Apple investigates major issues with the operation of the Apple Watch Series 8 and Watch Ultra

Information appearing in an internal use document obtained by MacRumors shows Apple is trying to address an issue discovered with the new Watch Series 8 and Watch Ultra models.

Apparently caused by a software bug, the issue manifested by the microphone malfunctioning would inconvenience sending voice commands to the Siri assistant and recording voice messages. Problems may also be encountered when taking voice calls with the Apple Watch.

Any app that relies on the microphone is likely to not work on affected devices, and the Noise app will display a message that says “Measurement Suspended,” with the software unable to measure noise levels while the Apple Watch is switched to Water Lock mode, or if the microphone or speaker is in use. According to Apple’s document, the problem is not believed to be hardware and will be fixable with a revision to the watchOS firmware.

Meanwhile, more and more Apple Watch Series 8 and Watch Ultra owners are complaining that the microphone, after a period of time, stops working. In the absence of an official fix from Apple, the problem can be corrected at least temporarily by restarting the device.

Priced starting at $399, the Apple Watch Series 8 offers fast charging technology, increased durability, and a crash detection system. Crash Detection can identify four different types of crashes: rollover, side impact, front impact and rear impact.