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Apple Pulls watchOS 3.1.1 Update After Bricking Complaints

MacRumors said:



Following complaints that the new watchOS 3.1.1 update is bricking some Series 2 Apple Watch models, Apple has temporarily pulled the update.

watchOS 3.1.1 is no longer available for download from the Watch app on the iPhone, with watchOS 3.1 listed as the most recent update for those who had not already downloaded and installed 3.1.1.

After installing watchOS 3.1.1, some Apple Watch Series 2 owners had their devices bricked. Affected Apple Watches are displaying a red exclamation mark on the screen that instructs them to visit www.apple.com/help/watch.

apple-watch-brick-800x495.jpg

The site directs Apple Watch owners to perform a force restart of the Apple Watch by holding down the side button and the Digital Crown, and says that if a restart does not work to restore the device, it will need to be taken in for service.

Resetting the Apple Watch has not worked for customers who have had their watches bricked by watchOS 3.1.1, and replacement Apple Watches will be required. Apple retail locations cannot service Apple Watches in store, because access to the diagnostic port (something not done in-store) is required.

Most users who are affected by the problem own an Apple Watch Series 2, and it is not yet clear why the update failed on some devices and not on others. watchOS 3.1.1 will likely be made available again once the bug is cleared up. Customers with an Apple Watch bricked by watchOS 3.1.1 should visit an Apple retail store or contact Apple support.

(Thanks, Manolo!)

Article Link: Apple Pulls watchOS 3.1.1 Update After Bricking Complaints
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Hey Jony, how f....d is Switzerland again ?
 
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Neodym said:
At least Microsoft survived their dark days, so the future for Apple may not look completely dire ...
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Well Microsoft is not like Apple. Microsoft effectively has a monopoly on the desktop, 100% market penetration, with most businesses and consumers believe they have no choice but to choose Microsoft. So Microsoft can make many mistakes, make buggy OS's and products, and it's hardly a dent to them, people will still keep coming back because there is nowhere else to go. Apple, well, people choose Apple, and it has a tiny percentage of the market. It's is easier for most to walk away from Apple than it is to walk away from Microsoft. Apple management needs to understand this.
 
Not good. To Cease the update is nothing more than damage control. It's frustrating to think that I won't update any of my Apple devices upon the release any OS updates on day one anymore, because of fear that it will ruin my Software. It shouldn't be like this.

Someone at Apple is at fault for this mishap and needs to be reckoned with.
 
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Thing is people criticize the hardware (rightly so in some cases), no headphone jack, only 16 gb RAM, poor battery life but the software is where the rot has really set in.

Their software has got so bad these days you would have to be crazy to perform the update on day one. I work with xCode on a daily basis and it is an absolute bug ridden, crash prone mess. They just seem to shove any old garbage out of the door these days. These bricking incidents are a regular occurrence now.

There is no blaming this on somebody else this isn't down to Intel or Google Chrome being a resource hog this is purely a lack of testing and a lack of any kind of attention to detail.
 
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Bryan Bowler said:
Apple is now the Microsoft of old. Man, it was a good run while it lasted...
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Software bugs are never a good thing, but as software gets increasingly complicated and integrated, e.g., now over 1.2 billion iOS devices, there will be increasingly more bugs that get worked out after release as unusual user scenarios arise, e.g., different generations of AW integrating with ever multiplying numbers of laptops, desktops, iPhones, iPads, each wither their own software versions, allowing ever greater number of numbers of outside vendors access to system, etc. Fortunately for Apple, its customers are able to put this in context and that's why, unlike Microsoft of old, Apple continues to enjoy record demands for its products and services as users trust Apple to take care of issues that arise.
 
truthertech said:
Software bugs are never a good thing, but as software gets increasingly complicated and integrated, e.g., now over 1.2 billion iOS devices, there will be increasingly more bugs that get worked out after release as unusual user scenarios arise, e.g., different generations of AW integrating with ever multiplying numbers of laptops, desktops, iPhones, iPads, each wither their own software versions, allowing ever greater number of numbers of outside vendors access to system, etc. Fortunately for Apple, its customers are able to put this in context and that's why, unlike Microsoft of old, Apple continues to enjoy record demands for its products and services as users trust Apple to take care of issues that arise.
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Sorry that simply isn't true. These are not just isolated incidents of unusual behavior that are blown up do to a large install base. These are OS updates that are bricking significant numbers of devices and it is happening with regularity.

When was the last time you heard of an Android update bricking devices en masse? The amount of Android devices out there dwarfs iOS. Apple has had at least four separate instances of updates bricking devices this year!
 
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Whoa. Seriously Apple, don't pull a Sony (everytime Sony pushed an update for the PS3, there were always some consoles being bricked, always, never fail).
Glad I have not updated mine yet. It would be a pain to wait for a replacement.
 
