iPhone 17 Pro Problems connecting Apple Watches to IPhone 17 Pro & Air

[flynz4]

So the Apple Watch Series 7 had all the perfect activity rings up since the beginning right?

Did that one get paired first and transferred to the 17 then you paired the ultras after that?

Yes, my iPhone 17 was paired first. I cannot remember if it had all the circles closed... but I was using the iPhone Fitness app and I was walking during the 2 hour wait for my appointment. It was not recognizing exercise as well as my watches do.

My ultra was paired 2nd... and I know all the circles were closed on that watch. When I got home, my AW7 was not synced anymore. I have no idea what happened. The AW7 was upgraded to WatchOS 26. My Ultra is still on 11.6.1. I'll wait till I get a new Ultra3 watch and have it successfully paired before I upgrade my my Ultra 1 to WatchOS 26. I don't want to take any chances of having issues.

This has been a very un-Apple experience for me.

/Jim

 

[goldmac2006]

Yes, my iPhone 17 was paired first. I cannot remember if it had all the circles closed... but I was using the iPhone Fitness app and I was walking during the 2 hour wait for my appointment. It was not recognizing exercise as well as my watches do.

My ultra was paired 2nd... and I know all the circles were closed on that watch. When I got home, my AW7 was not synced anymore. I have no idea what happened. The AW7 was upgraded to WatchOS 26. My Ultra is still on 11.6.1. I'll wait till I get a new Ultra3 watch and have it successfully paired before I upgrade my my Ultra 1 to WatchOS 26. I don't want to take any chances of having issues.

This has been a very un-Apple experience for me.

/Jim

Dang man…
Lots of pairing issues going on; I’m sorry for what happened.

Why did you hold off updating the Apple Watch Ultra for?!

 

[flynz4]

Dang man…
Lots of pairing issues going on; I’m sorry for what happened.

Why did you hold off updating the Apple Watch Ultra for?!

Both were paired successfully at the Apple Store. However when I got home, the AW7 with OS26 was no longer paired. Perhaps it failed in the store when they added my Ultra. I'm not sure what happened.

My AW Ultra gen1 has not been updated to Watch OS 26 yet. Given my problems, and my desire to get a new Ultra 3... I will wait till the new watch is successfully paired to my new iPhone 17 Pro prior to any more changes to my Ultra 1 configuration. I am OK for the short term to live with just one watch and don't want more problems. The watch is listed to be available in mid October. Perhaps there will be some updates to IOS 26 and Watch OS26 fixing some of these problems.

These problems are new to me. I've bought a new iPhone every year since the iPhone 3. and I've bought a AW 1,2,4,7,& Ultra gen1. This is my first time having problems setting them up.

/Jim

 

[goldmac2006]

Both were paired successfully at the Apple Store. However when I got home, the AW7 with OS26 was no longer paired. Perhaps it failed in the store when they added my Ultra. I'm not sure what happened.

My AW Ultra gen1 has not been updated to Watch OS 26 yet. Given my problems, and my desire to get a new Ultra 3... I will wait till the new watch is successfully paired to my new iPhone 17 Pro prior to any more changes to my Ultra 1 configuration. I am OK for the short term to live with just one watch and don't want more problems. The watch is listed to be available in mid October. Perhaps there will be some updates to IOS 26 and Watch OS26 fixing some of these problems.

These problems are new to me. I've bought a new iPhone every year since the iPhone 3. and I've bought a AW 1,2,4,7,& Ultra gen1. This is my first time having problems setting them up.

/Jim

Hey, I was wondering, did your Apple Watch series 7 ever lose connection + unpair itself when you got home or while you were heading back from the Apple Store?


Also, how long did it take for the Genius to pair your series 7 and the ultras?


Could you share a few things you learned from your visit to the Genius Bar? I’d love to see what they did, and I can suggest if you'd need to follow up with/ AppleCare on it.

 

[terryw1]

Does anyone have difficulties pairing their Apple Watches during setup of iPhone 17 models?

Last night it took about a dozen attempts to connect my wife’s Apple Watch 8 to her new iPhone Air during setup.

This morning I’ve had no luck connecting my Apple Watch Ultra to my new iPhone 17 Pro.

If not, I guess I’ll have to try “forgetting” the watch and set it up as a new watch. I’d prefer not to do that… especially if I loose the history.

/Jim

I posted in this thread for the very same reasons. After 5-6 hours at the Apple Store Genius Bar, a few bugs came to light see this post. https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-latest-watch-os-and-latest-phone-os.2467183/

 

[flynz4]

Hey, I was wondering, did your Apple Watch series 7 ever lose connection + unpair itself when you got home or while you were heading back from the Apple Store?

