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Apple Watch Ultra burned my skin.

R

robledorod

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 13, 2022
3
14
I got the new Apple Watch Ultra on 10/4/22. It was definitely a great upgrade from my watch 6 specially the longer battery. This past Tuesday 10/11/22, I had a tingling sensation and when I took the watch off noticed a burned area on my skin. This happened on the skin that touches the inside glass where the sensors light are. I spent 2 days on the phone with Apple. Got transferred to safety department and waited 24 hours for their response... they came back saying it was a rash from the wristband and that I needed to clean the watch.

I had been wearing Apple watches since the first one and never had an experience similar to this. It has been very disappointing the way Apple handled this problem.
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Any chance you got some sort of irritant in there while wearing the watch? Do you work with chemicals, or did you wash your hands with a soap that might not be something you usually use? The ceramic on the watch back is pretty much inert, so an unlikely cause. Or, is it an actual thermal burn you are describing?
 
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I had similar situation with my series 4 SS. Turned out to be the anti bacterial soap I was using. Switched brands and never had an issue again.
not saying it doesn’t get warm, but haven’t had any irritations whatsoever
 
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That’s not looking good. I have Series 7, mine is not burnt but there is a scar now and gets red. I had no issues before updating to WatchOS 9. Been wearing multiple series years without a single scar. I wear it little loose as well. I wish there is an option to turn off all sensors and just use the Watch at times in these cases.

I would suggest you to wear a bit loose maybe.
 
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My wife is allergic to life itself. She wore an AL S4 for years, then all of a sudden 2 months ago she developed a rash in the shape of the watch back. She doesn't wear an AW anymore. I'm not sure what happened, it was an original AW S4 (no battery change).

I may have the battery changed at Apple (ie refurbished watch) to see if perhaps something happened, and it isn't that she developed a new allergy. It would tell if she can go back to AWs, without spending too much $$.
 
My daughter couldn’t wear the Apple Watch. She had tingling and burning sensations wearing it. She tried multiple bands and wearing it with it turned on and off. No sensations when it was turned off. So she ended up returning the watch.
 
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Give the back of the watch a good wash. Just like clothes the watch will be exposed to chemicals during production, and just like clothes a small amount of people can suffer reactions if they do not wash the new clothes before wearing.
 
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robledorod said:
I got the new Apple Watch Ultra on 10/4/22. It was definitely a great upgrade from my watch 6 specially the longer battery. This past Tuesday 10/11/22, I had a tingling sensation and when I took the watch off noticed a burned area on my skin. This happened on the skin that touches the inside glass where the sensors light are. I spent 2 days on the phone with Apple. Got transferred to safety department and waited 24 hours for their response... they came back saying it was a rash from the wristband and that I needed to clean the watch.

I had been wearing Apple watches since the first one and never had an experience similar to this. It has been very disappointing the way Apple handled this problem.
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I actually had the same thing happen. I put it down to the ocean band being too tight and due to sweat it caused the issue. I have changed watch bands and moved the watch closer to my wrist since and had no issues
 
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robledorod said:
I’m sorry you are having the same experience. What did Apple say? I have now a bad scar on my wrist. They didn’t want to accept it was a watch malfunction. There’s an article on 9TO5MAC published 10/5 about a watch exploiting on someone’s arm.
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No reply yet. Will update once they get back to me.
 
robledorod said:
I’m sorry you are having the same experience. What did Apple say? I have now a bad scar on my wrist. They didn’t want to accept it was a watch malfunction. There’s an article on 9TO5MAC published 10/5 about a watch exploiting on someone’s arm.
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‘I can‘t blame Apple for not agreeing it was a watch malfunction. If you watch did burn you why did you not take it off when it started to get hot?

I am betting you just had a reaction to your watch having an irritant under it or a rash from wearing it too tight, but burnt, I don’t think so. Only way an Apple Watch could get that hot would have been if the battery suffered thermal runaway which would have resulted in it swelling and likely the screen pop out. Even that would have given you plenty of time before the watch got hot enough to burn your arm.
 
