Back of Watch fell off

My Genius Bar appointment was yesterday. My kid loves hanging out at the kid table so no complaints about having to go in there.

As I hoped / expected, the tech was super helpful, apologized for the problem, and immediately agreed to replace it. He had never heard of the problem, but I can confirm what other people here have said about how there is a category for this problem in their work authorization iPad app. He officially quoted me 5 - 7 days but told me that it would probably be more like 3 - 5.

I'm a technology executive in charge of a software department and several web teams so I buy a LOT of Apple gear. Apple isn't perfect and I have had a few hardware problems over the years. But one thing that keeps me coming back time after time is that they ALWAYS keep me satisfied at the Genius Bar whenever I have a problem.

Of course, they won't be able to help me when this happens again three months after the warranty expires. So that *****. Please PLEASE Apple, don't make this dumb mistake again with the Apple Watch 2. I really am starting to like the little thing, except for this terrible design flaw.

My stainless steel watch (with milanese loop band) did the exact same thing last Thursday - I did the support chat with Apple - my watch was 3 days out of warranty but they sent me a fed ex box to return it for repair. Today (Wed.) I received a new replacement watch new serial #.

Just to come back to the original topic. I had the same problem while charging the watch few days ago. Apple Support is advised to send a replacement as this issue is described in internal support documentation. No Apple Care+ required as this is a warranty issue.

Kstud7 wrote:

let me clarify something , if you pull the apple watch off the magnetic charger and the back comes off, there is a cable attached to the back that may be snapped depending on how fast you pull the watch off the charger, the watch can't detect your arm and apple pay will not work all health apps cease to work and the entire back has to be replaced.

Ok, so get Apple to repair or replace it.

I did call Apple Customer Service and as I did not have the Apple Care Plus the only option was to send it in for “repair or replacement” as they told me. I was reluctant to accept this, as I wanted a direct replacement, which they did not allow to happen. As I was on vacation I did two things:

1. I bought a new Apple Watch (with the new Storm Grey leather loop - very nice). This is a bit crazy I know, but I did not want to go a day without the AW. Shows the power the device and Apple has ;-) The plan is to then sell the repaired or replaced original watch.

2. After my return from the break I did contact Apple and within a day they did send me a UPS package (I am in Germany) to send back the defect AW. Two days ! later I received a new replacement watch through UPS. So this one is brand new.

In terms of customer service that is a super quick turn around. The fact that they did not bother with putting the defective heart rate monitor disc back in shows either that it is easier for them to just send a new one or that there was a bigger issue with the early build of the AW. I think it is the latter, as I noticed that the new AW I bought has a considerably less strong magnet than my original one. The original watch clicked very hard and strongly into the Apple Magnetic Charging dock. I think they changed the magnets later in the production to put less strain on the glued disk when being connected to the charging cable or dock. I can not prove it and it would require some experts to measure the magnetic strength from day 1 watches vs. current shipments.

If any one has the same issue, I expect Apple will also replace it with a new watch and I assume with one with a refined magnet that avoids this going forward.

If you have an issue with your watch, consult Apple:

• Contact - Official Apple Support
• https://twitter.com/applesupport
• http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

I'm afraid that no-one here can tell you what Apple will decide. This is a user-based technical support community - you are not talking to Apple here. It is also not allowed here to speculate about Apple decisions or to discuss Apple policies:

Apple Support Communities Use Agreement

One more, I bought 2 Apple Watches on April 10 2015, this morning (August 2 2016) the back of one of the watches detached and stayed on the charger, same story no more details needed. My wife stopped by (no appointment) an Apple Store in NJ, and they took care of it (even beyond the 1 year warranty), the new watch is coming in the mail in 3 days. Although I truly appreciate the great customer service, I am surprised that this is, as per the feedback at the store, a known issue. I just wonder when is the other watch going to detach too 😟

The back came off my watch (38mm black sport that I bought 5/4/2015) last Tuesday. I set up a Genius Bar appointment for Wednesday. At the appointment they told me that it is a known quality issue and that it would be repaired or replaced at no charge even though it was 3 months out of warranty. On Saturday they called me and said that the watch would be replaced and to pick it up at the store. I asked if the new watch was "new" and they said that it had never been used but comes from a pool with either damaged packaging or ones repaired during manufacturing.

I had my Apple Wach when they first came out. Wore them everyday. The only time I took it off was for overnight charging.

The back fell off today. I almost passed out when it happened. After Google "Apple Watch back loose" and found my experience was not unique.

I did not buy AppleCare because none of my Apple products ever failed. After reading what Apple had done for other Apple Watch owners, I decided to take a chance with super glue.

I used a needle to dabble some super glue around the ring. Then snapped the back on and held it tigh for a minute. Put it on the magnet charger. The back came right off.

This time, instead of dabbling, I let the drop form on the needle head and drop it on the ring. After 6 drops around the ring, I snapped the back on and held it tight for a minute. Put it on the magnet charger. Separate them. The back did not come off.

EVerything on the watch still works.

I'm on my third watch (first gen, 38mm) with this problem. Apple stores replaced the first two from stock at no charge. At this point, I simply am careful to swipe the charging puck off sideways. I'd like to get a second generation watch, but won't until I can find something affirmative that this problem doesn't exist in the new model.

This happened to my wife's Apple watch about eight weeks ago (stainless). Apple sent a replacement. This morning, the same thing happened to the replacement. No abuse. She is very careful with her watch. She simply attached her watch to the charger last night, as usual, and this morning the back had separated with the magnetic charging disc still attached. Based on other posts around the web, this is clearly a product defect that Apple doesn't wish to have on the the radar. We plan to take it in to an Apple store this week.

Similar thing just happened to me. I noticed this AM that the watch kept de-linking from the phone. When I removed the watch from my wrist, the glass circular sensor apparatus detached adhering to the skin of my wrist. I hurriedly stuck it back on and called Apple support. They said they "had never heard of this happening"! I was assured by support that the watch would be repaired or replaced at no charge...I'm being sent a mailer.

My husband and I both encountered this problem as well. He has the 42mm stainless one and I have the 38mm Sport. He noticed the back came off when he tried to remove it from the charger this morning, I thought that was really odd, then about 2 hours later, I went to remove mine from the charger and it did the same thing! The back part with the sensors stayed attached to the charger and was just connected by thin wire. We went to Apple Store today. The Genius said he had never seen that happen before, but they said they would send it in for repair/replacement (to be determined once they check it out I guess?), and that I should receive the watch or replacement in about 5 days. It would be interesting to know if all the ones with this issue are from the same batch? We ordered ours around April 10th, but did not receive them until early June. Hopefully Apple will identify the root cause and do a recall on all the affected watches.