New phone, old watch, won’t pair

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New phone, old watch, won’t pair

My iPhone 8+ started acting sketchy so I got a 13 mini. Setting it to work with other devices has been a nightmare. Latest is the watch. Setup for the new phone didn’t say anything about unpairing other devices. I go through all the mechanics of resetting the watch which is now useless. I go to pair it with the phone & there is a software upgrade it will not let me avoid. Install or it stays in reset mode. The software upgrade says it should take 12 minutes, but it is more than double (and my internet isn’t slow). Get to the end, and it says it can’t verify the upgrade because I’m not connected to the internet, which I am or could not have downloaded software. It’s a holiday & a pandemic so traveling the hour to the Apple store is out & I think it’s closed. Saw one note where a guy gave up & 3 days later it magically started working. While I would appreciate any suggestions, I think this phone change is bringing me to the end of my dedication to Apple. I have wasted over 2 hrs. On this today & the only real advice is wait & see if it fixes itself? Phone shows a strong internet icon & then says I’m not connected? I’d expect this from Microsoft, not the Apple I used to know.

Does anyone know if I insert my old SIM card into the new phone if that might fix pairing problems? Got the same problem with my car. Will only recognize the old phone that I no longer have.

Posted on Jan 1, 2022 12:05 PM

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Answer 1

Erin_B11

Community Specialist

Jan 2, 2022 12:38 PM in response to WatchUpdateFail

Hello WatchUpdateFail,

Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities. We see that you’re unable to pair an Apple Watch to your mew iPhone 13 mini, and we have a few more steps in mind that may help.

First, be sure that your iPhone is backed up to a computer or to iCloud, and fully updated on the latest iOS version:

Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Also, try connecting your devices to another reliable Wi-Fi network, restart both devices, then try updating and pairing again.

Restart your iPhone

Restart your Apple Watch

If the issue persists, try completing any remaining steps as outlined here:

If you see 'Unable to Verify Update' when updating Apple Watch

As for connecting your new iPhone to your car, have you taken these steps:

How to connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your car

If you're using CarPlay, try these additional steps:

If you need help with CarPlay

If this concern continues after taking the steps above, our resolution is to contact Apple Support directly. Depending on your region, you may be able to reach them here:

Get Support

We hope this information is useful. Kind regards.

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Answer 2

Erin_B11

Community Specialist

Jan 2, 2022 3:45 PM in response to WatchUpdateFail

WatchUpdateFail,

Thank you for returning to the thread after reviewing the resources we shared above.

If the issues persist, you can get in touch with Apple Support using this link:

Get Support

Take Care.

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Answer 3

Jan 2, 2022 3:04 PM in response to Erin_B11

Thanks, Erin. I’ll try from another Wi-Fi, but I’ll be surprised if that’s it. My phone has the latest updates, and I checked that first thing. Already followed the instructions for the car, both from Apple and Sync, but so far no luck. Like the poster before me, last time I upgraded my phone the car wouldn’t work either and then one day, when I did nothing, it started working. I could take calls but not access my phone book except through Siri. I follow the instructions, so either I’m missing something or this is a problem with upgrading the phone that should have either clearer instructions or a software fix. Thanks for your reply.

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New phone, old watch, won’t pair

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