Is your Apple Watch 12 or Ultra 4 randomly restarting? Here’s the fix

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 may randomly restart.
• Apple has rolled out an update to watchOS to fix this bug.
• To fix the glitch, install watchOS 27.0.1 from your iPhone or watch.

I’ve been enjoying my Apple Watch Series 12 since picking it up last week. But one thing I haven’t enjoyed is the random restarts. So far, I’ve run into this issue twice. Both times I was tweaking a setting on the watch, only for it to unexpectedly shut down and restart on its own without any warning. And I’m not alone.

But thankfully, there’s now a fix for this.

WatchOS 27.0.1 update fixes the issue

With users of the Series 12 or Ultra 4 reporting this restart problem, Apple has issued a quick fix in the form of an update. Released late Wednesday, WatchOS 27.0.1 is supposed to squash this particularly nasty bug. I just ran the update this morning, so it’s too soon to tell if it does the trick, but Apple usually gets these right.

Also: Apple Watch Series 12 review: Finally, the health tracker I’ve been waiting for

A conversation thread on Apple’s Support Community describes the experience that some owners of either watch have encountered. The person who kicked off this particular discussion said that they checked the diagnostic logs after their watch suddenly restarted. There, they found an entry for a panic-full file referring to a timeout in the Neural Engine.

The Neural Engine is a piece of hardware on the watch designed to process tasks related to AI, security, and other features. With the timeout, the watch automatically restarts itself.

How to check your Apple Watch Diagnostic Logs

If your Series 12 or Ultra 4 has also been restarting and you want to check the logs, open the Watch app on your iPhone. Go to General, swipe down the screen, and then select Diagnostics Logs. Look for an entry for a panic-full file and select it to view the results.

Lance Whitney/ZDNET

How to update your Apple Watch

To update your watch, open the Watch app on your phone, go to General, select Software Update, and then download 27.0.1. To do this directly on your watch, head to Settings, select General, and then tap Software Update. Tap the option to download and install the new update.

Also: My favorite 5 Watch OS 27 upgrades – and how to try them yourself

Apple’s support page for WatchOS 27.0.1 refers to bug fixes, as in plural, so there may be other fixes in this update. For now, though, it’s apparently limited to the Series 12 and Ultra 4. While any glitch of this severity is concerning and annoying, at least Apple responded relatively quickly with the necessary patch.

Lance Whitney is a technology journalist with an IT background. He's written for TechRepublic, PCMag, Macworld, and Time, among others, He also teaches classes in AI, cybersecurity, and social media. See full bio