Apple Series 4 Watch Stuck in Boot Loop.

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Apple Series 4 Watch Stuck in Boot Loop.

Original question asked:

Hi Everyone,

I was having connection issues between my Apple Watch and iPhone for a while. I finally decided I needed to reset my Apple Watch to factory settings. When I went into the watch app on my iPhone 11 Pro Max and selected erase all content and settings, it couldn’t connect to the watch to do it, even though it showed they were connected. It gave instructions to reset the watch on the device itself and then remove it from my iPhone.

I did this and then it froze on the reset. After about 15 minutes I did a hard reboot of the watch and now all I get is the apple logo when I try to turn the watch on. If I put it on the charger the apple logo stays on for about a minute then disappears and repeats.

It appears I need to have the software re-installed so it boots properly. I called apple and they said I can send the watch in but my only option is to replace it for $299 since they won’t be able to fix it. This seems a little crazy to me given the watch looks brand new and more than likely the internals are running just fine.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I don’t want to buy the series 4 or 5 because that’s basically what I had. I called a few local shops and they all said they send in apple watches because that’s the only way to fix them.

Any help is appreciated.

Apple Watch Series 4

watchOS 6

A few days ago I encountered the same problem, with the latest iPhoneX firmware and WatchOS firmware (at the time, IOS 13.6.1 sad to say, not sure of the WatchOS because I regressed to a Series0 watch that still works after all these years).

Started with excessive power use, dropping to 10% warning after about 12 hours from full charge. After a few days of this, and having heard rumors that the latest IOS may be a cause of excessive power consumption in the watch, I powered off the watch. Then, the watch was stuck in boot loop on power on even after hard reset. Maybe firmware bug, maybe hardware failure, you'd think if boot failed there would be a code... 22 month old watch; dug up my old Series0, powered, and that one works fine after ... years of hard use including swimming in fresh water, showers, workouts,...

Other sites mooted various solutions that did not apply to hard-reset-boot-loop case, with one exception: attempting complete power drain (fore shadowing: this did not work for me). If there is sufficient power, the watch will attempt boot, if there is not sufficient power, the watch will display the time when just the crown is pressed. Time display works fine still. Sometimes, while waiting for power drain complete and pressing the crown occasionally to see if the time displays, boot loop will start again when the crown is pressed. Finally, no time display.

Apply power and get the green bolt and windy wire symbol. Display works and basic function works.

But still boot loop, bright apply logo, dim apple logo, blinks out and repeats with dim apple logo... sometimes it has bright apple logo, but I suspect this is just due to marginal battery power and the high drain drain rate for boot.

There are a few more things to try, but they take a while. For instance, the watch has a 'water expel' feature, which implies that fluid ingress is a problem. Perhaps some sweat got in (conductive) and a cycle of partial vacuum would dry out the interior sufficient for boot to proceed and stop the failure... it would help to have the boot error from the serial port test points (I can also strip epoxy and probe semiconductors at home, but that is costly in time for a watch, heh).

Apple Watch Series 4, watchOS 6

Posted on Sep 7, 2020 7:57 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

wendysuewho

Level 1

13 points

Feb 22, 2021 6:31 PM in response to MellonHead

Hi I have been having this problem for almost a year with my series 5 and I had a iPhone 10 as well but the watch just started to show the Apple logo and I sent it in like 6 times and finally I got the iPhone 12 thinking it was my phone and still didn’t work they ended up giving me the series 6 watch and it worked for 2 days then went into the power loop again I got so pist that I let it charge and I would unpair it and repair it everyday for a week and got over that real quick plus it would die in like 2 hours so I just started charging it then take it off let it die then do it all over again for about a week then finally I just let it lay on my bathroom counter for almost a month then going on 3 1/2 weeks ago now I got a update for my phone so I did it and then like 2 weeks ago I heard a news story that there was a urgent security update that needed to be updated again so I checked and there was another update so I updated my phone then I decided to check my iPad and the watch app on my phone and there was updates for them so I charged my watch and I order to do the update I had to repair my watch again... I set it up as a new watch keeping the cellular plan and I got it all paired and then I did the update to the watch and to my surprise it worked!!! I’ve been using my watch now everyday and the watches battery is holding its charge like it’s supposed to and no more Apple logo...

I was watching the news and there was another report that Apple has issued a fix for the power loop it was doing... So if you still have your watch try unpairing it and repairing it then do the update and see if it fixes the issue... It worked for me...

Good Luck...

