My download of Apple watchOS 10.4 STOPPED during "preparing" and won't advance.

Software 10.4 in my Apple Watch series 9 could not be down loaded. While downloading it sticks in the middle. Several times I have deleted and started afresh. The same problem occurred. Please advise.

I experienced all of the above issues. It was finally resolved when I restarted my iPhone and watch and then turned Automatic updates on the watch off and then back on. This restarted the entire update process and it updated successfully.

This did not work for me... my apple series 8 watch is not responding properly. Also i noticed that workout app is not working the same as pervious versions.... there is no milliseconds and also feel it is bit slower than normal. when will apple provide fix for this issue?

I’ve turned off auto update

deleted download from storage

forced power down of iPhone and watch

powered up and then in watch app on iPhone asked it to apply update

it has now installed !!!!

hurray

should not be like this ….

I was having the same problem as everyone else with the pausing. So what I did was Reset my watch, (see Erase Apple Watch and settings) and then restored from backup. Tried updating to OS 10.4 again and I was updated in 40 minutes.

Ok, Ultra and 13 Iphone, same as everyone else. Waited several hours no luck, but I restarted the Ultra when the iPhone was stuck preparing, put it back on the charger, and zip, the preparing moved and went right up to complete and is being installed now - installing. Previously I restarted the iPhone, no luck, deleted storage, no luck -almost seems like the watch needed a jolt to start accepting it.. Hope that may help

Exactly the same problem here - and none of the fixes suggested in the replies so far work. I have tried deleting the update (via Watch App -> General -> Storage) and starting again, but the same thing happens the next time. I have tried leaving it for more than a couple of hours - left it overnight! - still stuck on Preparing in the morning.

Any other suggestions gratefully received!

Thanks

My update has been stuck on preparing for over an hour. Hey Apple, we clearly spend waaaaay too much money on your products, can you please at the very least deliver on what we pay for? Sorry if it’s too much to ask :/

Same problem here as well: Update stopped while "preparing" about 3/4 of the way through. Tried some of the solutions described here with zero luck; however, it finally worked when I deleted the update as previously described by others, turned my iPhone (XS) and Apple Watch off/on, and then tried the update again. Success! Here's hoping this'll work for everyone else having this annoying problem.

What worked for me:

Go to Storage, delete 10.4

Turn off Phone

Turn off Watch

Turn on Phone, wait for all systems to start working

Turn on Watch, Watch, sign in to Watch

Wait for all systems to start working

Follow install 10.4 instructions, takes about 10 minutes.

Same issue here.

iPhone 15 on iOS 17.4.1

Apple Watch 7 watchOS 10.3.1 trying to update to 10.4

I tried to update today while both were on the charger this morning (fully charged) it sat in “preparing…” for 8 hours. Finally rebooted both the iPhone and Watch, deleted 10.4 from storage and restarted the install. It downloaded and then sat in “preparing…” for another 3 hours.

not sure what to do. The watch has plenty of space, network is awesome, not sure.