The Apple Watch Ultra has just begun to reach customers, and unlike earlier models, it includes four visible screw heads on the device’s bottom. I enjoy looking inside my technology, whether it’s to add a thermal pad to an M2 MacBook Air to boost speed or simply to examine what’s going on inside that makes the technology function. I knew I wanted to look inside the Apple Watch Ultra as soon as I noticed the screws on the bottom. I probably shouldn’t have, though.
There are four P5 pentalobe screws on the bottom of the Apple Watch. These are the same screws that keep the bottom of a MacBook together, and while pentalobe screwdrivers are less typical than Phillips or flathead screwdrivers, they are also not rare. The first issue I ran into after removing those four screws was that each screw has a teeny-tiny o-ring surrounding it. These undoubtedly form a component of Apple’s premium smart watch’s extreme waterproof ratings. It was practically hard to tighten those first four screws without the o-ring partially falling out of its place as I tried to do so.
Even though I was well aware that the watch’s waterproofing might be partially affected, I nevertheless continued. Once those screws were removed, the only option was to use a spudger and small shims to separate the titanium case from the watch’s ceramic back. Since it was tightly sealed, the thin waterproofing was gone as soon as it drew away. The battery, screen, CPU, and watch body are all connected to the battery by two thin ribbon wires, as are all of the health sensors on the watch’s rear. To protect the cables, I had to be cautious when separating the two.
Not a lot of the internals could be seen after removing the back panel. The two buttons used to unlock the Apple Watch bands came out, and three of the four springs vanished into the depths of my carpet. There was a sizable black component with an Apple logo.
The watch didn’t immediately display any errors after the back panel was taken off, but it naturally couldn’t connect to my phone. That black component was held in place by three additional screws, this time tri-wing screws, and small metal plates, but as I removed those and started to lift it, it became apparent that the operation was a little too difficult. There appeared to be several ribbon cables attached to the other side of it, and there didn’t appear to be a convenient method to unplug them from the watch’s back side. To access those, you’ll probably need to first weaken the glue on the display in order to detach it using an opening pick. On earlier models of the Apple Watch, that was how you could access the internals, but I couldn’t figure out how to open the Ultra’s display seam without breaking the screen. Although more scratch-resistant than glass, sapphire, which is used for the Apple Watch Ultra’s display, may also be more prone to shattering. That’s certainly a contributing factor in Apple extending the metal watch body up around the flat display edges.
I then put everything back together as best I could at that time. The two ribbon wires that were attached to the device’s bottom proved to be fairly challenging to repair. The buttons to detach the watch band now jingle with the haptics of the watch because several little springs are missing. Additionally, the tiny rubber o-rings around the screw protrude a little. The watch’s waterproofing is unquestionably subpar compared to what was expected from the factory with the o-rings misplaced and the adhesive seal damaged. At this point, I most definitely wouldn’t go scuba diving with it.
Undoubtedly, the iFixit team will pull down the watch in greater detail over the next few days. They’ll undoubtedly delve farther than I did into the Apple Watch Ultra. I’m sure someone with more expertise than I do could take the watch apart and put it back together without doing as much harm to the waterproofing, but alas. In order to avoid having Apple’s most resilient smart watch ever that isn’t waterproof (or, worse still, broken), I would definitely advise waiting for their instructions to satisfy your curiosity rather than disassembling your own watch.