In my case it was at least 6 hours set it up when I went to bed, woke up and it was frozen at 100%. Hit the power button to see if anything would happen, watch rebooted as a paperweight.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
watchOS 3.1.1 Bricking Some Apple Watch Series 2 Models
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
In my case it was at least 6 hours set it up when I went to bed, woke up and it was frozen at 100%. Hit the power button to see if anything would happen, watch rebooted as a paperweight.
Agreed - at the very least have the ability to do a recovery on them in store. Or at least have replacements if they have to be sent back.
It's honestly a terrible experience compared to other devices. I was there, and they spent 45 minutes attempting to re-pair it with my phone. Reading support documents, trying to restart the watch multiple times. I knew it wasn't going to get anywhere. Then finally they said it won't work and it has to be sent in for repair. Very very un-Apple like.
Agreed. It's asinine that Apple has made an OS that Apple's "geniuses" can't even fix if there's a problem with an OS update. That's a huge blunder on Apple's part.
Imagine if, by the time iOS 3 was released, anytime there was a problem during an iOS update, the phone had to be shipped back to Apple. Yeah, sounds crazy, doesn't it?
What a great deal for all owners of scratched watches, say hello to a brand new one
Nope. They will restore it and send it back.
Frankly this is the one big misstep I have with Apple service. I just can't imagine that their in store staff are so stupid they can't handle restoring a watch. If it doesn't work, then send it in. But give them the tools. Having to deal with mail outs etc over a software restore is just dumb
This is just unacceptable. Period.
Apple, please use all the pile of cash to improve quality control.
Apple, please use all the pile of cash to improve quality control.
It's not that bad guys, Tim was just named one of the best CEOs by the Smoke Curtain Mag. Look at the bright side, with your paid beta testing sub, they might be able to solve it, because it's not like they have bricked other iDevices before, and no one offers a more reasonable beta testing sub price!
Stay strong, we love you.
Stay strong, we love you.
At least with a Mac that has a problem during an OS update, the end user can restore the Mac themselves with a Time Machine or other similar backup and be up and running again within an hour or less in most cases. It's crazy that a software update issued in 2016 can render a watch inoperable and the only solution is to ship the watch to Apple for repair when they have hundreds of retail stores staffed with "geniuses" around the world.
I think, unfortunately, this goes to show that Apple is not "all-in" on the watch. At least not yet. If one of their own geniuses can't even fix a problem on the watch created by a software update issued by Apple, that tells me that Apple higher ups don't view the product as important enough to merit being fixed in-store. That's sad considering the fact that Apple first presented the watch as the "most personal product they'd ever created". If a watch is so personal, why would they require that it be shipped back to them whenever something goes wrong with a software update?
I have a Series 2 and thankfully, I didn't have any issues upgrading to 3.1.1. I'm not too enthusiastic about the next software update, though.
My "Series 0" got bricked and Apple is being difficult about doing anything about it because its out of warranty.
Edit: Mobile wanted to post the whole article, fixed it.
Edit: Mobile wanted to post the whole article, fixed it.
I agree, to an extent. Apple has partnered with IBM (and some other corporate big-wig) and delivering serious corporate solutions on those fronts.
I just think that Apple is over-extended these days. They effectively have six (6) separate platforms that need to keep working seamlessly together.
- macOS
- iOS
- tvOS
- watchOS
- Car Play (which is an extension of iOS)
- iCloud
And a growing number of hardware platforms.
- Macs
- iPhones, iPad, and iOS-based iPods
- Older iPods
- Apple TV
- Apple Watch
Growing tentacles, but with that should come more Quality Assurance testing in real-world settings, not just locally at Apple's campus.
Last edited:
More bricked devices in the past two years than ever in the previous twenty years.
Fit and finish are long gone at Apple. Just push it out and see what happens.
Apple needs someone overseeing standards, high standards, because frankly, they just aren't there.
Fit and finish are long gone at Apple. Just push it out and see what happens.
Apple needs someone overseeing standards, high standards, because frankly, they just aren't there.
Updated watch, phone and I pad all ok this is getting out of hand Apple . For the huge wages your on Tim sort out the mess it's getting to a stage that it doesn't just work ! Ok I got away with it this time ,but always wary of updating now
Following the release of watchOS 3.1.1 yesterday afternoon, a few early-installers of the latest operating system for the Apple Watch have found that their devices become bricked during the update process. Users in the MacRumors forums, email tipsters, and quite a few Redditors have begun reporting a red exclamation mark on their Apple Watch's screen that guides them to www.apple.com/help/watch.