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bukmba said:
Similar to me. I just found it before it got too bad.
Definitely not an allergic reaction. It is a burn, quite sure.
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I have the exact same thing! I’ve had about five Apple Watches and the new series 8 is the first time this has happened. It is exactly where the back of the watch touches my wrist just like yours and is basically just a red scar at this point. It seems to have only happened once and I haven’t noticed it irritating my skin since.
 
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A lot of these are going to be bacterial infections, and almost all of those will clear up right quick with a bit of Neosporin.

You should be cleaning the watch a couple times a week to start with. Take off the band and thoroughly wash it separately; material permitting, a toothbrush and a drop of hand soap is perfect for the band. Then, with clean hands, gently rub the watch all over under a running faucet until everything is squeaky clean, at most with a small dab of hand soap. The whole thing should only take slightly longer than it takes to brush your teeth.

If you’re prone to bacterial rashes, putting a very small dab of Neosporin on your wrist after cleaning the watch and before you put it back on will keep the rashes from coming back. It doesn’t take much, and it doesn’t need to be done often; just enough to knock down anything that might be out-of-reach from simple cleaning and to keep it from getting another foothold. The thinnest physically possible application is already far more than plenty. Just press the open tube on your wrist so there’s the tiniest bit of the goop, and use your finger to run it all the way ‘round your wrist. You’re not aiming for complete coverage; that’d be waaaaaay too much. It’ll thin out and work its way everywhere — like glitter does at a child’s craft table.

Of course, though this will be the answer for most people who get rashes, it won’t apply to everybody. If it doesn’t work for you … that’s what your doctor (and / or dermatologist) is there for.

b&
 
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bukmba said:
Similar to me. I just found it before it got too bad.
Definitely not an allergic reaction. It is a burn, quite sure.
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Similar situation for me, happened the second day. Oddly when I switched it to my dominant wrist, it no longer happened. Then days later I switched it back to my non-dominant wrist and activated a workout, and it happened again.

I think maybe it has to do with our individual physiology, like maybe the vein position on one wrist is too far/difficult for the watch to read, so the sensor emits more light/energy to get an accurate reading. Or maybe one wrist's circumference makes for easier readings than the other.

I searched a bunch online and saw random reports like this over the years without any clear answers as to why. I think people just switch wrists and forget about it. And it clearly isn't happening to everyone.
 
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Good luck getting Apple to do anything about it.

When this happened to my wife, the Apple Watch got white hot and she had to tear it off her wrist to stop it from burning her. I documented everything including the injury. The Apple Watch itself showed no obvious signs of issues.

After a long process of trying to escalate this through Apple, I was assigned an unbelievably rude senior rep at Apple who literally yelled at me and insulted me over the phone. They actively did everything they could to deflect the incident so that there could be absolutely no acknowledgement of an issue with the watch.

When I told the rep I simply wanted to send the watch in for Apple to look at it, they refused. All part of the insistence that there was nothing wrong with the watch, if they accepted it even at my own expense, it would be like admitting fault, which they refused to do since there was a claim of injury. In the end Apple told me they would not do anything for me, and that it was a allergic reaction to the Apple Watch, despite the person having worn one for 6 years.

I even said to the rep, "If I hung up this call right now, went back on Apple Support chat and told them my watch isn't working I want to send it for repair, they would be assist me, no questions asked." and he responded "Yes I'm sure that's right".

They are undeniably actively covering up Apple Watch burn incidents.
 
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That looks like it could be a staphylococcus scald/infection. Staph is everywhere, and breeds well when covered with clothing or watches. I'm definitely not saying it couldn't be a thermal runaway thing with the watch. Electronics can and do fail, and Apple isn't immune. Just offering that it could be due to a pretty common skin irritant out there.
 
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