I understand that it will lose contact with my wrist. I understand about flexing my wrist. My sister has that problem. But when I wear the watch on the other wrist and flex my wrist, it doesn't lock. It keeps contact. Until you can actually see my wrist and what I am talking about we will go round and round. That convex back of the watch left an imprint in my arm hence why it looses contact. And red marks will appear randomly. 3 people have seen my wrist and all 3 have been "wow, never seen that before". Something about these watches does something to my arm. I cannot explain it. I have been an Apple lover for 20 yrs. But now I have to decide if I will keep this or not. Or just wear it on the other arm.

My series 8 is doing the same thing. Mine will even lock when am scrolling through it. It locks when am wearing during a workout. It’s annoying. I have had Apple Watches since the first one, always wore the on the same wrist, on the same way but this is the first time I’ve had an issue.

I solved it by turning off the passcode 😂. But I need a resolution because I prefer it locked.

turning off the passcode turns off certain features tho.

I spent many days on the phone with Apple. Zero resolution. I wear the watch on the other wrist now. No issues now. Try that. Could be something about that one wrist now since you’re a long time Apple Watch wearer like I am.