Apple watch buyer BEWARE!!!

[alongdingdong]

Most people here are completely locked into the world of social media and consumerism, they cannot think outside their boundries.

You will not win arguments with them, because they already made up their minds.
I personally dislike the drop of functionalities on the old AWs, they should still be able to receive messages, and be used for exercises and such.

They should never be allowed to just remove functions you paid for, simply dont update the damn thing and let the 3th party apps decide if they want to continue to support the hardware or not by their apps.

Apple deciding that you no longer can use your purchased hardware for the most basic stuff is messed up.
In this case i think it only applies to the AW 0 and none other Apple product ever, but once a start has been made and accepted by the majority of sheep then it will find its way to old model ipads, iphones etc.

But from reading this post it seems to still work fine so it must be OP who is wrong here, based on the many feedback. Just reset your iphone and watch and try again, it suppose to still work.

 

[bollman]

Imagine buying the gold edition and ending up with a glorified paper weight

That'd REALLY annoy me

Then again I guess you could just melt it down

That was what I was thinking when Apple released it. What a bummer to buy an exclusive watch at the exclusive pop-up store in Harrods for $15000 and realizing 5 years later that it is just a very expensive piece of e-waste. 🤣

 

[Nekomichi]

That was what I was thinking when Apple released it. What a bummer to buy an exclusive watch at the exclusive pop-up store in Harrods for $15000 and realizing 5 years later that it is just a very expensive piece of e-waste. 🤣

I was doing my Master's Degree at the time and couldn't help but notice how it cost more than my tuition and then some! Even then I knew it wouldn't last long as a first-gen product.

 

[TechRunner]

I expect to upgrade my digital watch every three years, so this wouldn't bother me.

 

[A Hobo]

Just to compared a little bit.
With a 4-5 year life of an apple watch makes the watch more expensive than a nice omega watch in the long run.. the omega would go up in value but the apple watch is useless after few years.
The omega can last generations.. apple watch will not.

I think the death of an apple watch should be physical not a flick of a switch.

I have been around in this forum long enough to see people blinded by a brand.. never expected macrumor users to sink as low an in the original apple forum.
If this is what the younger generation is happy with .. we are doomed man.

I have not yet heard any valid argument in here that support the death of a 4 year old product by “bricking”

I thought your watch was 7 years old, you really won’t let go of this 4 year thing will you.

 

[msackey]

I think you have this backwards or misunderstanding it. watchOS 9 requires iOS 16. The reverse isn’t true. It doesn’t mean or imply that iOS 16 won’t work with older watchOS versions.

[…]

Do you have any transcripts you’re able to share with us by chance? Sometimes the meaning or context gets lost when playing the “he said/she said” game. Once, someone was complaining that Apple wouldn’t replace the battery in their 6-year-old iPhone because it was no longer supported. It wasn’t until we seen the transcript that we realized what was going on. Apple was saying they couldn’t sell him the battery (because that phone wasn’t part of the new self-repair program). Somehow, Apple misunderstood the person wanting to get his battery replaced; and the person misinterpreted their response, thinking he couldn’t get it replaced at all, when in fact Apple still did do battery replacements for that 6-year-old phone via mail-in or authorized service provider.

Very kind of you to keep working with the OP. He seems disrespectful at times and treats some like they’re too young when he’s only 45 years old, younger than me! Lol.

You might be on to something that he might have misunderstood something or Apple support might have misunderstood. After all, there are numerous people here who say they have or their family has Series 0 and it’s working with relatively new phones.

 

[A Hobo]

Very kind of you to keep working with the OP. He seems disrespectful at times and treats some like they’re too young when he’s only 45 years old, younger than me! Lol.

You might be on to something that he might have misunderstood something or Apple support might have misunderstood. After all, there are numerous people here who say they have or their family has Series 0 and it’s working with relatively new phones.

I fished out my s0 that hasn’t been powered on since 2018 or so,
Had to do the funky reset as it was paired to a different iPhone, it paired okay, and it’s mirrored my AW4 with its display and notifications.
I think the original poster has a fault but wants to blame a corporation for it.

 

[CyberDavis]

I have some sympathy for the OP, he has an Apple Watch that for him is working and does what what he wants.
But the product is now on Apples Vintage list, and its WatchOS is stopped at I believe WatchOS 4.3.2.

I work for a large multi national firm and know that the reality of product development often veers of sharply from what every person wants.
Supporting old products indefinitely makes development harder and increases costs and effort.
I guess combine that with the way the Apple watch has evolved and it is maybe easier to see why older ones may be left behind at some point.

