Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Moving to a different Apple Watch

convergent

convergent

macrumors 68040
Original poster
May 6, 2008
3,034
3,083
I have had my Apple Watch for long enough to know I like it. I am buying a SS one on eBay and will return my SG Sport. I want to just move all my setup and data to the new one. I looked at the owners manual and it says its backed up to the phone, so not seeing where I can "back up" the phone. Is it really automatic?

Has anyone done this before? It won't remove the backup when I unpair the current one? Just looking for some insight from someone that has been through this successfully. I'd rather not have to go back through and try to get everything set again, but can do it if its the only way.

Thanks!
 
When you un-pair the watch from your phone, it backs up the watch. It also backs up periodically on a mystery schedule. So, just un-pair your SG Sport when you are ready to move on. Then, when you pair the new watch, it will give you the option to restore from the prior watch's backup.
 
exxxviii said:
When you un-pair the watch from your phone, it backs up the watch. It also backs up periodically on a mystery schedule. So, just un-pair your SG Sport when you are ready to move on. Then, when you pair the new watch, it will give you the option to restore from the prior watch's backup.
Click to expand...

OK, so its an Apple "it just works" thing... until when it doesn't! :)

At least this isn't the end of the world if I have to re-setup everything.
 
I originally had the 42 Sport, but decided it was too large for my wrist and moved to a 38 Sport. Like exxxviii said, I unpaired the 42 from my phone, and when I paired the 38, I got an option to restore from the backup of my 42. I selected restore from backup, and everything was set up on the 38 as it was before on the 42.
 
When I moved from my Sport to the SS Watch I was just going to restore from backup but Apple Store strongly suggested I start as new. Since I only had a few days of data on the iPhone from the Watch it wasn't a big deal but wasn't sure why they so strongly suggested I install as new. At that time both had watchOS 1 so I figured it would be fine. If I had to do it today I would try and restore from backup first.
 
Irock619 said:
No mystery schedule. It backs up the same time your phone does to iCloud when your phone is locked and on wifi.
Click to expand...

Even if you don't back up to iCloud, the AW is continually backed up to the iPhone in the background. If you forget to unpair the AW before making a backup of the iPhone in iTunes, it'll still have the most recent automatic backup of the AW in the iPhone backup.

Nobody seems to know what this schedule of backing up to the iPhone itself is, hence it's a mystery.
 
Last edited:
Not certain if this is the correct thread for this, but....I just received a 2nd ⌚️ today (different style from 1st one). I talked w/Apple Support to see if I could transfer the Apple Care+ from 1st watch to new one. They checked & told me they could refund the Apple Care+ from 1st watch & apply it (buying it) for my new watch. They couldn't do a simple transfer. They also told me that they're working on the ability to have more than 1 ⌚️ paired w/one iPhone.
 
Jvjlite said:
Not certain if this is the correct thread for this, but....I just received a 2nd ⌚️ today (different style from 1st one). I talked w/Apple Support to see if I could transfer the Apple Care+ from 1st watch to new one. They checked & told me they could refund the Apple Care+ from 1st watch & apply it (buying it) for my new watch. They couldn't do a simple transfer. They also told me that they're working on the ability to have more than 1 ⌚️ paired w/one iPhone.
Click to expand...

A transfer seems to be possible only within 30 days of the original device purchase. Otherwise, just get a refund from the first one and purchase AC+ for the second one.
 
I traded from a Space Grey Sport to a Gold Sport and did exactly as above. Unpaired the old and then paired the new. Worked perfectly! Nothing lost.
 
convergent said:
OK, so its an Apple "it just works" thing... until when it doesn't! :)

At least this isn't the end of the world if I have to re-setup everything.
Click to expand...
Yes it really just works.


I started off with a sports watch and then upgraded to the SS model a few months ago. All I had to do was un pair it from the old watch and then repair to the new watch. During the set up I was given the option to restore from backup which I did and all my settings and data were transferred across to the new watch. It was simple and took about 20-25 minutes.
 
i had a scary situation moving to my SS watch, because it came with OS1.01 while my sport was already on 2.0. setting up the new watch i had no option to restore from a backup! but after setting up as new, updating, unpairing and repairing everything was fixed and i got my backup transferred over.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back