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Answer 2

Jan 15, 2021 12:00 PM in response to Rebootloop2020

Same problem with series 4.... it’s easy to fix but Apple won’t do it, they tell you to send it in and that cost you around $200+ then they will come back with the classic, you need this and that it’s probably better if you just buy a new one? No you don’t need a new one you need to just have it restored by plugging it into the diagnostic cable they have right there at the store and update the firmware but they won’t they rather have more money then take two mins to update it... This is the reason they didn’t want the people to have the diag cable to sync it to iTunes and update.... more money that’s all it’s about, same with the battery drains on iPhones, files written to drain the battery fast so needs replacing and it’s easier to just replace the phone same lame story... same as iPhone 6 Plus they say it’s old now and can’t be updated to use iOS 13 and 14 when it can handle that no prob but they don’t want to let it update to that so you need to buy another newer phone....

just think when the crappy Apple Car comes out? You buy one and after 3 years it’s scrap because it won’t be able to handle the new firmware updates, looks like you need a new Apple Car because CarOS 4.0 your car will not update to CarOS 4.0 it only goes to 3.0.... same bullish!t...

if Apple cared or was for its customers, you’d be able to upgrade, downgrade, design the device how you like it not how Apple wants you to like it... That’s why I jailbreak my phones at least I get root, I can tweak my phone to coolness beyond Apples dreams, stop all the spying on my device by canceling all the check ins with Apple to give them my data....

solution for your Apple Watch if Apple won’t help and just wants you to buy new one?

Google search iBUS S1 Adapter for Series 0 and 1

iBUS S2 for series 2 or 3

iBUS S4/S5 for series 4 or 5 or 6

Then plug into your watch put watch into DFU from button combo and restore and update in iTunes that easy... iBUS cost between $100-$200 ..

you have to look at the community if you want help dude that’s the only way because all Apple wants is dollars not your feelings..... cheerz

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Answer 3

Feb 22, 2021 7:19 PM in response to wendysuewho

I took all the apps off my phone and it fixed it... sucks but I think My Wyze camera app was the issue. I ended up taking all the apps off except my sleep tracking app.

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Answer 4

First Magus

Level 7

21,299 points

Sep 8, 2020 5:57 AM in response to CryptographyJunkie

One thing I noted in your post is the water expel feature is only used to clear the speakers on the watch. It produces a tone which pushes any water from the speakers that got in while swimming or showering. It has nothing to do with the internals. Below is Apples description of Water Lock. Good luck and sorry I can't be more help.

Unlock your Apple Watch and clear water from the speakers

When you start a swimming workout, your screen locks to prevent accidental taps. You can see the Lock icon at the top of the screen. To use your watch, you need to unlock the screen.

To pause your workout, press the Digital Crown and the side button at the same time.
Dry your screen. If your screen's wet, the water might cause accidental taps.
Turn the Digital Crown to unlock the screen and clear any water from your Apple Watch. Your watch makes a sound, and you might feel water on your wrist.

To lock your Apple Watch again, swipe right, then tap the Lock button

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Answer 5

Nov 3, 2020 10:57 PM in response to CryptographyJunkie

As of 2 days ago my series 4 is also now in a endless boot loop after a force restart when not connected to charger does nothing when trying to reboot when I connect it automatically goes into Apple logo loop that doesn’t end tried draining battery not using for over 24 hours still running into same issue have tried hard resetting and erasing all content all to no avail. Not sure what to do can call Apple tomorrow but already know I’ll run into them just telling me make sure it’s plugged in make sure to try and update iOS firmware make sure to properly reboot blah blah blah all things that won’t solve issue haha. Do post if anyone comes across a solution.

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Answer 6

Zarsynn

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2020 8:35 AM in response to Zarsynn

Just checked my date of purchase: apparently I can't remember anything; June 2019, so just over a year old.....Im sure just out of warrantee too. Given it only lasted a little over a year, if I replace, it will NOT be with an apple watch.

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Answer 7

Jan 15, 2021 6:40 PM in response to MellonHead

Interesting, after seeing a picture of the iBus S4 device connector and closely examining the watch the serial connections are (barely) visible in the area where one of the bands connect (I had looked for silvery or gold contacts previously and found none...). I already replaced the s4 with an s6. It looks like working on recovering iWatches could be a cottage industry for someone, with millions out there, perhaps thousands are recoverable. Once the post quantum work calms down I may buy an iBus tool just to satisfy my curiosity about whether the failure my s4 had was corrupted firmware or failed hardware. I'll be somewhat irked if it is corrupted firmware, as that implies suboptimal coding, or at least unfixed bugs, by Apple., and a failure to provide some kind of customer interaction as a path to attempt recovery by doing the equivalent of reflashing before replacement or springing 200+- for repairs.

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Answer 8

Nov 2, 2020 12:26 PM in response to CryptographyJunkie

I have sent my watch into Apple 4 times with the issues still not resolved. I’m very discouraged with the amount of help I’ve gotten and the issue is still on going

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Answer 9

Dec 13, 2020 7:25 AM in response to Zarsynn

Has anyone found a solution yet? This stupid thing is worthless now

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Answer 10

Feb 22, 2021 7:31 PM in response to Rebootloop2020

Oh that sucks... I haven’t had an issue sense I did the latest update and I have the Wyze app as well installed on my phone...