By this I mean the focus of the Apple Watch has moved from being a cool gadget and maybe fashion gadget to a health and fitness orientated smartwatch.
This evolution and changes to onboard memory and storage will make it a challenge for Apple and therefore from their perspective phasing it out makes sense.
Consider the matrix of devices that iOS must support natively, it is large and only getting bigger. So not surprising that Apple has to draw the line somewhere.

My first Apple Watch was series 6 and I upgraded to an Ultra when it had features that were desirable to me.
Do I expect to use my Ultra for a number of year? Yes, obviously.
Do I expect my Ultra to still be supported and usable in the Apple eco system indefinitely? No, sadly I know the time will come when updates stop and support is ended. But to be fair I guess I'll be on the Apple Watch XXX by then.😂

Again, showing some sympathy for the OP I think the situation with the Apple watch is made worse or should I say more obvious as the device is not standalone and generally used in conjunction with an iPhone, so there is. symbiotic relationship requiring both products to support the other.
It is different than a Mac, iPad or TV that can work in their own right, although some functions may not work as support ends.

And once again a good point the OP raises either directly or indirectly is the negative manner in which many of us consumers (I include myself) behave.
We change tech regularly, maybe for the best of reasons but it does mean a lot of tech is disposed of.
Hopefully most is recycled or re-used, but I am sure a fair amount is disposed of in a wasteful fashion.
I admire the fact that the OP has kept his watch for so long, fair credit to them.

 

[msackey]

I fished out my s0 that hasn’t been powered on since 2018 or so,
Had to do the funky reset as it was paired to a different iPhone, it paired okay, and it’s mirrored my AW4 with its display and notifications.
I think the original poster has a fault but wants to blame a corporation for it.

Seems possible. Maybe someone with such sheer anger he can carry on and on in spite of what others have been saying about their Series 0.

Also I don’t get his logic that if you accept tech products quickly “degrade”, then send all your pre-2018 Apple products to him. Yeah, like hell I would. 🙄. Lol.

 

[msackey]

I have some sympathy for the OP, he has an Apple Watch that for him is working and does what what he wants.
But the product is now on Apples Vintage list, and its WatchOS is stopped at I believe WatchOS 4.3.2.

It’s hard to believe the OP when others are saying their Series 0 works with relatively new phones.

There’s either user error going on, misunderstanding between him and Apple, hardware issues with his Series 0 that he doesn’t recognize, or something.

 

[Silver78]

Most people here are completely locked into the world of social media and consumerism, they cannot think outside their boundries.

You will not win arguments with them, because they already made up their minds.
I personally dislike the drop of functionalities on the old AWs, they should still be able to receive messages, and be used for exercises and such.

They should never be allowed to just remove functions you paid for, simply dont update the damn thing and let the 3th party apps decide if they want to continue to support the hardware or not by their apps.

Apple deciding that you no longer can use your purchased hardware for the most basic stuff is messed up.
In this case i think it only applies to the AW 0 and none other Apple product ever, but once a start has been made and accepted by the majority of sheep then it will find its way to old model ipads, iphones etc.

But from reading this post it seems to still work fine so it must be OP who is wrong here, based on the many feedback. Just reset your iphone and watch and try again, it suppose to still work.

I did reset several times even with apple support on phone. and problem seem to come back .. look man i am not complete idiot with an apple watch 😊 .. i read people around interwebs have same problem.
Apple support also confirmed there was is a problem. They logged the case and filled a complaint. I am to wait for next ios update and see. Because some have working combinations of watches and phones does not mean the problem is not there.
Its been a problem for long.. its not something that happened this morning.. ive had this problem for a while.
My Experience with apple support sending me a link to recycle my “working” watch and after that sending me a link to apple store to buy a new watch was what made me write in here.
Imagine if it was a tesla in the future. Tesla push a button and your car does not work anymore.. they offer you to pick up your car and save you the hazzle of “recycle” it and then finally send you a link to tesla store so you can buy a new car

 

[hexagenia]

I am not even sure what the OP is talking about. I wear a S0 at least three or four times a week paired with a 14 Pro Max using iOS 16.1.1. Here is what it does: Fitness Tracking, Heart Tracking, Sleep Tracking, Weather, Apple Pay, Car Starting, Notifications, Complications, Face Customization. It does all these things in WatchOS 4.3.2 in a reasonable though not speedy interval of time. Is it as fast as a S7, which I also have? No way. Is there any reason why I can't use it if I have my iPhone nearby? Absolutely not.

