New Apple Watches are rebooting and logs point to the Neural Engine

This is not what you want from an Apple Watch that has barely left the box. Some Series 12 and Ultra 4 owners are seeing sudden reboots, and several diagnostic logs point to the same Apple Neural Engine timeout.

The first reports appeared shortly after the two watches went on sale on September 18. The problem does not seem tied to one app or activity, which makes it particularly awkward to pin down.

The Apple logo appears without warning

Owners describe the screen suddenly switching to the Apple logo before the watch starts up again. It has happened while using Siri, editing a watch face, opening Maps or the App Store, making a call, starting a timer and recording a workout.

Some watches have also restarted while apparently doing nothing. One overnight reboot left a large gap in the wearer’s health data, while others have lost part of an active workout.

The strongest clue comes from the diagnostic files. A few shared “panic-full” logs show the same Apple Neural Engine timeout, with the processor apparently hanging for around two seconds before a watchdog forces the watch to restart.

A panic log records a low-level system crash rather than an ordinary app closing unexpectedly. Seeing the same Neural Engine reference in several logs suggests there may be a common fault, although it does not tell us whether the underlying cause sits in watchOS, firmware or the hardware itself.

Both watches use Apple’s new S11 chip, which handles more on-device processing than previous generations. It supports the new audio features, Apple’s Readiness system and more frequent heart-rate and HRV tracking.

Resetting the watch may not solve it

The crashes have appeared on the original watchOS 27 software and after the day-one update downloaded during setup. Some owners say the problem continued after they erased the watch and configured it as a new device.

One Series 12 owner reportedly received a replacement that produced the same Neural Engine panic. That does not rule out a hardware problem, but it makes replacing the watch less convincing as a guaranteed fix.

A few people running the watchOS 27.2 beta say they have not experienced further restarts. That is encouraging, but the reports remain too limited to show that Apple has fixed the problem, and installing beta software introduces its own risks.

Apple has not acknowledged the reboot issue or published a specific workaround. The number of public reports remains relatively small compared with the likely number of watches already sold, so it is too early to judge how widely the problem extends.

What affected owners can do

The sensible first step is to install the latest public watchOS update. Apple could address this through software if the crashes come from the operating system or Neural Engine firmware, but there is no confirmed fix yet.

If the watch restarts, open Settings, followed by Privacy & Security, Analytics & Improvements and Analytics Data. Look for a recent file beginning with “panic-full,” as this can help Apple Support distinguish a system crash from a normal restart.

Repeatedly erasing the watch does not look worthwhile when others have already tried it without success. A manual restart may help with an ordinary software glitch, but it is unlikely to remove a fault that continues generating the same kernel panic.

Anyone seeing frequent reboots should contact Apple Support and keep a note of what the watch was doing when each one occurred. If the problem regularly interrupts workouts, sleep tracking or calls, it also makes sense to raise it while the watch remains inside its return period.