During update my S4 Nike+ 44 mm got stuck on the Apple logo. After several hours I tried to reboot the watch by pressing both buttons until the screen went blank. The logo popped up again. The solution was to keep pressing the two buttons until the logo disappeared the second time, then the screen remained blank. Putting the watch on the charger immediately pops up that irritating white apple again. I called Apple support and they scheduled me for a meeting at Apple Store in Malmö (Sweden) for a repair. I got the first available time which is on Monday, 5 days from now. As I understand they can’t do anything else but sending it away to a repair center. It sounds weird to use the wording repairing an electronic device due to a failing software update.
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watchOS 5.1 Update Bricking Some Apple Watches [Update: Apple Temporarily Pulls watchOS 5.1]
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It said it was gonna take 2 hours but took 10 minutes
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Is this a European problem?
For Express replacements.... you must sign for the package. Fed Ex doesn't allow for signing online or just leaving the package.
Fed Ex can leave a note on your door and have you sign that. This will of course delay delivery by 1 day.
I am running into this right now with my unrelated replacement.
Fed Ex can leave a note on your door and have you sign that. This will of course delay delivery by 1 day.
I am running into this right now with my unrelated replacement.
I'm not in Europe and my S4 LTE failed during the update. I have AppleCare+ so was able to do the express replacement. Hopefully the new one gets here tomorrow or Friday.
Your statement is definitely incorrect. My iphone 6s was on ios 12.0.1 when I updated watchos from 5.0.1 to 5.1 just after lunch yesterday. I have a Series 3 watch.
BTW, I updated my iphone to 12.1 later in the evening. No issues on both devices.
Like I said, they may have changed this. Or maybe it just applies to major iOS version updates (i.e. 12.0). Regardless, I've always updated the phone before the Watch, and haven't ever had any issues with bricking (Series 2). There was one update where it was randomly bricking Series 2 watches but I guess I just got lucky (watchOS 4.something I believe).
I agree. Apple needs to tell us what happened and how they are going to fix it. I’ve been on customer support on live chat and telephone and it’s clear they are making it up as they go along.
They’ve screwed up by breaking watches only a few weeks old. I’m surprised major news stations aren’t running with the story. That might put a bit of pressure on Apple.
First bit of pressure applied...
Apple Watch owners asked to return devices for repair after update glitch
OMG. They quoted my tweet.
How could this update get through weeks of beta testing without the issue appearing?
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Brilliant! Just goes to show complaining on the internet can make a difference.
"Due to a small number of Apple Watch customers experiencing an issue while installing WatchOS 5.1 today, we've pulled back the software update as a precaution," Apple said in a statement. (From the BBC article)
Every freaking time, Apple says “Due to a small number of...”. I’d like to know their threshold to make it more than “a small number of”.
Such a disingenuous company.
Every freaking time, Apple says “Due to a small number of...”. I’d like to know their threshold to make it more than “a small number of”.
Such a disingenuous company.
They should have implemented the ability to transfer data (inductively?) and provided a way to restore devices. Apple is paying for that now by having to deal with all these returns.
I'm actually disappointed they're not just replacing bricked devices on the spot. Making customers wait a week for an issue that's no fault of their own is bad customer service we don't usually expect from Apple.
There seems to be a lot of MR members posting about their bricked watches.
Updated my series 3 gps without any issue. Had kept it for update overnight and checked in morning and it was updated.
Lucky not to have a bricked watch
Lucky not to have a bricked watch
One would think that since watches can't be plugged into a computer and restored that the update would be thoroughly vetted before release. It's incredibly disappointing to have this specter hanging over every single WatchOS update. As a company, you never want that kind of uncertainty taking up space in your customers' minds.
Every forum I've visited, plus Twitter, and Reddit has users experiencing the issue. Even a "small number" of users, as Apple claims, could be tens of thousands.
Not fun. Apple Watch Series 4 (44mm / aluminium / cellular) of boyfriend is bricked. Ruining vacation more for me than for him because I'm so upset that AppleCare support is so abysmal.
The minimum they should do is send an immediate express replacement—no questions asked. Instead we don't even have an appointment for an Apple Store close by because "there are no appointments available". Once we get there, I guess it will just be sent in anyway.
The minimum they should do is send an immediate express replacement—no questions asked. Instead we don't even have an appointment for an Apple Store close by because "there are no appointments available". Once we get there, I guess it will just be sent in anyway.
Managed to bag a last minute Apple Store appointment this morning. The Genius wasn’t aware of the problem (nor was the chat agent I spoke to last night).
They’ve sent it off and told me to expect a replacement in 7-10 days.
They’ve sent it off and told me to expect a replacement in 7-10 days.
Shouldn't, but apparently is. This has happened a few times. Never update immediately unless you're willing to lose the device or are beta testing on a secondary device. This is what properly educated tech users do. Let the masses discover the problems first.