Frankly, I am amazed at how serviceable this watch is at this age--I love how long Apple stuff lasts.

 

[ApeBot]

My upgrade cycle is about 3 years.. I went from a S0 to S4 and then S7 and might go to an ultra, end of next year. Phones, I went from 5s to Xr and now on 13. I consider myself pretty average. Not bleeding edge and not a Scrooge. If the product works and there is no compelling reason to upgrade, I won’t. Bricking under 5 years is not acceptable in my opinion.

 

[Silver78]

I am not even sure what the OP is talking about. I wear a S0 at least three or four times a week paired with a 14 Pro Max using iOS 16.1.1. Here is what it does: Fitness Tracking, Heart Tracking, Sleep Tracking, Weather, Apple Pay, Car Starting, Notifications, Complications, Face Customization. It does all these things in WatchOS 4.3.2 in a reasonable though not speedy interval of time. Is it as fast as a S7, which I also have? No way. Is there any reason why I can't use it if I have my iPhone nearby? Absolutely not.

Frankly, I am amazed at how serviceable this watch is at this age--I love how long Apple stuff lasts.

I agree to some extend i was also happy with my watch until update of phone.
An apple watch should die af natural causes not the push of a button from apple when the watch is just fine.
The problem is real i am not making this up man 😊
I hope they find a solution in an update .. there is no way i am going to “recycle” a working watch.
To those who have a working compination .. that is good it just shows the problem is “periodic” .. for now.

 

[MauiPa]

Apple watch buyer BEWARE!!!

I own an apple watch series 0 a watch that came out same year as iphone 6 or 7 plus!!

Imagine if apple turned of basic functions and connection options for those phones!!!

That is what apple just did!!! Turned off basic functions for my otherwise working and mint condition series 0 apple watch.

It is not supported in ios 16.1 !!!.. i got a new phone and after automatic installing ios 16.1.1 basic functions on old apple watches is no longer working..

Basically everything that require connection to the phone is no longer working!!! Fitness sync. Notifications, weather complications and other complications etc. basically everything that also uses the watch app on phone.

So they more or less “bricked” my watch at the push of a button!!! Why!!!

Its the first time i have seen an apple product become completely useless after 7 years.. and they choose to do it on a watch!!!

The watch was working just fine before the update.. yes it did not have the new functions but it was just fine.

I called support and after a long chat they decided to compensate me!!! With a link to recycle the watch.. so they “brick” my watch and sent me a link to recycle the watch!!! After that they semt me a link to apple store watch page so i could buy a new one .. at Full price!!!

What is going on here? Can apple just do that!!!?

In my ears it sound crazy that they can just do that!!!

As from what i can read it affects watch up to series 3 !!!

So basic functions and connection to phone is no longer working!!!

Apple watch 3 is from 2018 so 4 years old!!! Is no useless!!

So Beware.. you watch will be useless after 4 years only.. we are not talking no updates or no 3rd party apps .. we are talking no connection .. useless!!!

Please help!

oh my god, that is your premise, "It is not supported in ios 16.1 !!!.." that is not the same thing as not working at all. I was wondering what the special sauce was on this post. I could understand if you got it wet (Series 0 were not rated as water resistant), got it to hot, left it in the sun, the battery was old (yes batteries don't last forever and need to be replaced on any device - SAD, but true). a dead battery would stop it from working. But not running a new version of iOS for which it does not have the hardware to support. PLEASE. But you did keep me laughing at your post, I am still finding it funny

 

[jimmy_uk]

I looked after my SS Series 0 so it’s like new. The battery swelled and pushed the sapphire display off the body. It’s too expensive to fix especially as support ended. I won’t buy another Apple Watch because it’s dead money which can be invested in a watch that could last a lifetime.

I do miss it’s functions and it’s the most comfortable watch I’ve owned. The new Ultra is appealing for the chunky, bold design, but I’m a bracelet guy and the straps did not impress me vs their cost. Ultimately that’s what it comes down to for me - why am I going to spend nearly £1000 for another stainless steel watch that will die before I’ve had the value from it. Voting with my wallet.



Apple Watch, just like phones, tablets and laptops: are consumer devices and will all become obsolete. Apple wants to tie you into the Eco System and then get you to keep coming back for more. I think most expect that their computing devices will need replacing within 3-10 years because this has always been the case. The tech watch feels different because we are used to watches lasting until broken (or not serviced). The planned obsolesces will come to all things as we stuff computers into all everyday items - speakers, TV's, fridges/freezers, "smart" washing machines, home automation - it most certainly will come fast with electric cars.

