Charging is not supported with this accessory

Question

KAWALIN Author

Level 1

23 points

Charging is not supported with this accessory

Hello everyone

I got my watch on the launch date in China, so I've been using it for about 10 days now.

My watch is a 38mm stainless steel with sport band.

Everything was great until last night, when I attached my watch to the charging magnet as usual before i went to bed.

1 minute later,i heard a sound from that watch, i thought it was a message. But when i looked at it, it says this

it's in chinese but basically it's the typical "charging is not supported with this accessory" error message that you might have seen on the iPhone or iPad, when you used non-apple charging cables.

I was surprised, since obviously i was using the ONLY charging cable for apple watch. I don't think you can get any 3rd party ones right now, and i was using the original power adapter from the box too.

But whatever i did , this error message kept coming and the watch is not charging at all.

I took it to my local Apple Retail Store in shenzhen, unfortunately the staff told me they don't have anything in the store that could test it or repair it. They suggested me go and try another charging cable(which they don't have in the store, i have to go and borrow it from another friend), to test it if it's the battery's fault or the cable's. Then i have to book another genius bar appointment to send the faulty part back to the factory for replacement or repair.

I love the apple watch, it's been a very fun and fresh addition to my life. I just hope this problem will get fixed soon.

Posted on May 6, 2015 6:37 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 22, 2017 11:58 AM in response to KAWALIN

Anyone noticing this same problem like a year later? I didn't have a problem for about a year and all of a sudden (after the warranty, mind you), this error started showing up. Charger won't work for my watch, another friend's watch, or if i switch the charging block that plugs into the wall. My friends cord will work for me, so it appears my cord is at fault. I just don't know why it would happen all of a sudden like a year or so later. The cord just sits on my desk so it's not like it has been damaged or anything. Since the apple cords last forever, its just weird this cord gave out so soon. I'm also a little curious if this is something that tends to happen frequently with the watch chargers - if so, I may want to re-evaluate if I want to keep using a product that breaks down so often...

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Answer 2

Dec 13, 2017 11:28 AM in response to purplebottles

A year and half later and now I have this very same problem- booker it in at an I-Store in South Africa and they just say it’s damaged...

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Answer 3

KAWALIN Author

Level 1

23 points

May 6, 2015 9:16 AM in response to KAWALIN

a quick update following my initial post

I have tried several other ways to charge my watch, using the iPhone charger, iPad charger, but none of them work. I got the same error message over and over again. My watch battery was about to die completely after two days without charging.

a couple of hours ago I plugged it into the USB port of my MacBook Pro.

and IT'S CHARGING!!! which somehow proves that my watch and the cable are both ok, they are working, at least on the hardware level, they can work fine.

I watched the battery grow from 2% to 80%!

I wanted to find out if it was just a small bug and eventually got fixed by plugging into USB port, so I plugged the watch back into it's original adapter.

and it failed.... same error message..

but the worst thing is, now when i plug it back into the USB port of my MBP, the error came back. Now I have absolutely no way to charge my watch.

So i guess the only thing i can do tmr is sending it back to Apple and try get a replacement unit.

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Answer 4

jaredfs

Level 2

315 points

May 6, 2015 9:35 AM in response to KAWALIN

I'd try a hard reset while its on the charger. Plug it into the wall and the charger. then Hold the crown and the side button at the same time for more than 10 seconds. the screen should go black and then it should restart. you can let go then. See if when it comes back on it is charging or not.

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Answer 5

KAWALIN Author

Level 1

23 points

May 6, 2015 9:49 AM in response to jaredfs

I tried just now, unfortunately, it's still there.

The fact that it could still charge, although it seems to be just a slim chance, suggested that the hardware is not faulty.

The only thing i can think of is there must be something wrong with the system/power management, probably a bug that just happened on me.

That just reminded me a small detail that happened yesterday.

I plugged my iPhone into the lightning port yesterday after dinner, and the same error message "iPhone does not support charging with this accessory" came up. I was a bit surprised cuz I was using an Apple lightning cable, it's just a bit old and dirty. I thought it might just be that i didn't plug it in properly, so I plugged it again and the iPhone was charging as normal.

