Apple Watch: shortages caused by faulty ‘taptic engine’ part

Components ‘started to break down’ as they were used, though none of them seem to have been put in devices that have gone on sale

The Apple Watch went on display in Apple stores earlier this month (Getty) (Getty Images)

The high-profile delays in getting hold of Apple Watches seem to have been caused by a huge problem with faulty parts.

The “taptic engine”, which gives users light vibrations to alert them to notifications, was hit by problems that caused it “to break down over time”, according to the Wall Street Journal. One of two companies that produce the component for Apple was hit by problems, leading to severely reduced supply.

The Watches sold out within hours of pre-orders opening earlier this month. Delivery estimates were then pushed back as far as August and Apple didn’t have enough to sell them in store, telling people to order online instead.

Apple caught the faulty parts before they were shipped, meaning that none of the broken Watches arrived on people’s wrists. But it did mean that the company had much fewer units than it had planned, the Journal reports.

But some early buyers, including Apple pundit John Gruber, do seem to have received Watches with broken taptic engines.

“As I experienced firsthand, and as I’ve heard from at least one […] reader (whom I know and trust), some watches shipped to consumers do have faulting taptic engines,” he wrote in response to the reports. “That doesn’t mean it’s a widespread problem, of course.

“When you make millions of anything, there are surely all sorts of rare problems that crop up. And for all I know, the failed taptic engine in my first review unit might have been from Nidec, not AAC Technologies.”

Almost all of the taptic engines now being used are being built by Japan’s Nidec Corp. The broken ones were supplied by China-based AAC Technologies, but that company is not producing any more.