We are sold on "features" and the latest shiny shiny believing that these things are better and will improve our lives/productivity. While it may seem like we are moving into the future with amazing new tech, we are in fact being sold goods to free us from our cash with the makers knowing full well that we will be back to spend again within 3 years to replace. This is how you make a trillion dollars.

 

[Nekomichi]

I'm a little confused, OP seems to be making two different claims here. On the one hand, they're saying the watch has "died" or Apple has remotely "bricked" a working device, which implies it can't even turn on or function:

[...] Bricking working devices on purpose is definitely a step in the wrong direction for all of us.

But on the other hand they're also saying the watch turns on and pairs with their phone:

Nope not the issue.. watch still connects in bluetooth.. watch shows also phone connected. Its a watch app issue

They're also saying they're having issues with apps not communicating data with their iPhone counterparts or complications not updating:

L

dont expect the apple watch 4 years after production date will connect to your phone and work even with the most basic apple complications. Music control. Sun rise sunset. Weather. Or fitness tracking and heart tracking. [...]

This is very different to a "dead" or "bricked" watch and it's unclear if OP's watch is actually bricked or not.

 

[Shirasaki]

It only is what it is if we accept that.

Because Most people can’t be arsed to fight for their rights, meaning it’s always minority with loud noises? This works, but not always. And sometimes stacks are against consumers.

We are talking basic functions lost here.. connection! And all that comes with it.

That’s way more than just connection. iPhone and apple watch software would have to negotiate a whole bunch of stuff so they can talk to each other, eventually allowing you to use the device.

It’s a watch.. that deserves to be able to function in 30 years and sell as retro etc more than any tech at least in my mind.

You have put your expectation on smartwatch way too high. They are electronics, and they break. Because modern ones are so complex, some Seemingly innocuous problems can break them. It is what it is.

L

dont expect the apple watch 4 years after production date will connect to your phone and work even with the most basic apple complications. Music control. Sun rise sunset. Weather. Or fitness tracking and heart tracking.
Even my 12 year old 100$ fitbit one does that just fine even today.. and my 25$ 7 year old xiaomi smartband is now smarter than my 7 year old 400$ apple watch.

Apple Watch series 4, which I have right now, after 4 years, still uses everything I bought them for just fine, plus some nice perks Since watchOS 9 upgrade. I have no problem believing they will run another year or two, doing the same thing I use them to do, just fine.
Here, the perfect example debunking your “don’t expect the Apple Watch 4 years after production date will connect to your phone” thing.

They should never be allowed to just remove functions you paid for, simply dont update the damn thing and let the 3th party apps decide if they want to continue to support the hardware or not by their apps.

Android has joined the chat.

Most people here are completely locked into the world of social media and consumerism, they cannot think outside their boundries.

Which makes people who can appear as if they can’t because they have different view. Fair I guess. I know how tunnel Vision people tend to be.

In this case i think it only applies to the AW 0 and none other Apple product ever, but once a start has been made and accepted by the majority of sheep then it will find its way to old model ipads, iphones etc.

Nevermind The possibility of that particular unit being bad and thus no longer function properly, including finishing the pairing process. Apple’s remote diagnostic is pretty lacking more often than not, unless the issue is painfully obvious. My series 4 replacement is only possible by sending it to the depot and do the test over there, not by letting Apple Store staff running diagnostics on that watch.

An apple watch should die af natural causes not the push of a button from apple when the watch is just fine.
The problem is real i am not making this up man 😊

I consider internal chips dying as part of “natural causes”, just like those chips in vintage computer dying. The only solution is to replace those chips.

If you really want to live in this planned obsolescence bubble (I was in that bubble as well, but not as much since), look no further than batterygate and performance slowdown Debacle.

 

[rumr46556]

Don’t be angry cos everybody in Apple need to be feed. It is the reality but cruel.
Can I say something else?
Simply speaking a car can move because of engine and its chip basically as well as the tires. If car manufacturer asks you to upgrade the engine chip to improve mileage consumption and adds a few horsepower. After the engine chip is upgraded, it checks that you are using the original tires which makes the car “UNMOVABLE” and displays a warning to you that it asks you to buy a new set of tires from car manufacturer first to replace the original tires.

Same as this case I think. Do you agree?

 

[GuruZac]

It’s an electronic device in a market where there’s still considerable gains to be made. 4 years is a lot of use on the battery and processor speeds will have increased significantly over the same time period. Compare the Series 6/7/8/Ultra processor to the Series 2, which was came out 4 years prior. Massive difference, but that doesn’t make the Series 2 useless. I know people who still use a Series 3 watch and have no issues, which is now over 5 years old, so how are you getting to your 4 years and then useless claim?

