Apple Watch Has Buggy LTE Connection, Embarrassing Failure

During the recently concluded Apple event where the Cupertino firm unveiled numerous new devices and features, the company touted the special properties of its latest Apple Watch. During the event, Apple repeatedly claimed that it was capable of making calls, independent of the iPhone. It turns out that this is not exactly the case and there’s nothing that Apple can do to fix it before shipping.

On Wednesday, reports started coming in that the Apple Watch Series 3 has trouble delivering on the promise of LTE connectivity. That is to say, the wearable device apparently does not have a very reliable cellular connection, Business Insider reports. As broken promises go, this is a big one because Apple had set expectations so high, it even caused one company to lose $1 billion in stocks.

The bug mostly has to do with the product’s Wi-Fi, which then affects its ability to establish a good connection. This resulted in reviewers absolutely lambasting Apple for overpromising the potential of the new Watch, which actually led to a three percent drop in stock prices on Wednesday. It quickly rallied, but the impact was still felt.

It would seem that Apple is unable to fix the issue either and is unlikely to offer any patch before the devices arrive in stores, The Verge reports. In the publication’s own review of the device, Apple had to send a second unit to try and downplay the connectivity issues. This simply did not happen and a spokesperson for the company finally had to admit via email that it does have a problem.

“We have discovered that when Apple Watch Series 3 joins unauthenticated Wi-Fi networks without connectivity, it may at times prevent the watch from using cellular,” the email reads. “We are investigating a fix for a future software release.”

Cancellation of pre-orders has not hit noteworthy levels, as of yet. However, it’s more than likely that many customers are having second thoughts about the Watch at this point.