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iOS 15 Warning: Series 0, 1, & 2 might not be compatible

haralds

haralds

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jan 3, 2014
3,000
1,265
Silicon Valley, CA
Series 0 uses watchOS 4.3.2, Series 1 & 2 uses 6.3.

There are at least two reports that installing iOS 15 beta causes crash/boot loops that are not recoverable.

I have been dealing with this for weeks first suspecting a bad battery. The watch will continue to cycle (sometimes holding for a while) even when disconnected. Re-pairing does not solve the issue. I had this with a "known good" refurb from Apple, who looked at my reports and also declared the original "good."

I have filed feedback as a bug report. But knowing Apple I am not sure they care. Looking at the behavior this is likely an incompatibility of data structures exchanged between the iPhone and the watch. Once the data is in the watch cache, it become broken.

Caveat emptor.

Please note your observations and file a bug report, if you see this, too.
 
en.m.wikipedia.org

watchOS - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
This Wikipedia page has the cut off devices for some watchOS versions, and I suspect this could be why it is incompatible. Feedback report could help, but apple would probably just say “upgrade your watch”.
 
haralds said:
Correct with limitations of watchOS. Up to now it has not limited compatibility with newer versions of iOS.
Click to expand...
Which is what Apple should’ve been upfront with at the beginning, especially since watchOS 5 where they drop support for some Apple watches.

Hope those watches are not your main Apple Watch.
 
Shirasaki said:
Which is what Apple should’ve been upfront with at the beginning, especially since watchOS 5 where they drop support for some Apple watches.

Hope those watches are not your main Apple Watch.
Click to expand...
No, but there is no reason to drop support. They are not adding new feature, but just taking care of safe data structures. Think of all those folks who bought the expensive high end stuff!!!
 
I think it is fine not to add new features or new versions. I have had many Macs stuck at earlier versions of macOS. But that does not stop the utility of the Mac. You can still use it. With watchOS this bug kills it.
There are no new firmware updates for the AirPods gen 1, but they still connect and play.
My SS S0 was about $900 with AppleCare. Bricking it after 6 years is NOT ok.
 
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Since this also seems to impact watchOS 6.3, it will also brick Series 1&2. Series 2 watches are 4 years old or less depending on when you bought them.
 
Well since the final version of iOS 15 is still some time away, I‘m hopeful they will fix it along the way. Surely not top priority at the moment, but I don’t think they are going to cut off older watches completely.
 
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haralds said:
I think it is fine not to add new features or new versions. I have had many Macs stuck at earlier versions of macOS. But that does not stop the utility of the Mac. You can still use it. With watchOS this bug kills it.
There are no new firmware updates for the AirPods gen 1, but they still connect and play.
My SS S0 was about $900 with AppleCare. Bricking it after 6 years is NOT ok.
Click to expand...
This is the danger of big tech dictating what users should use and should not use, and arbitrarily cut off for the sake of mostly nonsensical reasons (stability improvements, performance etc).
 
Shirasaki said:
Apple really should be upfront about this incompatibility thing, or tech news sites should investigate and bring it up so more people would be aware of apples secret cutoff.
Click to expand...
I think it's a bug right now. But Apple often lives with those unless they get a lot of noise about it.
 
haralds said:
I think it's a bug right now. But Apple often lives with those unless they get a lot of noise about it.
Click to expand...
Let’s hope it’s a bug that Apple will fix, but I doubt there will be a ton of noises about it.
 
haralds said:
It's been working with my Series 0 for the FC.
I just tested on the release and it's working fine for connecting and installing apps.
Click to expand...
Hi Haralds! So glad i found your thread.
So im holding back updating my iphone to ios 15 because im afraid it wont pair with my watch series 1 running watchos 6.3.

i have bad history with ios update and series 1 previously.
I forgot to update my watch to 6.3 before unpair it from my ios 12 iphone and sold the phone, after that i cant pair it with my ios 14 phone.
Long story short all fixed and now there is this.

so all good with upgrading the ios to 15? I can still use my series 1 6.3?

thanks so much mate!
 

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I have not tested with Series 1, but it should work. They are on the same watchOS.
I know Apple engineers worked on it because I had made it a bug and they gave feedback it was fixed.
 
I have two Series 0 or 1st generation. I can confirm, it will pair with iOS 15 but the problem is, you will get a constant reminder to sign in with your Apple ID with the watch. When you do, it will prompt you that its incompatible with iOS 15 and you need a higher version OS watch to pair. Very reason I won't get a new Apple Watch. Unlike good old analog watches that can last till you die and beyond, these "smart watches" have limited lifespan.
 
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