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Disconnection issues

bmac4

bmac4

Suspended
Original poster
Feb 14, 2013
4,885
1,879
Atlanta Ga
I have a series 2 ceramic watch that I have had since launch. Within the last 3 months I have been having issues with the watch disconnecting from the phone. It will just randomly disconnects or I will move away from my phone and it never reconnects.

I contacted support and they told me to try setting it up as New. I did that, but the issue didn’t get resolved. I contacted them again today, and they said to make sure I was up to date. Got the latest software, but still didn’t help. The first time I contacted them, they ran diagnostics on the watch and said everything looked fine.

Anyone had similar issues, or have ideas? Supports next step is send it in for repair, but I have heard horror stories. Plus my issue isn’t even listed as one of things to send it in for. They were going to set it up for me, but I am a bit hesitant to send it back.
 
I suggest you take it to your nearest genius bar and see if they can get it kickstarted. My S0 watch disconnected 6 months ago, and I tried a variety of different things to reconnect, including resetting everything. I eventually gave up and planned to buy a new Apple watch since the cost of repair is so high. I was on vacation last week and walked by an Apple store -- popped in to see if they could have a look. About 20 minutes later they had me fixed up -- no charge.
 
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I have the exact same issue with my series 2 ceramic; I've had a case open for some time and I'm getting no responses from Apple. I've worked with two Senior Advisers and my case has been sent to Engineering. For the last two weeks it's been crickets from them. I've followed up twice in the last couple days with no response.
 
bmac4 said:
I have a series 2 ceramic watch that I have had since launch. Within the last 3 months I have been having issues with the watch disconnecting from the phone. It will just randomly disconnects or I will move away from my phone and it never reconnects.
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If I toggle airplane mode on the phone it quickly reconnects. if I toggle airplane mode on the watch it doesn't reconnect. Also, in the watch app on the iPhone, and under Bluetooth on the iPhone, it shows that the watch is connected when the watch says it is disconnected.

I have a series 3 Cellular paired to this phone too; I haven't seen the issue with my Series 3.
 
GRT89521 said:
If I toggle airplane mode on the phone it quickly reconnects. if I toggle airplane mode on the watch it doesn't reconnect. Also, in the watch app on the iPhone, and under Bluetooth on the iPhone, it shows that the watch is connected when the watch says it is disconnected.

I have a series 3 Cellular paired to this phone too; I haven't seen the issue with my Series 3.
Click to expand...

Weird. I have another series 2 SB SS that doesn’t have the issue at all. Funny thing is, I have had the watch since laugh and had no issues with it until now.

I was going to do the express replacement, but they put the hold on your card for the entire amount of the watch until the broken one is returned. Not completely sure how that works, but would they hold over $1000 on my card that I couldn’t use?
 
I have had this disconnect issue for several months - at least - with two AW Series 2 (one Stainless and one Aluminum). Have already had the iPhone X and both Watches replaced and it still happens. Am dealing with my third Senior Advisor and have had numerous profiles installed on both watches and now my iPhone to supposedly get the engineers the info they need. Getting VERY frustrated with this.
 
I have this when I switch between my old S0 and my S2 - may be a different issue, but turning of bluetooth on the phone and back on again solves it. You have to turn it off from the Settings app, not control centre - as control centre doesn't actually turn it off now, it merely disconnects non-Apple devices.
 
I have a Series 3 LTE with disconnection issues. If I am out of range on my phone, it switches to LTE. Once I get close to the phone, it won't reconnect and then the battery drains from running on LTE. This happens way too often lately. I have the latest OS on the watch and my X. I had a SS Series 3 a few months back with the exact same problems. Having to constantly reboot the watch and/or phone is getting old. I'm wondering if this is software related since it's happened on different watches I've had at various times.

It's getting to the point where I'm considering ditching the Apple Watch altogether and try out a Fitbit or the new Galaxy watch.
 
bmac4 said:
Weird. I have another series 2 SB SS that doesn’t have the issue at all. Funny thing is, I have had the watch since laugh and had no issues with it until now.

I was going to do the express replacement, but they put the hold on your card for the entire amount of the watch until the broken one is returned. Not completely sure how that works, but would they hold over $1000 on my card that I couldn’t use?
Click to expand...
You would have a pending charge for the period of the swap. They should be able to tell you how much it is, but it should not be more than the accidental full replacement cost of the watch - which I do not think is $1000 dollars.

Some credit cards may differ, but typically a hold does effect the amount of available credit on your card. So if you had a card with $1000 limit, $700 in charges, and Apple wants to put a $500 "hold" on there - it would be denied. If they want to put a $300 hold on there, it would be approved, but that card would be maxed unless you paid down the charges that have gone through. Could contact your credit card holder to learn more about how they handle pending / hold charges.
 
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cwanja said:
You would have a pending charge for the period of the swap. They should be able to tell you how much it is, but it should not be more than the accidental full replacement cost of the watch - which I do not think is $1000 dollars.

Some credit cards may differ, but typically a hold does effect the amount of available credit on your card. So if you had a card with $1000 limit, $700 in charges, and Apple wants to put a $500 "hold" on there - it would be denied. If they want to put a $300 hold on there, it would be approved, but that card would be maxed unless you paid down the charges that have gone through. Could contact your credit card holder to learn more about how they handle pending / hold charges.
Click to expand...

Thanks!! Thankfully iOS 12 fixed the issue. I haven’t had any disconnection issues since downloading.
 
I've found turning off Bluetooth (from settings, not control centre) is needed everyone I switch watch. That seems to reset something on the phone and fixes it.
 
What prevents the watch from reconnecting to the phone when it comes back in range? Is it bluetooth or possibly OS related?
 
triangletechie said:
What prevents the watch from reconnecting to the phone when it comes back in range? Is it bluetooth or possibly OS related?
Click to expand...
That my friend is the $1000 question. It will usually re-pair if the disconnection was caused by being out of range. The issue a lot of people - myself included - was the Watch and the iPhone would disconnect even if they are near each other. (Happened to me a lot when I was wearing the AW Series 2 and the freaking iPhone X was in my pocket! Though after the last time I did a full hard reset - not a complete restore just holding the Digital Crown and the other button till the AW reset - it has not happened again. Strange as nothing software has changed on either the AW or iPhone X.)
 
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