Apple Watch: Vibration Motor and Tattoo Problems

April 29, 2020

As the Wall Street Journal reports, Apple's watch has problems with a component, which is why there are currently delays in the delivery of the gadget. It is the "Taptic Engine" – in good German the vibration motor of the smart health watch. This informs the user by lightly shaking the wrist, for example via notifications.

According to the report, a production line manufactured by a Chinese contract manufacturer did not meet Apple's quality standards – in the worst case, the vibration motors from AAC Technologies Holdings should give up the ghost after a short time. According to the WSJ, Apple has sorted out and destroyed the watches that were already made with the component. Now the company is relying on the modules from the Japanese-based Nidec Corporation, of which copies have already been produced for Apple – and which do not pose any problems. However, it may take some time before the capacities required by the failure of AAC Technologies Holdings are available. And accordingly, there should currently be delivery bottlenecks.

In addition to problems with the vibration motor, the Apple Watch has to struggle with tattooed skin. This is reported by various online media, for example The Verge, citing affected users who have posted their experiences on social networks. For tattoos, the light from the heart rate monitoring, which measures the percentage of blood cells to determine the heart rate, should not get under the skin. Accordingly, the heart rate monitoring may not work properly. However, there should be no problems for people with dark skin. Apple has not yet commented on this issue.

Source: WSJ (via)

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