Back of Watch fell off

You're welcome. Apple will not use retail stock for replacements. From everything that I have read in the forum, there are no replacement stock in stores, so users with problems have had to send their devices in for replacement. Good luck.

I was in my local Apple store recently getting some cables when a customer came in with a watch with a problem (not sure what) the Apple guy checked it out, checked the warranty and offered an immediate replacement.

Something similar just happened to my Apple Watch this morning. I took it off the charger cable and the watch face flopped out (held by a ribbon cable). I can push it back on, but it doesn't stay that way. I put a rubber band on to hold it in place until I'm back from traveling. There was no impact or water issue, and everything works still. I'll book a time at the Apple store tomorrow or Saturday and let you know what happens. 😝

That is the risk you take when you purchase any product that is not available for sale in your country. If you bought a Bang & Olufsen TV and brought it to your country and the power transformer failed you would be facing the same issue. You can read lots of posts here about buying iPhones in the US and taking them to other countries with no support.

Apple does not have a 0% failure rate on any product they make. This is not due to design flaws this is due to manufacturing flaws. You will have to either return to where you purchased the phone to get warranty support or send the watch to a friend or relative who lives in one of those countries and have them take it in.

The back of my stainless steel 42mm fell off tonight when I was putting it on the charger. I accidentally put the charger on upside-down for night stand mode and when I tried to reposition it the back just fell off. Made a Genius Bar appointment. I have never dropped it or abused it in any way, except for wearing it every day through the summer in Miami. It's obviously a design flaw if human sweat can make it fall apart. I won't take it lightly if they try to stick me with a repair fee. I've almost always been very satisfied with how they take care of me in person at the local store (Miami Beach) so I'm optimistic.

I was just starting to really like the thing after the Watch OS 2 update and I'm going to miss it for however long it takes to get it fixed. But still! A "sport" device that's intended to be worn against your skin that falls apart if it gets sweat on it? I expect more from Apple.

Kstud7 wrote:

The question is what happens when the warranty runs out, Apple are replacing the watches for now, but for how long?

The. It will no longer be covered. When the warranty runs out, Apple will most likely offer an out-of warranty replacement at a reduced cost, just as they do with iPhones.

I agree, too many people saying they are on their third replacement. I had hoped it was a problem with a batch or two. This sounds like it's a problem they haven't yet fixed. I'm surprised this isn't being covered by the tech blog sites. Bend-gate affected less people and that was everywhere. I don't want to simply stir things up but that might at least get Apple to formally recognise the fault.

The Display is not subject to the heat from the charger, that's where the problem comes in, the back gets hot and weakens the glue on the back, but you really did not want an reason why this happens did you, you just wanted to attempt to be funny, well this is not funny to the owners of apple watches this has happened and i'm sure it's not funny to apple all the watches they have to replace, i"m sure there are hundreds more that don't know about this forum.

Superglue won't work, tried that it did not last a week, but I’m sure after apple replaces thousands of watches, I guarantee you on the second version of the Apple watch, the back will not be glued on.

Yikes. When they are replacing the watch are the replacing the charger as well? Could it be a design flaw with the charger? I find it odd that some have had this happen multiple times yet Genius Bars are still saying they have never heard of the issue before.

Hello all,

I decided to look online to see if other people had experienced this issue because all of the Apple representatives have told me that they haven't heard of this issue before. I have already had my watch replaced once due to the back plate coming off and it was shortly after I had purchased my watch and then yesterday to my horror it happened again! I have had good customer service from Apple, but I am astounded that after spending a substantial sum of money that this is still an issue. I am of course inconvenienced having to go to the store, and from what I have read not everyone has that opportunity, so I am fortunate there. I wonder though it being a one year warranty what will they do when this continues to be a problem??? I bought Apple care to make sure I protected my investment, but still I would think that Apple will have to stand by this product beyond one year.

Well guess what - it happened to me again this morning. The back came off when I removed it from the charger. This is my third watch since purchasing in April 2015. Seriously - if I call them today, I predict I'll hear for the FOURTH time that they are surprised and have never heard of such a thing, and that this must be extremely rare. They then ask what did I do wrong....?

I get that they have to ask what happened for warranty verification purposes. But really? Even after I explain it, there's still this disbelief that I'm telling the truth. For the record like most of you, I don't do anything extraordinary but wear it. I don't even exercise with it other than walking - I use a Polar watch and heart monitor for serious exercising. I work in an office all day. It doesn't matter if it is summer (heat) or winter. None of these watches were dropped or submerged. I use only Apple OEM chargers purchased from Apple. Believe me - I've been grilled each time like a criminal. But I am glad I bought the warranty. It does help shorten the conversation a little but not the frustration.

This has just happened to my Apple 38mm Sport watch. I'm in the UK and it looks like mine is going to be replaced/repaired under Consumer Law(I'm out of warranty). I'll pay more attention to the apple advice for caring and cleaning the apple watch in future. I don't think this lets Apple off the hook but they do seem to to want to warn people that the watch is in danger if their instructions aren't followed.

Same problem with my watch. I've had it since February and don't even wear it that often. Maybe that heat from the charging fried it faster. I also don't run or shower with it, so my "sweat" factor is low. Mine is the cheaper "sport" version but I hate to have to make a special trip to the Apple store to deal with this!

I Had this happened six months ago and again happened with the replacemen. Hopefully, the new replacement will arrive early next week. Annoying, but Apple fixes the watch. This not bode well for long term watch use.

Interesting picture - for you it was literally the back of the watch that popped off. For me it was the glass front. I'm wondering if there are two separate problems going on here - yours being somehow associated with the charging process (heating up in back?) and mine being associated with the glue that holds the glass covering to the body of the watch....