Updates rendered Apple Watch Series 1 useless

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Updates rendered Apple Watch Series 1 useless

Watch and phone have been paired for 2 years and working fine. My watch strap broke a few months ago and I didn't get a new one until yesterday. I haven't worn the watch in 4 months so I charged it yesterday and when I unlocked the watch with the passcode a message popped up I needed to update the OS. When I opened the Watch App, it searched for the update and updated to 5.3.7

I've updated all of my Apple devices to the most current OS software. iPhone 6s+ is running iOS 13.5.1; series 1 Apple Watch is up to date with watchOS 5.3.7

I went back to the Watch app and again it prompted me to update my Apple Watch saying "to finish paring, your Apple Watch must be running the latest version of WatchOS - Update Now". I clicked update now. A message again flashed on the the screen and disappeared before I could respond to it stating "Update Apple Watch" that my software is out of date and I needed do get the latest version using the watch app - Dismiss or Update. Again, this message disappears before I can respond to it and only gives me the Update option. Tapping update takes me to the next screen that reads "activating Apple Watch. This may take a few minutes". Then again it checks for updates and then reads "watchOS is up to date" A prompt pops up asking if I want to "exit update and reset watch" or "continue update". Exit and reset watch is the only option to choose because if I tap continue update it again tells me the software is up to date. Exit and unpair begins the unpairing process and this whole ordeal starts all over again. Essentially, the watch is paring with the phone, it's just not recognizing 5.3.7 as the most current update and preventing the Watch app from entering the setup.

I've reset the watch, I've reset the phone. These updates have rendered my watch useless where they were working just fine before. I'm at a loss what to do to on this one. Any info is appreciated.

Posted on Jul 12, 2020 5:50 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 12, 2020 5:54 AM in response to wildchild34_2003

This is a known problem ios13 doesn't seem to like watches with watchos5 or below,here are some proven solutions from other forum members.

Quote;

Apple watch 2;

I found a friend, who was on iOS 12 and used his iPhone to pair. Before pairing it asked to upgrade the watch OS (iOS 13 didn't offer this option). After I upgraded the watchos I unpaired the watch from the ios12 phone and then was able to pair it with any iPhone running iOS 13.

Quote;

1st gen apple watch;

pairing was successful on the following device (with associated OS)

to pair via bluetooth I used an iphone 7 with iOS 12, after pairing immediately accepted the watchOS update to version 4.3.2 after everything was successfully equipped with the last update, unpaired the iPhone and the Apple Watch a reset (factory settings) all this took some time but afterwards pairing on an iPhone XR with iOS13 g was a piece of cake.

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May 9, 2020 4:58 AM in response to Hashimsabbah

Just did this with a series1. I had to pair with the original phone and update the firmware for me to pair correctly. All I did was ask to pair and the update happened on an iPhone 6.

Quote;

nickfit888

Jul 5, 2020 5:23 AM in response to fieryjack

So the “pairing with an old iPhone on iOS 12” trick actually worked for me. I got a brand new series 3 Apple Watch via a warranty replacement from Apple. I could not pair the watch to my iPhone X due to the 5.3.7 update issue. Originally it allowed me to update to 5.3.7 but it was stuck after that.

Based on the advice from “fieryjack” I took an old iPhone 6 (iOS 12.4.7) and was able to pair my Apple Watch. Once it was paired (watch was fully set up and synced to the iPhone 6) I tried to update the Watch OS but it said I needed up update the iOS in order to do so. I unpaired the watch from the iPhone 6 and paired it with my iPhone X (running iOS 13.5.1). Not sure if this additional step helped but I chose the manual pair option and this time the watch gave the option to update to 6.2.6! Once it started updating i turned off the Bluetooth on my iPhone so that it would update faster using the wifi network (assuming you are connected to a fast wifi network). I think it took between 2-3 hours to download the update and after that i was able to restore my watch using a previous back up.

Thanks again fieryjack for the tip!

Find a phone with ios12 on it if you can and pair your watch to it,it will ask you to update the watch select yes,after it has updated unpair the watch from the ios12 phone and then pair it with your ios13 phone.

Now you can update to watchos6.

Alternatively contact apple store and see if they will update the watch through the data/diagnostic port.

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Updates rendered Apple Watch Series 1 useless

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