Apple Watch Series 3 update 8.7.1 bricked my watch

I noticed something weird with my watch:

before trying to update watch I updated iPhone to iOS 15.7 and after that my watch being on charger started to randomly reboot itself every 5-20 minutes but once I cut the connection with iPhone - it remains to stay on charging normally. When I connect iPhone back - watch starts random reboots again. Also when it's not on charging - it doesn't do reboots. Same thing was happening during update. I did it as Apple recommends - leaving watch on charger, but in that case it was constantly rebooting during transferring file causing interruptions and resumes. Once I figured it out - I no more doing update on charger.

Here is the tip for all of you: the fastest and safest way to update is to make it with watch itself fully charged (to 100%), connected to WiFi and not on a charger (maybe better even to disconnect from iPhone, but not unpair). For me it took 5-6 min to download update on a watch directly from internet. To do so you need the watch to be on watchOS 6+, paired (set up), connected to WiFi. But if you did reset your watch then before starting pairing make sure your iPhone connected to 2.4 GHz WiFi (watch don't support 5 GHz) then it will pass WiFi settings to watch and it will do download directly from internet as well (or maybe transfer by WiFi local network). Previously I did it using iPhone on 5GHz WiFi and it took me 2-3 hours because it was transferring 1.3 GB update file from iPhone to watch using Bluetooth.

Guys I was able to get two Apple Watch series 3’s repaired through the apple repair facility! This is not something that can be done in a store the watch must be sent it. It took two phone calls and a level two tech. After explaining that I had tried everything and was aware that this update would require the watch to be docked and not updated “ota” the first level two tech could not create a repair ticket for the update. Is seams this is because their system thinks this is an issue that should be able to be fixed over the phone or in the store. I refused to accept this so I called back and got with a second level two tech who was able to create a repair ticket. I was overnighted a box for each watch to send them in. Now the best part is this was supposed to cost $159 each but the tech was able to wave this fee! I believe they now this is an issue they created so maybe this is why they were willing to do this. These watches were both at least 3-4yrs old so way out of warranty. Now comes the weird part. The day after I sent them in I received an email stating they had received them. Later that day I got an email stating the repair could not be performed and they would return them with a letter explaining further! I was so disappointed and couldn’t wait to read the explanation. I received them the next day and there was no letter or explanation. I decided to try the pair one more time  and to my surprise both watches successfully completed the process! I couldn’t believe it.. I went into the watch app on the phone and there is was 8.7.1!!! Apple successfully updated both watches. I wish I new what kind of repair ticket was created but whatever is was wasn’t able to be done but the watches were updated !! Be vigilant guys this is possible and free if you stand your ground!!

Hi,

If the watch is trying to complete the update during the pairing process, to ensure you do not have any issues, try these steps:

1. Make sure your iPhone is already updated to the latest iOS.
2. Plug your iPhone into the charger, and put your watch on its charger for the entire duration of this process. Also make sure they remain next to each other.
3. Make sure your iPhone is connected to a stable and reliable network, and Bluetooth is enabled.
4. Go to settings > Bluetooth on your iPhone and make sure you do not see your Apple Watch listed. If you do, tap on it and then tap Forget This Device.
5. Make sure you see the pairing simulation on the watch, signifying it is ready to pair. (You should see the icon of an iPhone & Apple Watch on the watch display)
6. Open the Watch app for iOS, tap Start Pairing > select set up for myself or set up for family member (if you see pair existing watch, do NOT select this option)
7. When it’s time to pair the watch, and the watch displays the blue orb/mist, select Pair Manually at the bottom of the screen on your iPhone.
8. You should then see your Apple Watch listed to select. (As an example, it should be displayed similar to this: ‘Apple Watch 12345’)
9. Tap on the watch name (ex: Apple Watch 12345) and then it is going to display a code on the watch. Enter this code on your iPhone when prompted.
10. Afterwards, you will be prompted to begin the software update. Select update
11. When it starts downloading the update, make sure that it displays the latest version available for your watch. For example, if your Apple Watch is extremely out of date, and the latest compatible version of watchOS is 9.3.1 (for your specific watch model), but you see your watch attempting to install watchOS 6.1 — this should not happen, and if it does, go ahead and cancel the update and attempt the pairing process again. It will fail anyways, and most likely fail at the very end, after waiting a significant amount of time for the update to complete. You should only ever see the latest update available.
12. Allow the update time to complete. If your watch is extremely out of date, this may take some time.
13. If the update fails once more, make sure the watch is not listed in your Bluetooth settings on your iPhone, if it is, tap Forget this Device again.
14. Delete the watch app.
15. Reset your network settings on your iPhone. (Settings > general > transfer or reset iPhone > reset > reset network settings)
16. Attempt to erase all content and settings of the watch. The watch should still be on the charger when you do this step. Press and hold both the Digital Crown and the Side Button at the same time until you see a black screen, followed by the Apple logo.
17. When the Apple logo appears, release BOTH buttons on the watch, and then quickly press and HOLD the SIDE button until you see Reset/Erase Apple Watch. This may take up to a minute to appear. Confirm you want to erase the watch. If you see a grey loading circle on the watch, it is erasing it successfully. This may also take a moment, and it is normal for the watch display to go to sleep when displaying the grey loading circle. It will restart on its own when the erase is complete.
18. While waiting for the watch to restart, your iPhone should have restarted now from resetting your network settings. You will now need to reconnect to your wifi network. Go to settings > Wi-Fi > select your Wi-Fi network and enter its associated password.
19. After you are reconnected to your Wi-Fi network, go to the App Store and search ‘Watch’ to locate the Apple Watch app. Tap the download icon to reinstall it on your iPhone.
20. After the watch has restarted, it should then display the pairing simulation again. (The icon of the iPhone and Apple Watch) It may ask you to select your language and region before displaying it.
21. When it’s time to start pairing, select that option on the watch app and then do the same thing as before — PAIR MANUALLY.
22. Try to complete the update again. If it fails, contact Apple Support for possible service options — Set up your Apple Watch.

Hope this helps.

My daughter has a series 3 and did the update when it was released, in August I believe. She had no issues. I wasn’t sure if she’d done the update after hearing all this but I checked with her today and hers is on 8.7.1. She never reset it or unpaired because she wasn’t setting it up on a new phone. Now, the other difference with her success is she did the update prior to the September release of new products and new software. When half the world is all trying to update at the same time, it can go very slow. Not making excuses here, this is just an observation. In 3 days on the 24th all Macs and iPads will be receiving their software updates leading to congestion on Apple servers. 

Please run through all troubleshooting steps again: If you see 'Unable to Verify Update' when updating Apple Watch - Apple Support and  if you see 'Cannot Install Update' when updating Apple Watch.

•  don’t just assume your wifi is great and  I’ll skip that step because other devices are not having any issues with their connection. Reboot the wifi for good measure, this cleans out any glitches on the line. 
• Update your software on the iPhone before attempting the Watch update. 
• force restart the watch and iPhone - don’t force restart the watch or iPhone if it’s in the installing update stage 
• you can skip the above restarting of the iPhone and have it restart on its own by resetting network settings, so this will also aid in fixing the connection.  resetting network settings on your iPhone: In Settings > General > Transfer or Reset> Reset > Reset Network Settings. Join wifi again after it restarts 
• What you’re aiming to do here is to have your iPhone and watch in the best possible position to connect to the servers before proceeding with the updates. 
• Make sure your watch is on the charger. 
• Make sure your iPhone has wifi turned on, Bluetooth is on . Low power mode is off , charge the iPhone as well and keep it close to the watch. 

I sometimes experience issues updating on my watch and I just run through all of the above and  it gets going. 

Another thing; when you’re all saying it’s “stuck updating”. Is the progress bar still there? If it is and being slow, go ahead and try restarts etc again, especially if you haven’t already. Only when it’s installing that you shouldn’t restart your devices. 

If the progress bar (downloading or preparing) is gone, then scroll down further or just swipe up from the very bottom of your iPhone screen to display “ Install” , it’s sort of stuck there underneath all this and can be hard to actually see. It’s waiting for you to tap “Install”. 

I used old SE first generation with iOS 15.6.1. Reinstalled the watch app, reset the watch, paired phone and watch without any warnings. After that it asked to download the watchOS update. It took approximately hour and a half. As soon as it finished downloading it went to preparing without any messages and I could see progress bar moving. I’m not sure how long it took. Probably about an hour. After that it asked me to installed the update.

