Auto pairing?

[bruinsrme]

I upgrade to the 17pro max 512GB. Something happened in the process and the number share had to be wiped and a new number established. The 17pm 512 phone was eventually paired to the Ultra 3 and the cellular working.
Then the 512 was returned and replaced with the 1TB 17PM.
The new phone was never paired to the ultra3 but it is showing paired and working perfectly.
then I found this little nugget about ios 26
"For an existing Apple Watch user moving to a new iPhone with iOS 26, the watch will automatically begin the pairing process as part of the new iPhone's setup. You will not need to manually unpair the watch from your old iPhone first."

 

[jz0309]

I upgrade to the 17pro max 512GB. Something happened in the process and the number share had to be wiped and a new number established. The 17pm 512 phone was eventually paired to the Ultra 3 and the cellular working.
Then the 512 was returned and replaced with the 1TB 17PM.
The new phone was never paired to the ultra3 but it is showing paired and working perfectly.
then I found this little nugget about ios 26
"For an existing Apple Watch user moving to a new iPhone with iOS 26, the watch will automatically begin the pairing process as part of the new iPhone's setup. You will not need to manually unpair the watch from your old iPhone first."

If you migrate from old phone to new phone, either phone to phone or restore from backup. Then yes, this has always worked.
If you setup the new phone as new, the you'll have to pair the AW manually.