watchOS 11 Allegedly Drops Support for Apple Watch Series 4, Series 5, and Original SE

[EugW]

Oh damn! My kids still use cellular Apple Watch SE 1st gen. I usually 'cycle' through my Apple devices fast enough to not get left behind on updates

I assume there will be no issues pairing iOS18 with a watch permanently stuck on watchOS 10? Might sound like a silly question but I've never been in this situation before. And upgrading to new cellular models for two kids is a $600 investment.

WatchOS 10 supports phones as old as iPhone XR, etc. Not sure what the requirements will be for WatchOS 11. Maybe XR again?

 

[BeatCrazy]

WatchOS 10 supports phones as old as iPhone XR, etc. Not sure what the requirements will be for WatchOS 11. Maybe XR again?

For my household, the oldest phone paired with SE 1st gen will be the XR, which is supported with iOS18.

So I'm not clear on if iOS18 will support watchOS 10.

 

[EugW]

For my household, the oldest phone paired with SE 1st gen will be the XR, which is supported with iOS18.

So I'm not clear on if iOS18 will support watchOS 10.

I'm guessing it will because XR supports WatchOS 10. It would really suck if people had the combo of WatchOS 10 with iPhone XR on iOS 17, who then updated their iPhone XRs to iOS 18 only to find out their Watches could no longer sync.

But we should find out soon enough.

 

[brofkand]

Once you get used to waking up with just a vibration on your wrist from Apple Watch... whew I could never go back to a traditional alarm!

My fitbit does that and I agree it is the best way to wake up to an alarm.

 

[brofkand]

For my household, the oldest phone paired with SE 1st gen will be the XR, which is supported with iOS18.

So I'm not clear on if iOS18 will support watchOS 10.

You can always sync an older watchOS version with a newer iOS version.

 

[AlexJaye]

Superb! What other products don't you own?

Enjoy the outdated crap! 😂😂😂

 

[tipoo]

Just tell me there's a way to switch the buttons back to the way that makes sense in 11? A full year into 10 and I'm not used to it, none of it feels physically based on where the buttons are compared to the functions they do now

 

[JDHiro]

You can always sync an older watchOS version with a newer iOS version.

Yeah while it kinda sucks to see them drop new versions so fast, I'm guessing that it'll keep pairing to iPhone until it's "vintage" which is like 7 years or something.

As long as my SE keeps tracking my heart rate at the gym I'm fine lol.

The OS on my daytime watch (Rolex) won't be obsolete for the rest of my life!

 

[macduke]

Damn, so if it’s true because they had the same basic chip architecture under the hood, then the Series 6, 7, and 8 will be wiped out at the same time! Glad I held out to upgrade my Series 4 to an Ultra 2 last year. This is why it’s best to upgrade an Apple Watch when the chip hardware is actually upgraded.

 

[iHorseHead]

Agreed, I'd expect at least 12-24 months of security updates on Watch OS 10.

I think you were wrong. My watch has received 0 security updates since they dropped the support on WatchOS 10, yet WatchOS 11 received plenty of security updates.

 

[Howard2k]

I think you were wrong. My watch has received 0 security updates since they dropped the support on WatchOS 10, yet WatchOS 11 received plenty of security updates.

Last updates so far:

• watchOS 10: The final version (10.6.1) was released on August 19, 2024.
• watchOS 9: The final version (9.6.3) was released on September 21, 2023.
• watchOS 8: The final version (8.4.2) was released on September 20, 2022.
• watchOS 7: The final version (7.6.2) was released on September 16, 2021.

It’s been five months since the last update. So yes, you’re right, I’m wrong, so far, but that’s how predictions are. And we’re still within the window I suggested of 12-24 months. And as you can see, Apple has typically been pretty good with keep up with updates.

And just so you know, I do not work for Apple. I’m not a spokesperson or anything like that. I’m a dude on a forum, like you.