Oliver Haslam·

Apple Watch Series 5 Compass Feature Could Be Affected By Magnets In Some Bands

Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 5 alongside the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro during the September 10th event. It’s a pretty great update with an Always-On Retina display for the first time.

It also includes a compass, again for the first time. But that might be an issue if you use a band with a magnet in it.

As we all know, compasses and magnets don’t mix very well at all. So Apple has updated its website to say that Apple Watch Bands with magnets “may cause interference” with the compass built into the new Apple Watch Series 5.

That’s obviously less than idea for owners of some very fancy Apple Watch bands. The Milanese Loop, Modern Buckle, and Leather Loop all make use of magnets as their fastening mechanism.

However, we find it difficult to believe that Apple has released an Apple Watch that is affected severely by the same bands that it sells in its stores. Hopefully this is a case of Apple covering its back in case something does happen and an Apple Watch’s compass is unduly impacted by a watch band.

It’s more likely that this is something that will affect those with third-party Apple Watch bands. Perhaps those with stronger magnets or thinner leather/fabric so as to not properly shield the magnet from its surroundings.

The Apple Watch Series 5 goes on sale on September 20th so we expect to find out for sure just how big of a problem is really us.

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