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Series 3 Apple Watch Setup Fails At Update Attempt

Bought a Series 3 Applewatch used for my wife. Numerous attempts to setup fail at the update screen. The watch app on her iPhone 13 seems to find the watch, but then fails at the update screen. The phone is connected to my wifi. I have also tried a manual connection that works. Help!

Posted on May 13, 2022 4:28 PM

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Posted on May 13, 2022 6:04 PM

FWIW a lot of people have had trouble updating a series 3 watch. With the limited memory in a series 3 watch, your best option may be to make an appointment at the Genius Bar in an Apple Store near you and let them look at it:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple


See the replies to:

Apple Watch 3 is stuck on preparing updat… - Apple Community



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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 13, 2022 6:04 PM in response to philInAda

FWIW a lot of people have had trouble updating a series 3 watch. With the limited memory in a series 3 watch, your best option may be to make an appointment at the Genius Bar in an Apple Store near you and let them look at it:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple


See the replies to:

Apple Watch 3 is stuck on preparing updat… - Apple Community



May 14, 2022 1:05 AM in response to philInAda

The apple watch 3 GPS only has only 8GB of internal storage, most of that is taken

up by the operating system and other critical software with not much space left for the

update.So installing or even pairing to an ios15 phone is proving nearly

impossible for just about all the watch 3 users on this forum.

same applies to Apple watch 1 and 2 they are almost impossible to either pair or

update with an ios 14 or ios15 phone.


Your best course of action is to call in at an apple store and ask them to pair/update it for you.

Series 3 Apple Watch Setup Fails At Update Attempt

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