Apple Watch Production Snags Thanks to Taptic Engine Problems

One of the Apple Watch’s unique features is its “taptic engine,” which makes users feel as though they’re being tapped on the wrist by the watch itself. It also gives users the ability to send their heartbeats to each other, a neat trick, for sure. But manufacturing problems from at least one of Apple’s Chinese suppliers have caused some hiccups in terms of getting enough units finished and out the door, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

According to the report, a number of the taptic engine parts that came from AAC Technologies Holdings Inc. were found to be faulty, meaning that entire Apple Watch units had to be tossed in the garbage as a result. Meanwhile, the taptic engines coming from a different supplier, Japan’s Nidec Corp., didn’t have those issues.

This, too, could help to explain some of the issues that other users have found with the device’s battery life. Again, hardware launches rarely go as planned, with glitches and problems popping up days, weeks, even months into a device’s initial lifecycle.

The upshot here is that these problems are likely part of what caused the relatively short supply of launch units for the Apple Watch. It also means that until Apple gets it sorted out with AAC, or finds another supplier, the Apple Watch supply will remain limited for the months to come. Of course, there are likely other explanations for fewer Apple Watches than necessary to meet demand, but that’s another story.

[Source: WSJ]