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Apple Watch won’t pair? Says iphone needs to be updated but it is!

I factory reset my Apple Watch series 2 and tried to pair it to my new iPhone XR. It says the watch has to be updated then keeps taking me to a screen that says my phone must be updated first but it’s up to date. Worked with Apple support and did all the restarts, delete and re-downloaded the watch app and still the same issue. Anyone ever seen this before or have any ideas?!

Apple Watch

Posted on Sep 7, 2021 7:32 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 8, 2021 1:14 AM

If you can't pair an Apple Watch with your iPhone

3 replies

Sep 9, 2021 4:06 AM in response to Xoxbrianaxox

Update: after troubleshooting with 2 Apple care reps I was instructed to see an apple care provider who told me there is a bug with iOS 14.7.1 where it’s unable to update an older watchOS. He said another phone with an older iOS would need to be used to update the watchOS then I could pair it with my phone.


A senior Apple rep told me iwatch 2 is just not compatible and I won’t be able to use it at all. Yet another rep told me I can us it and ordered me to send it to Apple to update.

Apple Watch won’t pair? Says iphone needs to be updated but it is!

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