Apple has admitted that its new cellular-connected smartwatch has a problem.
Early reviewers of the Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE complained of intermittent or non-existent data connections when away from their iPhone. Testers from the Wall Street Journal were unable to make or maintain voice calls, or stream music via LTE.
According to Apple, the issue occurs when the new watch attempts to join “unauthenticated WiFi wireless networks without connectivity.” In other words, the device is prioritizing WiFi over LTE and will drop LTE even when it latches onto shoddy WiFi that doesn’t actually offer a connection.
The company is “investigating a fix for a future software release.” The Apple Watch Series 3, which starts at $399, includes an optional LTE radio for connecting to AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless.
The carriers are charging $5 or $10 per month to add the watch to existing data plans. The new smartwatch from Apple goes on sale Friday, Sept. 22.
