Apple Watch keeps unpairing during initial set up

I am having the same issue with 8 series watch, iPhone 13. I have reset both multiple times. iOS on phone is up to date. Both are fully charged .The watch won’t set up without pairing to a the phone first. The watch has an update, but when I try to initiate it, it stalls unpairs from phone. This is incredibly frustrating

He’s not saying it’s stalled. Mine is doing exactly what his is. It does pair for a minute but as soon as you choose wrist orientation it says “unpairing”and you’re back at square 1 again. Mine just keeps doing it. I’ve had it for almost 2 weeks and haven’t gotten past this

Hi bro,

I have the same issue, my watch is series 8, my iphone is 14 ios 16.6 latest version. could you please clarify how did you solve the issue?

I bought a new Apple Watch 9 and when pairing it to my phone it pairs and then immediately says it is unpairing and that pairing failed. I have reset my iPhone and the watch anD the same thing continues to happen.

How do you update a watch that’s not connected to anything?

Me too! I just bought a new (used) Apple Watch 4, but it will not pair with my iPhone SE 2016. Every time I try to set up, right near the end it flashes that I need to update IOS and unpairs. I have the latest software update, and have tried all the usual suggestions (power off, restart, reset, etc...).

Hi bro,

I have the same issue, my watch is series 8, my iPhone is 14 ios 16.6 latest version. could you please clarify how did you solve the issue?

how do you update a watch that has never been paired, you cant get into it

Dear Apple,

Here's an idea. Instead of just replying to these messages with a standard response which clearly does not work how about you advise people that they may want to check that their phone has had the latest updates applied?

Now I'm certainly not saying the following is the only solution to this issue but it appears to have worked for myself and a number of other users when they are trying to set up and pair a new apple watch.

Step 1: Update your phone to the latest IOS version

Step 2: Update your watch to the latest WatchOS version

Step 3: Try the pairing process again.

I’m trying to pair my series 6 watch to my iPhone 12 Pro Max and it says paired then shortly after it says unpairing.

I had the same issue, I had IOS 16.1 but apparently that was not good enough. After downloading IOS16.6 (which needs to be done manually) and waiting about 20 minutes to upload, I was finally able to pair the watch.

I was having the same issue and nothing seemed to work. It was my son's Apple Watch SE and I was trying to set it up 'for a family member'. I'm on an iPhone 15 Pro with the latest iOS 17.3. Whenever it would get to the step where I would want to select his account, it would only flash and then start unpairing.

After many futile attempts of resetting the watch and doing everything short of completely resetting my phone, I finally got a support tech on the phone that pointed me in the right direction. He suggested it may be my work's management profile that might be blocking the setup and causing the watch to unpair at that step (for anyone looking, you can find that setting under Settings > General > VPN & Device Management). I removed the management profile but that actually didn't fix the issue. It seems that even the profile having been on there leaves something lingering that was causing it to block that particular setup of the watch.

So the only logical step was to try a phone which didn't have a management profile (ever). Fortunately, we were able to use his mom's phone and ran through the setup without any issues.

Not sure if this is exactly the issue that others are having, but it was the only way we were able to get it working so thought I would share. And while I'm not usually the type to write on these boards, this process had me losing my mind and tearing my hair out - it was not fun; so another reason to share maybe a path for someone out there with a similar issue to get their watch working. Hope this helps.

Hello R2D2_1973,

Thank you for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.

Let's try these steps:

"If the pairing process stalls

If it seems like the pairing process has stalled — for example, the pairing animation remains on the screen for several minutes — resetting your Apple Watch might help:

1. Press and hold the Digital Crown while your Apple Watch is in pairing mode.
2. Tap Reset when it appears on your watch.
3. After your watch resets, you can pair again."

More details can be found here: If you can't pair an Apple Watch with your iPhone

If the issue persist, can you provide a few more details? What is your exact iOS version on your iPhone? Do you know your exact watchOS version? Also, do you have another iPhone you can pair your Apple Watch, just to test and see if the issue persists?

Cheers!

My phone is in for repairs... so I am using an old 2016 SE temporarily, but while my good phone is away, I would like to be able to still use my watch, get calendar updates and notifications etc. So there is no way to unpair and reconnect to another phone without resetting the entire device. So eventually decide I have had enough, and reset watch. But now it does not pair. Search the internet, apple gives a whole lot of suggestions, none work. As soon as it pairs, it unpairs again. Then thanks to a bright user somewhere, try checking for phone updates. Okay great phone update is available. Try pairing - pairing fails. But now it tells me I need ios 16 to pair a watch, and I am on 15.7.9 since SE 2016 is not able to install 16...

So why could my phone not have told me when I first tried pairing that the IOS version was not high enough to pair in the first place and prevented me from resetting my watch? So now I am without a watch till my phone gets repaired? I have supported apple for many years but there are just too many things that are becoming painful about their service, I think it is time to start looking at alternatives.

I did state that this was probably not the only solution and that it may not work for everyone.

my point is simply that it this and many other post the standard response was given. In most cases it was clear that the person making to standard response had not actually read what the issue was.

now I know that in some people’s eyes Apple can do no wrong and anyone who questions them must be shutdown.

that’s fine. You have your opinion and I have mine. That’s the joy of living in a free society.

goodbye