Apple Watch user ends up in hospital after his watch explodes

Just a few months ago, Fitbit was recalling older models of its smartwatches because of problems users have reported over the years with overheating and even mild burns to their wrists. Apple could face a similar problem soon, as a Series 7 Apple Watch user ended up in the hospital due to an exploding watch.

The battery in an Apple Watch Series 7 has failed

We’re used to seeing news stories about how the Apple Watch has saved the lives of several people with its various features, whether it’s fibrillation detection or fall detection, but it seems to be an Apple Watch that has put a user’s life in danger.

Apparently the watch suddenly started to overheat. The user then looked at it and began to study it more closely. The ceramic part on the back was already cracked and the overheating message appeared on the display. The next day, even the glass screen was cracked, and the watch was even hotter to the touch. When he picked up the watch for photos, it started to crack even more. The user, named Chance Miller, threw it out the window at this point, the watch exploding while still in the air.

Apple tried to hide the incident

The watch left burn marks on the couch, and the hospital visit was due to exposure to smoke and fumes the watch released during the explosion. Most likely, the watch was built with a manufacturing defect in the battery, which either swelled and cracked on its own, or failed from normal use, which sometimes involves small bumps of the watch against a table, doors or other surrounding objects.

Miller contacted Apple representatives, and the company sent a courier to pick up the broken device for lab analysis to determine the cause of the explosion. The company, of course, tried to get Miller to sign documents that would require him not to disclose the situation publicly, but he refused to sign them. The whole story and several photos of the exploded device were provided by him to 9to5mac.