You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

User profile for user: ozu from los angeles
ozu from los angeles Author
User level: Level 1
26 points

Unable to pair Apple Watch Series 7 with iPhone 16 Pro

Received my new iPhone 16 Pro and set it up. I went to the Watch App on the phone, and it showed my current watch (Series 7) as a watch I can pair. I started the pairing on the phone; the watch prompted me for my passcode, and I entered it, and then it told me pairing failed. I tried this a few times; on maybe the 4th time the watch went dark, and for a few minutes showed the progress circle it displays while updating software. When the watch finished rebooting, I went back to the Watch app, but watch was no longer listed there. It only gives the option of pairing a new watch.


I thought maybe I could reset my Apple Watch in the watch's settings and pair it as a new watch, but it tells me activation lock won't be disabled unless I first unpair it from the iPhone 13. As mentioned above, I erased the iPhone 13. Is there any way out of this? Have I bricked my Apple Watch?



iPhone 16 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Sep 20, 2024 4:46 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: ozu from los angeles
ozu from los angeles Author
User level: Level 1
26 points

Posted on Sep 24, 2024 12:45 PM

Just want to follow up on this. It took me a few days but I finally figured out a solution, and I want to note it here in case anyone has the same problem.


You can reset the watch using the watch's Settings app, but when you do it warns you that you need to first disable Activity Lock using the iPhone. I spent a few days trying to find some way to connect the watch to either iPhone so I could disable Activity Lock on the Watch and then reset it.


As I was lying in bed stewing about it last night it occurred to me that Activity Lock doesn't tie the watch to a phone, it ties it to an iCloud account, and since the watch would still be within my same iCloud account, Activity Lock didn't need to be turned off. I reset the watch, just ignoring the warning about Activity Lock, and when it restarted I paired it as a new watch on the new phone, and now everything works.

View in context
11 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: ozu from los angeles
ozu from los angeles Author
User level: Level 1
26 points

Sep 24, 2024 12:45 PM in response to trustanprice

Just want to follow up on this. It took me a few days but I finally figured out a solution, and I want to note it here in case anyone has the same problem.


You can reset the watch using the watch's Settings app, but when you do it warns you that you need to first disable Activity Lock using the iPhone. I spent a few days trying to find some way to connect the watch to either iPhone so I could disable Activity Lock on the Watch and then reset it.


As I was lying in bed stewing about it last night it occurred to me that Activity Lock doesn't tie the watch to a phone, it ties it to an iCloud account, and since the watch would still be within my same iCloud account, Activity Lock didn't need to be turned off. I reset the watch, just ignoring the warning about Activity Lock, and when it restarted I paired it as a new watch on the new phone, and now everything works.

Reply
User profile for user: trustanprice
trustanprice
User level: Level 1
14 points

Sep 21, 2024 2:49 PM in response to ozu from los angeles

Hey man I was dealing with the same thing just now, I have an Apple Watch 7 and just got the IPhone 16 Pro. What I did was went into the Apple Watch settings, erased the entire watch profile, then went into my phone and made sure I had the newest update. When the phone restarted I was able to connect properly and back it up from where it already was before I erased it. Nothing was lost in the process and everything seems to be great! Hope this helps brother, have a blessed week.

Reply
User profile for user: SNSA
SNSA
User level: Level 1
18 points

Oct 8, 2024 1:44 PM in response to sharonllove

Having same issue pairing series 8 watch to iPhone pro 16. Does not it see and keeps giving me message "unable to connect to apple watch". Tried removing profile from Apple ID; removed from Apple Watch and trying to setup as add new watch - does not see the watch. Tried restarting phone; restarting watch and no such luck.Any suggestions?

Reply
User profile for user: DarthBaggins
DarthBaggins
User level: Level 1
8 points

Oct 11, 2024 8:49 PM in response to ozu from los angeles

Just received the 16 Pro for my wife, and was having the same exact issue with her Watch SE2. Originally appeared after the phone transfer from her 13 (regular) and had issues syncing the watch to the 16 Pro. So far attempted the reset, initially worked then when asked to log-in to Facetime but then got the error "Connection Error to the server". Right now I have put the watch on the charger and will attempt again in the morning (don't have these issues on my Pixel Pro and it's ecosystem).

Reply
User profile for user: elmcc5
elmcc5
User level: Level 1
8 points

Oct 20, 2024 8:20 PM in response to ozu from los angeles

Older millennial here…Apple needs to make this easier. Had all the same problems and after about 2 hours finally got the courage to reset my watch. Did the reset from the watch, erased all content and settings, iPhone immediately recognized the “new” watch. Answered a few prompts, selected restore from backup and chose from a list of backups, pair finally complete. My watch has all my content and settings as before. Annoying!!!


Reply

Unable to pair Apple Watch Series 7 with iPhone 16 Pro

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up