No, my AW 7 was successfully set up at the Genius Bar. After being set up, we worked on the AW Ultra and didn't try the AW7 again. I believe it was listed as one of my watches when I got home, but it would not connect... but I suspect that pairing the AW Ultra is what probably messed up my AW 7.

Also, how long did it take for the Genius to pair your series 7 and the ultras?

I was at the Genius Bar for about 2 hours total.

Could you share a few things you learned from your visit to the Genius Bar? I’d love to see what they did, and I can suggest if you'd need to follow up with/ AppleCare on it.

I did learn that my iPhone 17 Pro did not have the latest OS26 update. I felt stupid about that because I have had new iPhones every year on launch day ever since the iPhone 3. In my experience, there has usually been an update from when the phone was manufactures/packaged... and delivery.

While we were having trouble pairing my AW7, she did successfully pair my AW7 to a test iPhone in the store. I think that is when she figured my new iPhone was probably not up to date. She also wiped my AW7 from the phone (if I remember correctly)

We were never able to connect either my AW7 or AW Ultra 1 to the phone using the camera option. We always needed to tap the "i" icon on the AW screen, select the phone code, and then enter second pairing code into my iPhone.

Hope this helps.

/Jim

 

[goldmac2006]

No, my AW 7 was successfully set up at the Genius Bar. After being set up, we worked on the AW Ultra and didn't try the AW7 again. I believe it was listed as one of my watches when I got home, but it would not connect... but I suspect that pairing the AW Ultra is what probably messed up my AW 7.


I was at the Genius Bar for about 2 hours total.



I did learn that my iPhone 17 Pro did not have the latest OS26 update. I felt stupid about that because I have had new iPhones every year on launch day ever since the iPhone 3. In my experience, there has usually been an update from when the phone was manufactures/packaged... and delivery.

While we were having trouble pairing my AW7, she did successfully pair my AW7 to a test iPhone in the store. I think that is when she figured my new iPhone was probably not up to date. She also wiped my AW7 from the phone (if I remember correctly)

We were never able to connect either my AW7 or AW Ultra 1 to the phone using the camera option. We always needed to tap the "i" icon on the AW screen, select the phone code, and then enter second pairing code into my iPhone.

Hope this helps.

/Jim

Oh no, that sounds like a real headache! It’s so frustrating when the iPhone camera doesn’t even recognise the blue viewfinder from setting it up.

Did you manage to get the pairing codes to work on the first try, or did it take a few tries?

I remember getting my Apple Watch Series 6 new back then, and my iPhone XR couldn’t get the camera to capture the viewfinder. So, I had to use a code, and after a few attempts it worked! The watch needed to update to watchOS 10.5 to work properly with my XR running iOS 17.5, and it took forever. After setting up the watch faces, they couldn’t change properly, and it was acting up a bit. I did get help from AppleCare, but my watch unpaired itself the morning after and paired itself again, which worked fine.

I would definitely suggest following up with AppleCare through a chat and getting it escalated to a senior adviser. Even though the iPhone 17 Pro build shipped with the iPhone 17 Pro was corrupted, it should still work if the problem exists.

Lastly, since we’ve exhausted so many options to resolve this issue, would it be okay if I can discuss with my former Apple employee friend about it? He has more experience than me and knows the ins and outs of these things given his expertise repairing and fixing iPhones. We sometimes collaborate on certain complex iPhone and Apple troubleshooting topics, and he explains things a lot better than I do.

Don’t worry, I won’t put your name out there unless you want me to.

 

[flynz4]

Oh no, that sounds like a real headache! It’s so frustrating when the iPhone camera doesn’t even recognise the blue viewfinder from setting it up.

Did you manage to get the pairing codes to work on the first try, or did it take a few tries?

I remember getting my Apple Watch Series 6 new back then, and my iPhone XR couldn’t get the camera to capture the viewfinder. So, I had to use a code, and after a few attempts it worked! The watch needed to update to watchOS 10.5 to work properly with my XR running iOS 17.5, and it took forever. After setting up the watch faces, they couldn’t change properly, and it was acting up a bit. I did get help from AppleCare, but my watch unpaired itself the morning after and paired itself again, which worked fine.

I would definitely suggest following up with AppleCare through a chat and getting it escalated to a senior adviser. Even though the iPhone 17 Pro build shipped with the iPhone 17 Pro was corrupted, it should still work if the problem exists.

Lastly, since we’ve exhausted so many options to resolve this issue, would it be okay if I can discuss with my former Apple employee friend about it? He has more experience than me and knows the ins and outs of these things given his expertise repairing and fixing iPhones. We sometimes collaborate on certain complex iPhone and Apple troubleshooting topics, and he explains things a lot better than I do.