 

[msackey]

I looked after my SS Series 0 so it’s like new. The battery swelled and pushed the sapphire display off the body. It’s too expensive to fix especially as support ended. I won’t buy another Apple Watch because it’s dead money which can be invested in a watch that could last a lifetime.

[...]

Curious to know if you sent the Apple Watch to Apple for battery repair.

I don't have experience with swelling batteries on the Watch but I do have experience with swollen batteries on iPhones and Macs, some of which were no longer supported or in the obsolete category. Just a few months ago when visiting my dad (really old dad! ), I noticed the top of keyboard of his 15" MacBook Pro was totally curved. He didn't notice it at all! The case couldn't even shut. I think his model was from 2012? I can't remember now. But the cost of the battery replacement was quite reasonable at something less than $200 and included replacing the keyboard and part of the case that was damaged due to swollen battery. In other words, if the swelling battery damages other components in the laptop, Apple will replace it still at the cost of just the price of battery alone, so long as the damage is caused by the battery and not yourself.

My partner's laptop had a similar swelling battery situation and Apple not only replaced the bottom case, but also the top case (i.e., the lid) etc. and all for the price of just battery replacement which was less than $200. Really not bad at all. He essentially got a new computer with so many parts replaced.

I imagine Apple would offer to replace the battery and repair any damage caused by the battery at the cost of just battery replacement alone. But, I could be wrong.

 

[jimmy_uk]

Curious to know if you sent the Apple Watch to Apple for battery repair.

I don't have experience with swelling batteries on the Watch but I do have experience with swollen batteries on iPhones and Macs, some of which were no longer supported or in the obsolete category. Just a few months ago when visiting my dad (really old dad! ), I noticed the top of keyboard of his 15" MacBook Pro was totally curved. He didn't notice it at all! The case couldn't even shut. I think his model was from 2012? I can't remember now. But the cost of the battery replacement was quite reasonable at something less than $200 and included replacing the keyboard and part of the case that was damaged due to swollen battery. In other words, if the swelling battery damages other components in the laptop, Apple will replace it still at the cost of just the price of battery alone, so long as the damage is caused by the battery and not yourself.

My partner's laptop had a similar swelling battery situation and Apple not only replaced the bottom case, but also the top case (i.e., the lid) etc. and all for the price of just battery replacement which was less than $200. Really not bad at all. He essentially got a new computer with so many parts replaced.

I imagine Apple would offer to replace the battery and repair any damage caused by the battery at the cost of just battery replacement alone. But, I could be wrong.

This was last year. I have a friend who works in my local Apple store. He said if I had purchased the watch from Apple they may have worked it out with me, especially as they were aware that this model had swelling issues. But because I purchased from a different retailer I would be looking at a larger repair bill + battery cost. That would be throwing good money away on a device no longer supported. Looking now, Apple doesn't even repair the Series 0 anymore.

 

[Nekomichi]

Starting to think it's a troll thread. OP's made multiple conflicting claims that can't all be true at the same time:

- Apple purposefully bricked their watch.
- The watch powers on but can't connect with their phone.
- The watch can connect to the phone but there's a problem with the Watch app that prevents pairing or syncing.
- Apple killed off their watch instead of letting it die a "natural death".
- The watch isn't dead, it can connect to their phone and pair through the Watch app but complications don't update.
- The watch has been opened before and has been modified internally.
- The watch is in pristine physical condition.
- The watch died after 3 years of support.
- The watch worked from 2015 and died in 2022 (7 years).

People have offered to help them but they've ignored the offers. There are too many contradictions to make sense.

 

[NO🇳🇴]

Apple watch buyer BEWARE!!!

Please help!

The series 1 is using a ARMv7 32-bit processor and for more reasons than just security apple have decided that it will not be able to connect to a device using iOS 16.1.1+... s1 WIKI

So to avoid any lawsuits regarding your phone getting hacked (to protect your data) they instead just cancelled the support of the device because unfortunately there is no way of updating the physical chip itself, except soldering a new chip into your watch and programming it to work, but that would cost a lot more than you just buying a SE 2 instead (or a ULTRA) And apple provides you with a brand new watch with a lot of new features for 1/30 the price of making your old watch as secure as the newer models

I like to think of it this way

 

[Weaselboy]

Moderator Note:

I think OP's question has been answered. Thread closed.