US clocks went back on November 1, and some Apple Watches now show a time one hour off on the Always On display while the wrist is down. Apple's support page says alarms are not affected, and the fix is to switch watch faces and back, restart the watch, or wait until midnight.
If your Apple Watch shows a time one hour off this morning, raise your wrist or tap the screen: the correct time comes back. To clear it for good, switch to a different watch face and back, or restart the watch. Apple says your alarms are not affected, so you don’t need to reset them.
What Apple says is happening
US clocks went back one hour at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 1. Apple published a support page on October 30 for watches that show the wrong time after a daylight saving change. According to Apple, the incorrect time “appears only on the Always On display when your wrist is down.” Tapping the display or raising your wrist shows the correct hour.
Apple lists three ways out:
- Change to a different watch face, then go back to your usual one.
- Restart the watch.
- Do nothing. Apple says the issue corrects itself at midnight after the time change.
The page does not name affected models or watchOS versions, and it does not announce a fix beyond the standard advice to keep the watch updated.
Europe saw it first
Clocks in the UK and Europe went back a week earlier, on October 25. MacRumors reported that users there ran into the same wrong hour. Apple has not said which watchOS versions are involved.
Only the glance at a lowered wrist is wrong
The underlying clock is right. That is why alarms still fire on time and why the screen corrects itself the moment you raise your wrist. The risk is the quick glance at a resting wrist during a meeting or before a call, which is exactly how many people check the time on a watch with Always On. If you rely on that glance today, do the watch face switch now; it takes a few seconds. Turning Always On off also sidesteps it, and saves battery: our workday battery guide shows where the setting lives. Shopping for a watch? Start with our Apple Watch buying guide.
Reported by MacRumors, with Apple’s support page as the primary source.