apple watch

This is because the version of the watch os your watch is using is not compatible with ios 16.2. Installing ios 16.2 on an iphone paired with an apple watch with the watch os 8.7 or earlier will unpair the watch from the phone, and effectively brick the watch. I just spent 4 hours over the last two days dealing with apple support, via chat & in-person apple store (who after an hour had apple tech support call me in the store). Bottom line is that there is no work around. Once you upgrade you phone to ios 16.2, your phone will no longer pair with an Apple watch running anything running 8.7 or earlier, and all of your watch data that was stored after the update is irrevocably lost.

Fireyjack - After spending 2 hours on chat with an Apple tech rep, that is exactly what I did. After an hour at the Genius Bar, I was informed that because my phone had been updated to 16.2, it was not possible to pair it with my Series 3 watch unless I erased all the data on the watch and then paired it as a new device. The Genius Bar tech then had an Apple data tech call me at the store to see if there was any way to preserve the health data that had been logged in the 4 days since the phone and watch unpaired. After another hour of checking with other tech support personnel, he told me there was nothing Apple could do, the only way the watch would pair with an iPhone is if the watch was wiped back to original factory settings, which would result all data recorded since the unpairing being lost.

Lesson here is that if you are upgrading to new phones and watches, update the Watch OS before you do anything else.

Hi escaleraaa_,

We'll be glad to help with your pairing issue. There isn't a reason why you wouldn't be able to pair these two devices together. If you're unable to pair, you'll need to try the steps outlined here to resolve your issue: If you can't pair an Apple Watch with your iPhone

"If it seems like the pairing process has stalled — for example, the pairing animation remains on the screen for several minutes — resetting your Apple Watch might help:

1. Press and hold the Digital Crown while your Apple Watch is in pairing mode.
2. Tap Reset when it appears on your watch.
3. After your watch resets, you can pair again.

"

If you still have issues afterwards, you may need to reach out to Apple directly for further support: Get Support

Cheers.

I know people in the senior lounge who have paired series 1 to 3 watches on OS8.7.1 to iphones on iOS16.2

So you are not completely correct. However series 3 is difficult enough, series 1 and 2 even more so because of the 8GB memory.

• Install iOS16.2 or later
• Erase the Watch
• Pair as a new watch.
• Pray

Yes. This is completely incorrect. After connecting to the Apple store's Wi-Fi & placing the watch on a watch charged provided by the Apple store, when we tapped Install the watch checked for available updates, and showed that watch OS 8.7.1 is available to install, and showed an install button. We also confirmed that hte watch had more than enough available space to download and install the update. However, when we tapped the install button, the watch showed has a pop up that stated the terms and conditions for OS 8.7.1 had to be accepted on your iPhone. The install will not begin until the terms and conditions are accepted on an iPhone, and according to tech support at both the Genius Bar and Apple's phone tech support (which we called from the Genius Bar) there is not way around this.

Again, because any watch prior OS8.7 is incompatible with iOS 16.2, if you update your phone to iOS 16.2 prior to updating the watch to watchOS 8.7.1, the watch will unpair from the updated iPhone, and per Apple the only way to get it to pair is to erase all data from the watch, reset it to factory settings, and pair it with the updated iPhone. Any data that was recorded on the watch after it unpaired from the phone is lost and cannot be retrieved.

Watch OS 8.7.1 works fine with iOS 16.2. With any prior Watch OS, the Watch will unpair from the phone once iOS 16.2 is installed on the phone. And to install Watch OS 8.71, you need to accept terms and conditions on the iPhone, which is impossible because the watch is no longer paired with the phone. So, if you update the watch to OS 8.7.1, and then update the phone to iOS 16.2, you should have no problems. Unfortunately, I followed Apple's migration instructions and updated the iOS on the phone first, which resulted in me loosing access to the Watch. I posted my initial post hoping to prevent others from making the same mistake.

So if you erase it, it will pair?

What kind of data us there on a series 3 that you can't afford to lose?

A few days health data which should have been sync'd anyway?

Are you saying this does not work in that situation?

"Update directly on your Apple Watch

If your Apple Watch has watchOS 6 or later, you can install updates without your iPhone:

1. Make sure that your watch is connected to Wi-Fi.
2. On your watch, open the Settings app.
3. Tap General > Software Update.
4. Tap Install if a software update is available, then follow the onscreen instructions.

Leave your Apple Watch on its charger while the update completes, and don't restart your Apple Watch. When the update completes, your Apple Watch restarts on its own."