Watch no longer unlocking when Face ID unlocks my iPhone 11 Pro

pplanch,

Thanks for following up with us after trying those steps.

Next, be sure your Apple Watch and iPhone are within Bluetooth range, and that Bluetooth is enabled for both devices.

From there, we suggest unpairing your Apple Watch, then pairing it again to your iPhone to rule out a software issue.

Unpair and erase your Apple Watch

Set up and pair your Apple Watch with iPhone

If the issue continues, however, we recommend getting the Apple Watch into the hands of a service center. We strongly recommend booking an appointment since walk-ins might not be accepted, and you might be able to find locations and book an appointment online here: 

Find Locations

If you're in a supported region, you might also be able to view and book appointments using the Apple Support app:

App Store Preview

Before heading in, here's how to prepare for your visit:

Get your Apple Watch ready for service

Have a great day.

Hello pplanch,

Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities. It sounds like you have some questions about unlocking your Apple Watch with your iPhone, and we can help.

For this concern, we suggest making sure that your settings are set up correctly. Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch > Passcode > Unlock with iPhone. Here are these steps in more detail:

Lock or unlock Apple Watch

If that setting is already enabled, try disabling it, restarting both devices, then enabling it again.

Restart your iPhone

How to restart your Apple Watch

We hope this information is useful. Kind regards.

Turn off "Unlock with Apple Watch" under iPhone settings -> Face ID & Passcode (for touch ID, it may be slightly different title).

This is a bug, and Apple will most likely issue an update in the next few days/weeks.

If you want both, you may be able to do the following dance (assuming you have Face ID; not sure if this will work for Finger Print Reader iPhones):

o iPhone screen blank (screen off)

o Raise Apple Watch until the numeric passcode unlock screen appears.

o Then immediately wake the iPhone and unlock it.

If you wake the iPhone too early, it will not work.

If you wait too long to wake and unlock the iPhone, it will not work.

NOTE: You may find suggestions to Unpair and pair the Apple Watch again. This ONLY appears to work, because that turns off "Unlock with Apple Watch". It a lot of work, to turn off the option you can do yourself in just a few seconds.