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Answer 11

Sep 9, 2020 7:54 AM in response to CryptographyJunkie

Thanks for the reply.

Ongoing saga: phone all the way to dead battery. No response to hard reset.

Light charge, bolt and windy cord, drop charger, see watch response, mostly bolt windy cord, sometimes reset logo, sometimes gets the time before going red and battery dead. Not very exciting.

Attached charger, and held hard reset for greater than 10 cycles (that is, pressed both buttons continuously until I was thoroughly bored), bright initial apple logo repeating. Well, no difference after no longer holding the hard reset, still in boot loop (bright logo, dim logo, goes black, rinse and repeat). Left charger on for about12 hours, boot loop whole time. Removed charger, boot loop continued, overnight and the watch is dead, no response to tapping screen or button presses (don't recall if I tried a hard reset, as I have written this watch off at this point).

Later in day, I'm on a phone meeting and notice that the watch is... working. What?! It is on the unlock screen. What the Bot? And it does unlock, recognizes lock code. One of the monitor or Mac Pro power cables might have touched screen, as I thought the phone was dead and just set the watch nearby.

Attached charger before the seeming miracle fades into a bad dream, started at about 15-20%. I unpaired days ago.

Differential, if it does not charge in 10 hours fully (virtual "overnight"), either the battery is bad or high drain component. If it charges fully I'll pair it again and see if it runs normally (about 60% discharge in a day) or see if watch is back to the original high discharge (abnormally low 10-20% charge remaining after 12 hours of use) that kicked this saga off.

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Answer 12

Sep 24, 2020 10:23 AM in response to CryptographyJunkie

Continuing commentary:

Watch seems to hold charge OK, but will not pair. Tried the cloud of dots, tried manual, went down the update WatchOS path, went down restore, went down pair new watch, etc etc etc (on wrist).

Everything seems to be working (in manual mode for instance the numbers are requested as usual) goes to updating, then after a few minutes changes to unpairing.

Watch shows up on BlueTooth while attempting pairing as something different than my Series0. So the BT seems to work to a first approximation.

Hard reset works in different ways. Sometimes gets the ring of dots. Sometimes a short boot loop. Usually direct to pairing. The latest is hard reset to black boot loop (goes black for several minutes, then boot logo for a few minutes, then black again...).

And, the infernal watch (when it is awake) keeps telling my iPhone it wants to pair, so the 'do you want to pair a new watch' screen comes up several times a day on my iPhone.

OK, so I am resigned to having a defective Apple Watch. I'll take it apart eventually to look for visual defects. Wish I had seriously mistreated it so that I could blame myself for the failure.

Series4 broke just in time to get a Series6, although paying 200+- a year for a watch is on the steep side (22 months old).

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Answer 13

Nov 2, 2020 5:45 PM in response to Rebootloop2020

It is. You would think Apple would have a genius tool to diag a boot loop watch. I don't know of anyone providing how to connect to boot messages from the watch (probably would need connection to internal test points, and Apple may have disabled such outputs with an efuse at final production verification-- I would). Running through numerous tests, I get the power squiggly, high temp thermometer, both auto (cloud of dots), and manual pairing including the audio messages (triple click the crown, it is a usability thing), so much of the firmware/hardware is operational. But, no exit from boot; sometimes a boot loop, sometimes hangs in pairing, sometimes iWatch hangs and iPhone exits implying BT failure. It is not the battery, I tested that. Leaves my opinion: failed hardware, worn out flash either defective flash or defective firmware inducing flash wearout failure, or corrupted firmware. Corrupted firmware leading to system failure would be a severe design defect unless a hard hardware failure was also present. I had just updated the iPhone firmware when the watch started to exhibit very slow performance, which I tried to remedy with a hard boot and fell into boot loop-- there were whiffs of watch failures coincident with this firmware upgrade in posts online but with so many watches out there it may just be that, coincidence.

I'd love to know the root cause, but although I have the tools and capability I don't have the time to do a complete reverse engineering root cause F/A. Much cheaper to buy a new Series6 and move on, but it is irksome to have a nicely treated expensive watch fail. In the meantime, my ancient Series0 is still running until I convince myself to spring for a Series6 (and a continuous warranty!!).

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Answer 14

Zarsynn

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2020 8:31 AM in response to Fatalthug

Also having this problem. stuck in a boot loop --- A bit frustrating given the expense of the device. Tried everything I can think of other than setting it back up again from scratch. If that doesn't work, headed to a cheaper alternative to tell the time and track workouts......very disappointed given its only 6-8 months old (got at beginning of pandemic)

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Apple Series 4 Watch Stuck in Boot Loop.

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