Guys I was able to get two Apple Watch series 3’s repaired through the apple repair facility! This is not something that can be done in a store the watch must be sent it. It took two phone calls and a level two tech. After explaining that I had tried everything and was aware that this update would require the watch to be docked and not updated “ota” the first level two tech could not create a repair ticket for the update. Is seams this is because their system thinks this is an issue that should be able to be fixed over the phone or in the store. I refused to accept this so I called back and got with a second level two tech who was able to create a repair ticket. I was overnighted a box for each watch to send them in. Now the best part is this was supposed to cost $159 each but the tech was able to wave this fee! I believe they know this is an issue they created so maybe this is why they were willing to do this. These watches were both at least 3-4yrs old so way out of warranty. Now comes the weird part. The day after I sent them in I received an email stating they had received them. Later that day I got an email stating the repair could not be performed and they would return them with a letter explaining further! I was so disappointed and couldn’t wait to read the explanation. I received them the next day and there was no letter or explanation. I decided to try the pair one more time and to my surprise both watches successfully completed the process! I couldn’t believe it.. I went into the watch app on the phone and there it was, 8.7.1!!! Apple successfully updated both watches. I wish I new what kind of repair ticket was created but whatever is was wasn’t able to be done but the watches were updated !! Be vigilant guys this is possible and free if you stand your ground!!

I was able to successfully update to 8.7.1.

I struggled with this a few months ago....stuck on Preparing, after attempt after attempt. Even went to an Apple Store only to be told the watch has reached end of life. I abandoned the watched update only to retry after stumbling upon a suggestion.

Try this.

1) Do a Force restart on your iPhone.

2) Immediately afterwards, swipe down and turn off Cellular service; keep Wi-fi On only.

3) Start the Pairing process with your Apple Watch.

4) The download (for me) of the update only took 4 minutes, whereas on previous attempts it showed 3-4 hours.

5) BE PATIENT. The "Preparing..." phase may look like it's not moving but eventually did for me (around an hour), eventually moving into the "Installing..." status.

Hopefully that works for you. Good luck.

I have been struggling with this for weeks now. I finally called Apple Support and spoke to really nice lady that said Apple was aware of the issue and that they were working on a new software update. She gave me a case number and said to check back in about 5 days and see if there is an update. She said it was a bug within the new update causing it to have a reboot loop and never update. She claimed they are actively working on a fix.

I'm having the same issue. I went to the apple store, and they said the only solution was to mail in to be "fixed" BUT if apple finds that it cannot be fixed, they will not mail me my watch but will force me to pay $200+ dollars for a replacement watch since mailing it in you apparently automatically agree to pay for a replacement if can't be fixed.

Deplete Apple Watch Battery

A troubleshooting attempt that hasn’t been mentioned before, implies depleting the Apple Watch battery completely:

• You can do this by keeping the screen turned ON until the device shuts down.
• Then wait an additional 48 – 72 hours without connecting the Series 3 to the charger. This will allow the battery to dry out completely and some setting on the watch that prevent the update from completing might reset.
• Try to update again to watchOS 8.7.1 after you’re sure that the battery is completely dead!

• Fact: This fix was apparently suggested by Apple Support and shared by a Reddit user. Please confirm if Apple Watch is able to verify update after trying this fix!

More detail here

https://www.iphonetricks.org/apple-watch-unable-to-verify-update-watchos-8-7-1-stuck/comment-page-1/

Updated my 'phone to 16.1 and restarted the update. Took a few hours to complete but all good now and restored watch to backup just before last update.

I had the same issue with everyone on this thread for few weeks. But today I updated to IOS 16.1 (which was made available today on 8/24) on my iPhone and was finally able to update my Apple Watch Series 3 to iOS 7.8.1! I guess Apple added the fix in with IOS 16.1.

For those whoever had been unable to update their phones sofar; apple services update the phones whitout any trouble regardless the warranty period is over. At least Turkey Apple did :)

The problem isn’t within the iPhone updates or iPhone itself, the problem is in the Watch. The 8.7.1 WatchOS update is completely bugged and broken. Ive tried the Watch update on iOS 15.7, 16.0, 16.0.3, and the new 16.1, Nothing has changed. Apple needs to fix the 8.7.1 update on the Watch itself for the series 3.