Apple Watch (Gen 1) Screen fell off

My friend and her husband had this happen to both of their watches about a month ago. I jokingly told them that mine would be next as I bought mine a month after they bought theirs. Sure enough, mine opened last week. They were out of warranty yet when they brought their watches to the Apple store they were told that this is a known issue and both of their watches were sent in and replaced. No questions asked. I am under Apple Care still and just sent mine in yesterday. I guess it depends on who you talk to... keep pursuing.

Update

I take it all back. By dec 27th we had a new watch.

I went on apple support chat and they called me and put me through to a senior support specialist who sorted it all out for me. My only complaint is the “Genius” did not have the same information the senior support specialist had. It was not his fault he just wasn’t trained enough. All in all they stood by their product and I will continue to use Apple products

Thanks apple

I found out they sell tape strips on amazon to glue the screen back on, you may want check that out. I was surprised there was actually a product in response to Apple's faulty product. My rep told me I damaged the watch even though you would need a glass cutter to make a cut that clean, obviously they have a problem with the adhesive they are using, sooner or later they will have to address the issue or they could just keep losing customers. We have 5 iPhones and 4 iPads but it will be a cold day before I buy another Apple product.

When I took my Gen 1 watch with the loose face in to the Genius Bar he said Apple has a quality program, took my watch & said I should have a replacement in 3-5 days.

From my initial call to Apple Technical to Genius Bar the response has been first-class.

Hi, Mercadoj!

I am really sorry to hear about your Apple Watch and I wanted to reach out to to you about this post despite it being late!

I wanted to let you know about the watch, it doesn’t not look damaged from personal experience and from using Apple products and being part of Apple for so long, the good thing about Apple products is they are durable and made to last! I think your Apple Watch in Stainless Steel is okay! And reguarding Johanthans post, the Apple Watch is not user serviceable BUT IT IS Serviceable by Apple and the Apple Watch screen is replaceable; but it cannot be serviced in an Apple Store but you can contact Apple Support to get the watch looked at if you still want to and you can find out more about repairs here! https://support.apple.com/watch/repair/service And learn about prices and information there but it is only replaceable under AppleCare+

I went in to different stores on different occasions while covered under AppleCare with my stainless steel Apple Watch Series 0 and I was told expressly that the popped-ff display/battery swelling issue only applies to Apple Watch Sport Series 0 and 1. I was told that the cost of repair would be $249. It's really obnoxious when you consider that the cost of battery replacement is under $100 and requires reattaching and sealing the undamaged display.

I went into the Apple Store with mine and was expecting the worst. Instead, I was completely satisfied. They looked at it, said the battery had swelled and pushed off the screen. They were quick, courteous, and helpful. Said they’d fix it for free, but it would take 3-5 business days. That was on a Friday. On Tuesday, less than 2 business days later I received an email that it was ready to be picked up. I went by to get it and found that they hadn’t repaired it, they’d replaced it. Free of charge. I was pleasantly surprised to put it mildly. Thanks Apple! You certainly surprised me.

The same happened to my wife's Watch. Im not sure which generation she has but I bought it a couple of years ago. I bought crazy glue and dabbed around the edge underside of the screen and placed it back on the body and used 2 clamps to hold it in place for about 30 minutes. Probably not the way to repair it but I'm not spending 200 plus dollars to fix it and so far so good. Good luck to anyone reading this and attempting to fix it the same way.

I had the identical experience. After calling support they insisted I had to go into the store so I did so. The Apple staff told me the adhesive had stopped working (so it was nothing I had done) and the repair would be $200! He even suggested prices on the new watch has come down so it might be a better investment to purchase a new one! Despite my arguments that it was a flaw in product design to use adhesive that didn’t work he stayed with how sad too bad. Same thing we have thousands of dollars invested in Apple products. He didn’t care. I showed the watch to people at the watch table in the way out. Hope their adhesive Is better. It’s a sham selling a device knowing it’s defective. I expected better from Apple. Fool on me.

Good Luck! If the battery is swollen they replace the watch but if it is because their adhesive failed I am afraid they tell you to buy a new watch...or pay $200 for the repair to reglue it. The real error is that Apple has vastly underestimated the customer expectations on the longevity of a watch. I suppose they thought if the glue held together for a year or two that would be long enough. I am afraid it is a $500 disposable item with a planned obsolescence of a couple of years. If you are OK with that it's a great device. If you want more than that don't buy an Apple watch.

Please see my reply just now to Richard from San Diego. It’s a known BATTERY issue so Apple replaced mine with no questions asked.

I have the same issue with my first generation (stainless steel) Apple Watch. One day the screen just popped off while I was walking and now it hangs by the ribbon cable. I can press the screen and the body together but the screen doesn't remain attached.

I took it to the Apple Store this past Friday and the Genius Bar confirmed that there is no physical damage. However, they told me that my AppleCare warranty is expired and my device is not covered. I mentioned that I've read that Apple has extended the warranty for first generation Apple Watch to 3 years. They said the extended warranty only applies to the Apple Watch Sport - not to the Apple Watch or Apple Watch Edition. Out of warranty repair cost is $249.

Very disappointing for a $700 device for someone who over 20 years has spent tens of thousands on Apple products and thousands on AppleCare.

I got my watch back from Apple this week. Actually they replaced it. Apple didn’t indicate to any of us what the problem was; they just replaced them. I thought it was a bit odd that all of our watches had the glass covers pop open about 22-23 months after we bought them and all in the same sequence and time frame from when we originally purchased them. Odd.

The same happened to me, my stainless steel screen popped off after 7 months, I got it replaced with a new one, and today I noticed something in the corner of the new one just 4 months after getting it replaced (looks like it might detach again!) My watches have never fallen down, and are 100% in good conditions from my use.

There is no charge to replace my watch. It’s being done for free under consumer law.