Warning: watchOS 26 Beta 2 Crashes Apple's Expensive Hermès Watches

[basalt5750]

By putting the watch and charger between ice packs I was able to run the update, it did take hours.

 

[iPad Air 5th gen ios 26]

for one, they resolved it in the new watchOS 26 beta 4 and here was the official patch note: Fixed: Apple Watch Hermès crashes continuously if updated to watchOS 26 beta 2. It is advised that these users do not update to beta 2.

 

[alexjohnson]

By putting the watch and charger between ice packs I was able to run the update, it did take hours.

Did I hear about you on a recent Gruber podcast…?

Academic now, but "the way" is low power mode — press the battery percentage in control center —and set it to three days (otherwise it will turn off at 80%), which you get to by "turn on for", below "turn on." That stops the power cycling and heat problem and while battery drain remains high, you get a couple of hours of use if you have workouts you want to track, etc. To install B3, most of us found that "preparing" took around 24 hours, plus-or-minus a few. You can actually use it in that time — though ymmv — but do not allow the phone and watch to be separated out of Bluetooth range, or it will likely fail. And, be warned that a failed downloads were also common, though that may have been upgrade servers being slammed by desperate Hermès folks… The safe option is just to leave it alone.

I doubt there are many people that still need this, though I was amused by Gruber's MacGuyvered solution, and glad it worked for his son. He showed impressive intuition, if perhaps also suboptimal Google skills… This forum was super-useful: thanks to those who helped me.