watch OS won’t update to 8.7.1

I finally got it to work after multiple attempts! I have iPhone 12 and iOS 16.2. I had unpaired and repaired several times. Updated iPhone is. Had to reboot the phone and the watch and then make sure the watch was on the charger and had the phone plugged in. Don’t know if that mattered. I honestly don’t know what I did differently this time except reboot the phone and the watch. I was able to go in then and delete any apps to free up space. Also unchecked auto update which is what caused the problem in the first place.

my daughter had same problem - search for how to downgrade to iOS 15 on internet, then downgrade your iPhone by following the instructions : once you are back on iOS 15.7 it works fine.

major pain in the posterior........

Here’s the solution

1.Remove beta profiles on your iphone

2.install latest version of ios

3.reinstall ‘watch’ app

4.turn off low power mode

5.keep apple watch on charger

this fixed mine and my other friends apple watch (all variants)

Update your iPhone again, it’s at 16.1 now. Install that.

16.0.3 is an older update and not today’s.

Then try the watch update.

Chrismac80 wrote:

Has nothing to do with that. It was the 16.0.3 update had a bug and the 16.1 they fixed it. All I did was update to 16.1 and nothing else. Now it is updating.

Not so sure about that either. Some had older phones that didn’t support iOS 16 - so they had never installed any version of iOS16 and it somehow worked for them today. Anyways it should be working for most now.

I finally got my Apple Watch Series 3 fixed, but I had to call in and argue with them that it was their fault and that I wasn’t going to to pay for something that they broke to be repaired. After going round in circles for an hour I asked to speak to a senior advisor which finally said they would fix it without charge.

My watch was out of warranty but it is their fault.

I got my watch back three days later working fine after a simple OS reinstall.

Updated iOS 16.1 today and successfully paired watch!

I’ve two Series 3 watches and neither will complete the update process for 8.7.1.

The watches get stuck while “checking for updates” and the associated phones get stuck “preparing”.

I’ve tried all the forced-restarts and factory-resets. Nothing works.

-Ryan

same problem here. Series 3 watch either "Can't verify because you're not connected to the internet" or sits on "Preparing..." for hours. Happens with three different iPhones, all manner of reset, etc. I hope they come out with a fix for this, my wife is ****** that her watch is bricked.

I have the same issue, after multiple unsuccessful attempts:

• Tried updating with 3 different iPhones running iOS 16.0.3 (iPhone XR, 12 Pro, 8S) as well as with an iPhone SE running iOS 15.5
• Apple Watch was reset between attempts, watch app was reinstalled multiple times, I have also tried relogging into iCloud.
• Tried changing router frequency from 5GHz to 2.4 GHz
• Cellular data turned on and off
• Tried leaving iPhone next to the watch overnight while it was ‘Preparing…’
• Tried changing language and region of the watch before updating

Basically each attempt starts with downloading the 1 Gb update, then I get the error message ‘Unable to verify update - you are not connected to internet’. Then I press ‘Open app’ - since the only other option is to cancel the update. The installer downloads the update again, then jumps to ‘preparing…’ which never finishes.

I would be most honored to see an official response from Apple that they know of the problem and working on it, or even that they do not plan on fixing it. Anything certain, really…

I’m pretty sure iOS 16 it’s self broke it seems to be working on iOS 15 at least what I’ve heard I hope they fix this soon it’s ridiculous bought a new watch to get started into Apple Watches and get meet with not being able to use it for over a week now

It doesn't work for me. I cannot update to 8.7.1 even when my iPhone is updated to 16.1.

Nothing works. I have to mention that the problem was before, even on iOS 15 and earlier versions of watchOS (now I'm stuck on 8.5.1). I was hoping that iOS 16.1 would fix this issue, but it didn't.

It's not big deal since watch S3 won't get any new features anymore. You can install beta profile just to not see update notifications anymore. But some people report that they can't even pair watch with a phone. I'm afraid that if I would need to reset my watch to factory settings I won't be able to pair it again anymore. Funny thing that apple still sells this watch giving customers very limited support

Same problem here. I have been trying for weeks to update my wife's apple watch. Series 3 update to 8.7.1. I've let it sit for days on end trying to update with no success. I've tried using multiple iOS devices to update the watch with no success. It's either update or exit so apple is forcing me to update to use it but the update never happens. So for now the watch is bricked until apple can fix this. Such a dissappointment.

None of those steps fix this issue. Now my watch doesn’t do anything. Just a paperweight. Tried all the steps several times.