Second hand apple watch wont pair

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Second hand apple watch wont pair

my friend gave me his apple watch(series 2) the watch has been factory reset, but now it cannot connect to any iphone, it tells me to update the watch when trying to set it up on a new iphone but it keeps giving me an error message and disconnecting before the update starts.

The friend that gave me the watch doesn’t own an iphone anymore so i dont now what to do? Is it possible that even that the watch has been factory reset it still has an activation lock preventing it from connecting to other phones?

Posted on Dec 13, 2020 3:57 AM

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Answer 1

Daniel23a Author

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Dec 13, 2020 1:07 PM in response to Community User

I did it a few times and still won’t connect, i guess the only other thing left to do is find an older phone to try and update or go to an apple store and let apple update it manually(which is the last thing i wanted to do as their service in where I live is very poor)

but thank you for trying to help!

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Answer 2

Daniel23a Author

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Dec 13, 2020 8:43 AM in response to Community User

To be honest i have no idea, my friend stopped using the watch a few months ago since he doesn’t own an iphone anymore, so he gave me his watch. When i try to pair the watch the only option i have is to update the watch, but when i press update it disconnects after a few seconds

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Answer 3

Dec 13, 2020 4:20 AM in response to Daniel23a

To remove the activation lock your friend needs to follow all these steps;

What to do before you sell, give away or trade in your Apple Watch, or buy one from someone else – Apple Support

There is a section for if you don't have your phone.

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Answer 4

Daniel23a Author

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Dec 13, 2020 8:13 AM in response to Community User

My friend disconnected the watch from his icloud, and i still get the error messages when trying to set up the watch, is there anything else i can do?

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Answer 5

KiltedTim

Level 10

224,652 points

Dec 13, 2020 8:19 AM in response to Daniel23a

What model phone do you have?

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Answer 6

Daniel23a Author

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Dec 13, 2020 8:22 AM in response to KiltedTim

I have an iphone xr, but the watch doesn’t connect to any iphone, even tho it has been factory reset and disconnected from icloud

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Answer 7

Daniel23a Author

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Dec 13, 2020 9:11 AM in response to Community User

Ill try to find an old phone, but is there any way to update it manually without an older iphone?

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Answer 8

Dec 13, 2020 1:02 PM in response to Daniel23a

That was exactly what was suppose to happen, you tap erase and when its finished you start from scratch again from a clean slate as it were.

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Answer 9

Dec 13, 2020 8:52 AM in response to Daniel23a

This is an old problem with watches on lower software versions,try this;

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 or 14 phone.Now you can update to a higher WatchOS.

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Answer 10

Dec 13, 2020 9:43 AM in response to Daniel23a

You could try this first;

Press and hold both the side button and Digital Crown for about 10 seconds, then release both buttons when you see the Apple logo.Wait a few seconds, then hold down just the side button for about 20 seconds or until the “erase all settings” prompt shows up on the screen, then click it, then click the green check button.

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Answer 11

Daniel23a Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 13, 2020 12:57 PM in response to Community User

I tried holding the side button for 20 seconds like you said but nothing came up, just the regular setup menu, but when i hold the digital crown for a few seconds i get a message asking me if i want to restart the setup. Although i already tried to do it a couple of times and it didnt really help, still cant update the watch and connect to the iphone

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