Apple Watch doesn't work with tattoos

Apple Watch, Apple's first smartwatch, has finally gone on sale online and already it's hit a snag.

Sorry, Hipsters - you might think your tattooed wrists are cool but they will break your Apple Watch as Apple confirms the heart rate function of thetechy timepiece will not work on some tattooed wrists.

Users on Reddit initially reported the error with darker-coloured inks being the biggest cuprit behind the issue. Now Apple has publicly acknowledged the problem by posting the following on its support page:

“Permanent or temporary changes to your skin, such as some tattoos, can also impact heart rate sensor performance. The ink, pattern, and saturation of some tattoos can block light from the sensor, making it difficult to get reliable readings.”

The Apple Watch uses light-sensitive photdiodes and fires LEDs at the skin hundreds of times per secons to detect the amount of blood flowing through your wrist. Natural dark skin pigmentation doesn’t seem to affect it but the dark ink of a tattoo does manage to obscure the LEDs.

The same problem is present on other smartwatches and fitness wearables that use the same system technology . 

This means bad news for the likes of Beckam and those who followed in his fashionable footsteps by inking their arms in a sleeve of tattoos. See, your mum was right all along.