A few hours later when i was about to go to bed, my watch failed with the same error.

I'm hoping this is just a system bug that could be fixed with just an update.

however meanwhile, guess i have to suffer a week or two without the watch and wait for a replacement.

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Answer 6

KAWALIN Author

Level 1

23 points

May 6, 2015 9:55 AM in response to KAWALIN

I'm trying to give it a full restore and pair it to my wife's iPhone to see if this problem still exists.

At least this would prove that if this bug is somehow linked to my iPhone or it's the Watch's own problem.

In the worst case, if it is linked to my iPhone, then probably the same will happen with the replacement unit, and all i can do is wait.

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Answer 7

gmaass

Level 1

4 points

May 7, 2015 11:12 PM in response to KAWALIN

It is an issue with the watch hardware. Many people are having the same issue. The only thing you can do is return the watch.

There are also software issues. Those can be fixed by rebooting, but that will not work for you.

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Answer 8

nick101

Level 5

5,138 points

May 8, 2015 12:02 AM in response to gmaass

gmaass wrote:

Many people are having the same issue.

Is that so? I haven't seen it reported here before

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Answer 9

gmaass

Level 1

4 points

May 8, 2015 8:28 AM in response to nick101

Have a look here Charging issues, overheating and battery problem to start. Also other forums. Consider yourself lucky if you got a watch with no hardware issues. The apple support person who is working with me has promised that they will check that the watch they are sending out to me does not have this issue.

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Answer 10

jaredfs

Level 2

315 points

May 8, 2015 8:53 AM in response to gmaass

gmaass wrote:

Consider yourself lucky if you got a watch with no hardware issues.

I'm sorry you've had a frustrating experience but keep in mind that if Apple has sold even a million of these things so far (very low estimate), and if only 500-1000 people (way more than the number of people on these official forums have posted thus far) are reporting issues, then even if all of those concerns are valid they still represent only 0.05% - 0.1% of that million. Even if there were 10,000 people with legitimate concerns (10x the highest estimate from the available postings on this forum), that would still be only 1% of that million. Thinking about it that way, I'd say that you should consider yourself lucky if you're one of the top 1% of early adopters to get a defective unit!

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Answer 11

gmaass

Level 1

4 points

May 8, 2015 9:03 AM in response to jaredfs

Time will tell, I suppose. My experience, and others I have read, indicate that watches are not always defective right out of the box- these issues are showing up after days of use, so as more watches ship it may become more of an issue.

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Answer 12

KAWALIN Author

Level 1

23 points

May 9, 2015 6:43 AM in response to gmaass

I booked a genius bar appointment in Hong Kong Apple Store, and I went there this afternoon.

Luckily they actually have a spare charging cable there in the store, and we tested it.

My charging cable is defective, something's gone wrong with it after a few days of usage.

I got a new cable from genius bar and now i'm a happy man.

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Answer 13

May 9, 2015 8:39 AM in response to KAWALIN

Hi! I got my Sport on launch day, couldn't be happier.

Then last Monday (that's 10 days after using the Watch) same thing happened to me.

Tried the hard reset and didn't work so I read in a forum that I should erase the whole Watch and sync again, after a couple of failed attempts I could finally do it (had to use a back up instead of setting it as a new Wath). So I was happy again.

Last night (Friday) the same thing happened again. So I called Apple and they told me to go to an Apple Store, I said that I live like 200 miles away from one (I live in Key west and the AS is in Miami). They offer to send me a new charger which will take like a week to get here (********!!!). I'm going to Vegas on Tuesday for work, I'll try my luck there, hopefully it'd be a charger problem and they will have one there to give me. Crossing my fingers. I'm not happy with Apple right now, so frustrating.

Juan

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Answer 14

yu-chih

Level 1

0 points

May 12, 2015 6:57 AM in response to KAWALIN

I have the same problem as you. The watch can be charged by Macbook air sometimes only after reset and remove all contents of watch. But almost got the fail charging message "the accessory is not supported".

I have bought a new cable, it will arrived tomorrow, I will try it. Thanks for your experience.

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Answer 15

yu-chih

Level 1

0 points

May 13, 2015 6:55 AM in response to yu-chih

After changing a new charger cable, it work now.

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