Apple clarifies which bands will interfere with the compass on Watch Series 5

Some of the refreshed bands actually won't
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A few days ago, people noticed that Apple had put a warning on its website: Certain bands could affect the accuracy of the new compass feature in the Apple Watch Series 5.

9to5mac spotted the message, which reads: "Band contains magnets and may cause interference with Compass on Apple Watch."

Believe it or not, Apple cannot defy the laws of physics, and as such a magnetic clasp is at risk of interfering with the compass in its smartwatch.

Read this: The best Apple Watch bands

We got some clarification from Apple on this. The problem arises with Apple's Leather Loop, Milanese Loop, and Modern Buckle bands. It also applies to earlier Sport Loop bands, which contained magnetic materials.

However all the Sport Loop bands introduced this month won't actually pose a risk. Apple's given that lineup a refresh, and tweaked it so that it no longer has a potential effect on the compass.

It's also something to also be aware of if you're buying third-party bands. If that's you, and you care about upmost accuracy of the compass, make sure there's no magnetic component inside.

If you're buying an Apple Watch Series 5, you'll also be able to see the above information at the bottom of the compass app by scrolling down and navigating to Apple's support page.

At least with the Series 5, Apple is finally letting you pair different watches and bands at the point of purchase, rather than having to buy additional bands separately.

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Hugh Langley

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Now at Business Insider, Hugh originally joined Wareable from TechRadar where he’d been writing news, features, reviews and just about everything else you can think of for three years.

Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider.

Prior to Wareable, Hugh freelanced while studying, writing about bad indie bands and slightly better movies. He found his way into tech journalism at the beginning of the wearables boom, when everyone was talking about Google Glass and the Oculus Rift was merely a Kickstarter campaign - and has been fascinated ever since.

He’s particularly interested in VR and any fitness tech that will help him (eventually) get back into shape. Hugh has also written for T3, Wired, Total Film, Little White Lies and China Daily.


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