Facing problems with the microphone on your Apple Watch Series 8 or Apple Watch Ultra? Apple has acknowledged the issue and is working on a fix.
The company recommends restarting your Apple Watch as a temporary fix. A potential software update to address the problem is seemingly also in the works.
Blame watchOS 9 for microphone problems on your new Apple Watch
There are plenty of reports on Apple’s support forums and other online communities about microphone problems on the Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra. Users report being unable to use the microphone while on a call or activating Siri. Using the Noise app throws up a “Measurement Suspended” error in most cases.
Apple has not acknowledged the microphone problems on its new Apple Watches publicly. But MacRumors got its hands on an internal memo confirming the issue. It recommends affected users restart their watch as a temporary solution. The problem will re-appear after a few days, though.
Apple also says the smartwatch must be updated to the latest watchOS release. This hints at an imminent release of a new watchOS 9 build with the bug fix. It also confirms the problem is a software one and not hardware-related.
You can try getting your Apple Watch replaced from your nearest Apple Store. But since this is a software problem, a replacement won’t help.
Wait for the next watchOS 9 build to fix the problem
The Cupertino giant has so far released watchOS 9.0.1 since the launch of the Apple Watch Series 8 and the Ultra model. That release contained a bug fix for distorted audio on phone calls when using the wearable’s built-in speaker.
Apple is also beta testing iOS 16.1 and watchOS 9.1, but there’s no clarity on whether it contains a fix for the microphone problems on the new Apple Watches or not.