Most have discovered they now need to send the device back to Apple so it can be replaced because Apple retail locations can't service the problem in-store. To fix the issue, the Apple Watch has to be restored through the device's small diagnostic port, which Apple Stores don't cover.
Image via Redditor Moust4ki
The majority of users appear to be using an Apple Watch Series 2, and issues first began with reports of the watchOS 3.1.1 update getting stuck on the circular progress bar. A few bricking cases appear to be because some users were force-restarting the Apple Watch during the update process because of the progress bar being stuck in one place for upwards of a few hours. However, most cases appear to lack a specific reason as to why the Apple Watch bricked during the update, with those users reporting not having touched or interacted with the device while it was charging and updating.
Now, users affected by bricked Apple Watches can either visit an Apple Store so the location can ship off the device to be replaced by a new Apple Watch, or they can visit Apple's support site to begin the exchange process and ship it off themselves. The Series 0 and Series 1 Apple Watches appear to have gotten through the watchOS 3.1.1 update with less of a hassle, although some admitted the update did "take a long time" and needed to be installed twice in one case.
Apple has yet to address the watchOS 3.1.1 bricking issue, but it should be noted that there are also plenty of Series 2 owners who have made it out the other side of the update without any problems. Still, if you're concerned about a potential bricked Apple Watch, it appears that the best course of action is to stay on a version of watchOS of 3.1 or below for the time being. Yesterday, Apple also released iOS 10.2 and tvOS 10.1, both introducing the all-new TV app to users.
Article Link: watchOS 3.1.1 Bricking Some Apple Watch Series 2 Models
When you need special tools to fix it, the device is bricked.
These forums are so negative! Why do people have to complain about their expensive new devices being bricked?! Sheesh, some people can never be pleased!!!
Now real issues going to 3.1.1 on my Series 2 Sport. Aside from it being a painfully slow process which is nothing new. I had updated the iPhone to 10.2 first & implicitly rebooted it. Then did Watch. The only noticeable anomaly was that after Watch was installed and rebooted, the phone Watch app claimed 3.1.1 was still installing. Just tapped back into the General menu and checked for Software Update again and it Watch was up-to-date.
You shouldn't need "luck" when buying expensive devices. They should be relatively bug free and just work. "It just works" is an old saying that seemingly can't be applied to apple when we talk about the reasons we are willing to pay the apple tax on their products.
I forgot to say when the watch finished updating a message was sent to my phone informing of this once removed from the charger it still had the circular upgrade ring to fill in , all went well
Following the release of watchOS 3.1.1 yesterday afternoon, a few early-installers of the latest operating system for the Apple Watch have found that their devices become bricked during the update process. Users in the MacRumors forums, email tipsters, and quite a few Redditors have begun reporting a red exclamation mark on their Apple Watch's screen that guides them to www.apple.com/help/watch.
Most have discovered they now need to send the device back to Apple so it can be replaced because Apple retail locations can't service the problem in-store. To fix the issue, the Apple Watch has to be restored through the device's small diagnostic port, which Apple Stores don't cover.
Image via Redditor Moust4ki
The majority of users appear to be using an Apple Watch Series 2, and issues first began with reports of the watchOS 3.1.1 update getting stuck on the circular progress bar. A few bricking cases appear to be because some users were force-restarting the Apple Watch during the update process because of the progress bar being stuck in one place for upwards of a few hours. However, most cases appear to lack a specific reason as to why the Apple Watch bricked during the update, with those users reporting not having touched or interacted with the device while it was charging and updating.
Now, users affected by bricked Apple Watches can either visit an Apple Store so the location can ship off the device to be replaced by a new Apple Watch, or they can visit Apple's support site to begin the exchange process and ship it off themselves. The Series 0 and Series 1 Apple Watches appear to have gotten through the watchOS 3.1.1 update with less of a hassle, although some admitted the update did "take a long time" and needed to be installed twice in one case.
Apple has yet to address the watchOS 3.1.1 bricking issue, but it should be noted that there are also plenty of Series 2 owners who have made it out the other side of the update without any problems. Still, if you're concerned about a potential bricked Apple Watch, it appears that the best course of action is to stay on a version of watchOS of 3.1 or below for the time being. Yesterday, Apple also released iOS 10.2 and tvOS 10.1, both introducing the all-new TV app to users.
Article Link: watchOS 3.1.1 Bricking Some Apple Watch Series 2 Models
Confirmed with Apple Watch Nike+ and iPhone 6s (before update to iOS 10.2).
Apple, what about a small recovery partition on the watch?!
Apple, what about a small recovery partition on the watch?!