User profile for user: pbennett49
pbennett49 Author
User level: Level 1
14 points

Update Apple Watch

I have an iPhone 12 Pro and Apple Watch 4. Watch OS 7.0.2. Available memory in the watch is 10.3GB.


I keep getting the following message when I try to up date Watch OS. "The watchOS update couldn't be verified because you are not connected to the internet"


  • Both the phone and watch are connected to the same wi-fi network.
  • Watch is always on the charger. Phone is beside it and fully charges.
  • Tried updating the OS using the watch, and get the above message.
  • Tried updating watchOS using the iPhone and get the above message.
  • Deleted apps on the watch, and still no joy. In case anything was interfering with the process.
  • De-coupled (if that's the correct word) the watch from the phone, and then reconnected, and got the same result.
  • The phone OS is up to date.
  • Powered down the iPhone and powered down the watch, reconnected and tried again and I get the same result.
  • Watch is always on the charger.
  • Can't see anything on the watch or iPhone to delete.


A total mystery. Can anyone help?


Thanks,


pbennett49

iPhone 12 Pro, iOS 14

Posted on Nov 6, 2020 6:02 AM

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16 replies
User profile for user: RKofCAL
RKofCAL
User level: Level 1
4 points

Nov 7, 2020 6:04 PM in response to pbennett49

I have the exact same issue with my apple watch 4 which pairs to my iphone x. I also have an apple watch 5, and it updated without any issue. My troubles began when I received my watch 4 from repair (it was replaced), I was on ios 13 and the watch wanted me to update to watch OS 7.0.x because that was the latest , but ios 13 would not allow it, so I was forced to update the phone to ios 14. Then the watch would not pair at all. Called support, was eventually told it was a known issue and my only solid fix was to send it in ... however scanning through forums I noticed some people got their watch to pair by Settings->General->Reset->Reset Network Settings. That ended up allowing my watch 4 to pair and load OS 7.0.x, although the process took several hours. Then when watch OS 7.1 posted I tried to update. No matter what I did, I would get the "unable to verify" error near the end of the "preparing" segment. I unpaired and paired the watch, reset network settings, powered all devices completely down, erased all settings on the watch, you name it ... unbelievable waste of time. I just fedex'd the thing into apple for "repair". I did update my second watch (series 5) and it updated to 7.1 without issue. I was also hit with the memory leak issue with MacOS catalina several months back, seems like the quality of Apple software has dropped significantly during these times, which perhaps is to be expected.

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User profile for user: pbennett49
pbennett49 Author
User level: Level 1
14 points

Nov 6, 2020 7:37 AM in response to Community User

No this didn't work.


  1. I unpaired the watch from the iPhone. Both devices were 2 - 3 cm apart.
  2. The watch was on the charger.
  3. The watch is not a Cellular model.
  4. Contents and settings were erasing on your Apple Watch.
  5. Watch was then set up as a new watch. I did not restore from a backup.
  6. Finally, I tried to update the watchOS via the iPhone, and got the following message: "UNABLE TO VERIFY DETAILS. The watchOS update couldn’t be verified because you are not connected to the internet."


Both watch and iPhone are connected to the internet. Both are on the same wi-fi connection. I doubly checked.


Thanks,


pbennett49

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User profile for user: pbennett49
pbennett49 Author
User level: Level 1
14 points

Nov 6, 2020 3:25 PM in response to Community User

Dear FieryJack,


Thank you for your patience and interest. I carried out the process above where all media, data and settings were erased. I then paired the watch with the phone (iPhone 12 Pro) and when that was complete attempted to update the watchOS via the phone.


Got the same message!! Despite the fact that both the watch and iPhone are both connected to the same wi-fi.


I’m absolutely baffled and cannot fathom what the issue is. The watchOS is 7.0.2 and the update that I’m trying to install is 7.1.


Thanks again.


pbennett49

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User profile for user: pbennett49
pbennett49 Author
User level: Level 1
14 points

Nov 8, 2020 6:07 AM in response to RKofCAL

Dear RKofCAL,

Thank you. Very interesting mail. You're description is an exact duplicate of what's happening to me. Apple Watch 4 and iPhone 12. The watch was running a much older OS as I was using an iPhone 6. Not a 6SE. So I couldn’t update the watch because the phone was obsolete. I upgraded the phone to an iPhone 12 Pro, and when I paired the watch it updated to watchOS 7.0.1 with no problem. However the current problem is that the watch will not accept watchOS 7.1. It behaves exactly as you describe, irrespective of what I do. The only explanation is that there must be a bug somewhere, either in the watch or in 7.1, or maybe iOS 14.2.


Watch functions with 7.0.1 OK. Serves my needs, so I guess I'll just have to live with it. This must be an issue known to Apple. I'm amazed they haven't fixed it.


Again, thanks. You've saved me a lot of time.


pbennett49

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User profile for user: pbennett49
pbennett49 Author
User level: Level 1
14 points

Nov 20, 2020 5:08 AM in response to UUUS182

Good morning everyone. I update my iPhone 12 Pro to 14.2.1 and then attempted, yet again, to update my watch to 7.1. I get the same message. "UNABLE TO VERIFY DETAILS. The watchOS update couldn’t be verified because you are not connected to the internet."


So iOS 14.2.1 doesn't fix the problem.


(On a totally different topic. I update a two MacBook Pros to Big Sur. No problem, except a scanner disappeared. I also updated an iMac and Big Sur turned it into a brick. Machine is completely unusable. I've tried everything, including trying to reinstall the original OS. Makes you wonder what's happening.)


pbennett49

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User profile for user: RKofCAL
RKofCAL
User level: Level 1
4 points

Nov 11, 2020 12:32 PM in response to pbennett49

Just FYI, I received my watch back from repair. They ran diagnostics and indicated they could not reproduce my issue, the watch was returned updated with watchOS 7.1 and seems fine. I won't know if the "unable to verify" issue will return or not until a new watchOS is released.


One thing I just noticed when checking my wireless connections to the watch, I did not always get a solid connection switching selection from one access point to another, sometimes it would fail when trying to connect to the newly selected access point and then succeeded after a second attempt. I turned off private MAC addresses on all my apple devices, this is exploding the DHCP server needs. I might also disable ipv6, not sure if that is of any benefit.

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