Audio of Jamal Khashoggi’s death probably didn’t come from Apple Watch

Image:  Isa Terli/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Amid the news of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance and likely death in Turkey sits a technological mystery involving an Apple Watch.

Thursday, the Washington Post reported that Turkish authorities had audio recordings that confirmed Khashoggi’s death inside the Saudi Arabian embassy in Istanbul. The Saudi government maintains its innocence, but the audio reportedly indicates that a Saudi team tortured, killed, and dismembered Khashoggi inside the embassy.

But where did the recordings come from?

Saturday morning, a Turkish newspaper reported that the audio originated from Khashoggi’s Apple Watch, via a transmission to his iCloud or iPhone (there are conflicting reports about where Turkish officials accessed this audio file). 

Khashoggi has been photographed wearing the watch, and the red band around the dial indicates that it has LTE connectivity — meaning it wouldn’t need a WiFi connection to transmit data. Turkish officials were also reportedly previously looking for the Watch to learn about his health and whereabouts prior to Saturday’s report.

The internet and news outlets (notably CNN) have been weighing in on whether it’s possible for Khashoggi’s smartwatch to have captured the audio of what happened inside the Saudi embassy. And there are a few details that make it —conservatively — highly unlikely. 

More plausible, say experts speaking to Reuters: the audio came from a Turkish bug of the embassy. 

Here’s the case against the Apple Watch being the source of the transmission, summed up.

1) The story

The Apple Watch theory originated from a report in a newspaper called Sabah. But Sabah is a “pro-government” newspaper, according to CNN. And, for diplomatic relations, Turkey has a huge interest in providing another source for the audio, rather than openly admitting to espionage. So the story based on reports from the Turkish government may not be reliable.

2) Turkey’s network

The biggest problem with the Apple Watch theory is the fact that Khashoggi’s watch would not have been able to connect to a cellular network. Per TechCrunch, Apple does not support LTE connectivity in Turkey for Series 3 Apple Watches. So even if the watch was recording audio, it would have no way of transmitting it over cellular data.

3) Bluetooth Range

One way that audio might have been able to travel from Khashoggi’s watch to his iCloud would be by connecting with his cellphone over Bluetooth. However, multiple outlets report that Khashoggi’s fiancée had his iPhone at the time, while she was waiting outside the embassy. That makes this connection extremely unlikely. 

Anyone who has an Apple Watch knows the Bluetooth to iPhone range isn’t huge; Apple doesn’t say exactly how far the range is, but fan blog iMore puts it between 30 and 50 feet. The Saudi Arabian embassy in Istanbul is a walled compound with the main building apparently set some distance back from the entrance. 

4) WiFi

Even without LTE or Bluetooth, Apple Watches can connect to the internet over WiFi. But that requires connecting via your phone, first. And as previously mentioned, Khashoggi’s phone wasn’t with him.

5) Embassy security

Some embassies take device security precautions when people enter. At this embassy in particular, Khashoggi may have been asked to remove his Apple Watch while entering. Reporter Joyce Karam tweeted that she had to remove her Fitbit while attending an event at the consulate in question. So Khashoggi might not have even been wearing his watch once he got past the door.

6) Device security

According to CNN, Sabah reported that Saudi officials ultimately unlocked Khashoggi’s Watch using his fingerprint ID. However, Apple Watches aren’t equipped with Touch ID technology. 

All of that brings up the larger question of how the Turkish government even accessed any transmitted audio files. Even if Khashoggi’s Apple Watch managed to connect via Bluetooth or Wifi, the Turkish government would have needed Khashoggi’s passwords to access his iCloud or iPhone. 

Sabah reports that it accessed the audio file from Khashoggi’s phone. But there are no reports that Khashoggi’s fiancée knew or provided his passcode. And Apple has stood its ground when governments have asked the company to unlock devices in the past. 

It’s not yet clear where the purported audio behind Sabah‘s report came from, but it’s fairly obvious — just based on what we know of how the tech works — that Khashoggi’s Apple Watch couldn’t have been the source.