Apple ships emergency watchOS 27.0.1 update to stop Series 12 and Ultra 4 reboots

Apple Watch Ultra 4, the ultimate sports and adventure watch, now includes new, advanced health and fitness features, and longer battery life.
Apple Watch Ultra 4, the ultimate sports and adventure watch, now includes new, advanced health and fitness features, and longer battery life.

Apple has released watchOS 27.0.1, a targeted bug-fix update for the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 after owners reported unexpected restarts just days after launch.

The newest watches went on sale last Friday. Shortly afterward, users began reporting sudden, unexplained reboots. The problem showed up during everyday use: editing watch faces, making calls, using Siri AI, opening Maps or the App Store, recording workouts, and in some cases even while the watch sat idle. Reports were widespread enough to suggest a significant share of the new devices were affected, though not every unit.

Apple’s release notes are short. The company says the update “provides bug fixes for your Apple Watch including fixing an issue where Apple Watch may restart unexpectedly.” It lists no new features and has not publicly explained the root cause. Diagnostic logs shared by some owners pointed to a Neural Engine timeout, in which a command waited just past a two-second limit and triggered a watchdog restart. Apple has not confirmed that explanation.

How to install it

Install from Settings > General > Software Update on the watch, or through the Watch app on a paired iPhone. The watch must be on its charger and above 50% battery.

Unexpected restarts on a device people use for workouts, notifications, and all-day tracking are more than a nuisance. Apple moved quickly: watchOS 27.0.1 arrived about a week after the public launch of watchOS 27. Owners of the new models should install it now.

MacDailyNews Take: The update is exclusive to the Series 12 and Ultra 4. Older models stay on watchOS 27.0 for now.


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