Rob_2811 said:
Sorry that simply isn't true. These are not just isolated incidents of unusual behavior that are blown up do to a large install base. These are OS updates that are bricking significant numbers of devices and it is happening with regularity.

When was the last time you heard of an Android update bricking devices en masse? The amount of Android devices out there dwarfs iOS. Apple has had at least four separate instances of updates bricking devices this year!
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Exactly right. And why is this? Because before any update gets rolled out to a device it goes through testing at Google (who then extend this advance software availability to Nexus and now Pixel devices) then testing at the Phone Manufacturer (Samsung, LG, Motorola, HTC and so on), then undergoes separate testing at the carrier. Each one of these has teams of people and resources dedicated just to testing through automation and manual execution various functions and scenarios before an update is ever approved for distribution.

Now this does slow down the release cycle, but seriously, being on the bleeding edge isn't worth this much headache to the average consumer and any such incidents should have been ironed out WELL in advance of a public release like this. If it happened during beta, fine... but this just wreaks of something foul.

I suspect there is some variance in part sourcing that is affecting these different models. And Apple may not have samples with each part in their own possession to test against. Or (as I suspect it) Apple simply isn't doing ANY beta testing prior to introducing the software to the public beta and registered development community members.

Anyone who's worked closely with Apple will know they have always had a VERY lean development team, but those were protocols that were maintained due to Steve Jobs demand for absolute secrecy. Now that things have become much more relaxed it seems the foot has been placed on the gas without any consideration for an adjustment in steering. (So to speak.)
 
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Rob_2811 said:
Sorry that simply isn't true. These are not just isolated incidents of unusual behavior that are blown up do to a large install base. These are OS updates that are bricking significant numbers of devices and it is happening with regularity.

When was the last time you heard of an Android update bricking devices en masse? The amount of Android devices out there dwarfs iOS. Apple has had at least four separate instances of updates bricking devices this year!
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Where is your source that the devices were bricked "en masse." "En masse" means total, everyone. Some have obviously experienced an issue, but we in my family haven't had any problem with the update for our AW updates, just heard from two friends that they have had no problem, and just checked over on 9t05 where vast majority comments section had no problem either with the update, so it is conclusive that you are spreading fake news, which is sadly very prevalent all over the web these days. Please consider retracting your statement that this update bricked all devices, i.e., "en masse" when you have no idea what percentage were bricked, and we also conclusively know that you were spreading false info when you claimed that Apple Watches were bricked "en masse." Again, ideally no devices would have problems with an update, but similarly no postings should have fake news--neither of which is realistic these days. You can dislike Apple and freely state that opinion, but let's not resort to spreading false information.
 
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Once again Apple are eroding trust in their ecosystem. Mistakes happen, they get fixed, it ahppens to all companies but at the monent they are happening too frequently with Apple.
 
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Wow. I just realized!
This update has pushed a bit more my Watch's battery life.
I charged the watch about 39 hours ago and I still have 58% battery life.

I have email push and I used the workout App for 30 mins yesterday, I've answered a few messages using voice, and played around with some emails (about 20)

Not bad. Not bad at all.
 
clauzzz203 said:
Just goddamn replace the cheapskate with Scott Forstall
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This. Forstall is the only saving grace. Apple hasn't been the same since the realise of iOS 7 to me. Their software quality has dipped significantly, there's lag, stutter and bugs galore. Unfortunately Jony doesn't like him, or shiny interfaces with rock solid stability, so he won't be back anytime soon. Yet they'd rather keep Jony who's in charge of all design, which are the two things people have been complaining about.. more and more every year.
 
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'red' exclamation marks are about as worse u can get..

MacsRgr8 said:
Apple have plenty of cash to survive well into the next decade...
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Should not give them a right to brick devices. But it can happen.

Perhaps the old brain cells are starting to strain..
 
truthertech said:
"En masse" means total, everyone.
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No.
"En Masse" means 'a lot', 'not a few'.
"En bloc" means everyone, total. (or "in globo")

But, I agree, without reliable data even saying "en masse" is kinda hyperbole, considering that almost nobody comes here to report success, only the whiners come to forums to complain.
But, even a small percentage of AW2 being bricked, considering Apple's sales numbers, still is 'en masse', a lot, not a few.... ;-)
 
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What a nightmare, glad I didn't see this and update on my Series 2.

Isn't this why Apple have Beta releases, to test these issues??!!
 
Since Apple cannot service the watch in store because they do have the diagnostics for this, is this one of those "Apple shot themselves in the foot, and it bloody hurt"?? situations.
 
HowEver said:
So nobody here has had theirs bricked. Got it. Just the usual haters.
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It bricked mine last Friday but I thought that was just because I was installing the Beta. Sent it to the service centre for restoring.

Gary
 
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