Hi,
Apple Watch 3 did an auto update but it failed, now trying to fix it, tried everything, even reset the watch and now unable to pair as it wants to update otherwise I can't pair it, the update fails with unable to verify message first then if I retry it's stuck in 'preparing' stage forever (waited for more than a day once) Tried to pair it to 3 different phones, all the same. Anything I can try?
Thanks
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.
The watch was able to successfully pair for me after the 16.2 iOS update, however I've found Apple will force us to drop the device in other ways: While still technically supported, when attempting to enable the encryption feature of iCloud backups introduced recently, I received an alert that the iWatch 3 associated with my account is unable to be updated to the latest WatchOS (Apple has said these will remain on WatchOS 8), meaning I need to remove the device from my Apple Account before being able to use the encryption feature. Planned obsolescence at its finest.
Apple just released an new one today. Update your phone.
After a long waiting and updated 16OS to my xr now series 3 also working fine
That's incorrect, the watch worked fine before the force update, we are not talking about WatchOS 9 here.
How come Apple releases a forced update which is not working? Are they trying to force people to buy a new watch? That's not legal...
I had a similar situation and I took it to apple center, the apple staff said it couldn't be fixed and returned the device to me :(, now my watch can't be used because I have reset factory setting and couldn't update watch os
I just purchased my Apple Watch yesterday and I haven't been able to even use it , I've done several of troubleshooting, **** I actually work as IT and know what I am doing , have I been able to use it? NO .. I twitted apple support and they just sent me the usual steps... So this is what I've done so far (nothing has worked)
I rebooted my Router/modem
I've tried my 5ghz and 2.4ghz wifi
I've reset all the network settings on my iPhone
I've hard reset my iPhone and apple watch
Both devices are connected with their original power cable
I've rebooted to factory settings the watch and unpaired it , and paired it again
I've reinstalled the watch app
I've tried on another iPhone and another wi-fi signal
I've even tried to pair using manual mode
Nothing has worked. something tells me this needs to be fixed with a software patch or update....
See if freeing up space helps
Free up storage on your Apple Watch by removing any music or photos that you've synced to your watch. Then try to install the watchOS update. If you still can't update, remove some apps to free up more space, then try to update.
If you see 'Unable to Verify Update' when updating Apple Watch - Apple Support
Same issue here. Throws the unable to verify due to not connected to internet message. Visited the Apple Store and they suggested a reset settings or reset network settings. That didn’t help.
also suggested removing any VPNs which I had 1 but not connected.
removed that and no change still gives the error.
watch is useless. S3 and iOS 16.0.3 on 13pro.
This confirms what I have suspected: Those who apply the watch update prior to updating iOS (as in I should have done the watchOS 8.7.1 update while on iOS 14) then there wouldn’t be a problem, but the broken piece is with iOS 15/16 attempting to apply the watchOS 8.7.1 update. I know Apple is known for this, but they confirmed iOS 16 would be compatible or I would’ve just stayed on iOS 14. I’ve never said this before, but I’m seriously considering putting that money for a new watch Apple thinks I should buy towards a pixel 7. If this issue isn’t fixed in iOS 16.0.4 and that update isn’t available before the end of the month, then I may do just that.
Hi,
I have the same issue with Apple Watch 3 on 6.3 (17U216). I tried with paired watch and with fully reset. I tried to update with iPhone 7 on iOS 15.7, with iPhone 11 Pro on iOS 16.0.3, with watch itself - but seems the problem in update itself. The update size is 1.3 GB, free space 3.2 GB.
It would be much better if iOS got back a possibility to pair and use watch with not latest watchOS, as it was in iOS 14.
Can you please describe in more details what was happening? Like was it rebooting itself during downloading or during preparing? What kind of WiFi you used: 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz? What was the sequence of screens on the watch? What was the size of update file and your installed watchOS version?
Generally any details could help. Because I get different behaviour depending on some conditions: 2.4/5 WiFi, charging or not etc.
In one case I got constantly rebooting watch during download and then during preparing.
In other case I got no rebooting during download, 1 reboot after download, and then it starts download again, and again without rebooting, and that's the loop.
So far I often end up in a loop, 1st or 2nd kind. One time when I left it at night I got a status in the morning "suspended due to no connection to network. The process will continue when connection restored", but WiFi was fine, there was connection to internet, I tried to toggle and switch networks.
Yes, it's forced, you can't pair the watch unless you update it (and the update doesn't work).
same here.. I got an older iphone with ios 14, which able to pair the watch, but can't get it to update.
I have been updated after 48 - 72 hours but the problem still. I called apple support and have answer wait continue until new version. Don't need do any more.
Is working i’m happy, ios 16.1 now update is working now
Apple Watch Series 3 update 8.7.1 bricked my watch
