Apple Watch SE 2022

iPhone SE 2022 is perfectly capable of being updated to iOS 16 (the current version is 16.1). But you will have to update your iPhone to 16.1 before you can pair a new watch with it.

Are you sure you have an iPhone SE 2022? Go to Settings > General > About > Model and tell us the model number listed. If you have a first generation SE, it cannot be updated past iOS 15.7.1. A 2022 SE can most assuredly run iOS 16.

Try this:

Open Settings App

Tap Software Update

Scan down down to the bottom of the page if you see Install iOS 16, install it

Hi, i am using a 2022 SE model but it does not prompt me to update to iOS 16. Any idea why?