Don’t worry, I won’t put your name out there unless you want me to.

It is OK to let your friend know if you want to. Honestly, it was such mess that I really do not want to touch it again for a while. They have to be getting calls about this. It makes me a bit gun shy about launch day products. However, I do enjoy having the devices early.

/Jim

 

[BigMcGuire]

Yeah I've had an Apple Watch since the AW3. I usually get on release day. This is the first Apple Watch that refused to connect to my 15 Pro Max 9 times - it failed to pair despite the devices sitting next to each other and powered. Then when it finally paired 6? hours later - none of the complications worked. I couldn't transfer any music because it said it couldn't communicate. So I reset yet again and set up as new and after a few more hours - it started working magically.

Was so frustrating. I've never had anything close to this happen. lol. I couldn't believe it. I think it has something to do with iOS 26 because even now when I open the watch app it sometimes doesn't load the complications on the watch faces.

Anyway, working now. lol.

 

[goldmac2006]

It is OK to let your friend know if you want to. Honestly, it was such mess that I really do not want to touch it again for a while. They have to be getting calls about this. It makes me a bit gun shy about launch day products. However, I do enjoy having the devices early.

/Jim

I’m planning to chat with my titanium Apple Watch Series 7 (and former Apple employee) buddy about this! We usually tackle and demystify a bunch of  problems, like those big software and hardware hiccups and vulnerabilities. I’m thinking of adding this to our list, along with the discussion about Apple cutting Intel support for macOS from a hardware angle. He’s awesome at talking about my battery worries too, especially when my iPhone 15 Pro battery health took a nosedive after a few iOS 18 updates before the iOS 26 beta. He even suggested some settings and tips that could have helped prevent it or made it less of a headache. I’m sure he’ll dig deeper into this, especially since it’s impacting a lot of Apple Watch Ultra users with different iPhone 17 models.

And hey, if you’re running the beta, please send in some feedback! 👊!

 

[Apple_Tiger]

I had the same issue. I did the phone to phone transfer but I opted to do the watch later. So I unpaired it on my 16 pro max and paired it to my 17 pro max. It worked and set up complete. However, for some reason phone would not connect to it afterwards, so I unpaired it. It took couple of attempts and including rebooting both watch and the phone. I think it was third or 4th time I was able to set it up, but then phone wasn't able to connect to it so I rebooted just the phone and this time it worked.

 

[goldmac2006]

It is OK to let your friend know if you want to. Honestly, it was such mess that I really do not want to touch it again for a while. They have to be getting calls about this. It makes me a bit gun shy about launch day products. However, I do enjoy having the devices early.

/Jim

Hey Jim, I chatted with my ex Apple employee friend about your situation, and here’s what he said:

“It seems like the Apple software and hardware weren’t quite ready for a smooth transition and sync.”

So, in his words, it sounds like Apple might have jumped the gun with the new version and left a bunch of bugs in the final release of iOS 26, even on the launch day with the new iPhones. While it’s not super common for the final iOS update to have this kind of behaviour on the iPhone 17 Pro models compared to an iPhone running a beta version of iOS and paired with an Apple Watch that usually works perfectly on a previous version.

If you need anything else to clarify, just give me a shout! Thanks!

 

[flynz4]

Hey Jim, I chatted with my ex Apple employee friend about your situation, and here’s what he said:

“It seems like the Apple software and hardware weren’t quite ready for a smooth transition and sync.”

So, in his words, it sounds like Apple might have jumped the gun with the new version and left a bunch of bugs in the final release of iOS 26, even on the launch day with the new iPhones. While it’s not super common for the final iOS update to have this kind of behaviour on the iPhone 17 Pro models compared to an iPhone running a beta version of iOS and paired with an Apple Watch that usually works perfectly on a previous version.

If you need anything else to clarify, just give me a shout! Thanks!

Thanks. I’ll wait a bit for upgrades and maybe try the AW7 again.

/Jim

 

[goldmac2006]

Thanks. I’ll wait a bit for upgrades and maybe try the AW7 again.

/Jim

Good approach! So no pairing the ultra until iOS 26.1 is out right?

 

[flynz4]

Good approach! So no pairing the ultra until iOS 26.1 is out right?

My AW Ultra gen 1 is the only one currently paired. I don’t want more problems so I’ll buy an AW Ultra 3, but not until there are updates. At that point my current AW Ultra will become my sleep watch and the new AW Ultra 3 will be my day watch. I find it really convenient to have a watch on the charging stand at all times and switch watches for day and night. I never even need to check the battery level.

I’ll retire my AW 7.

/Jim

 

[goldmac2006]

My AW Ultra gen 1 is the only one currently paired. I don’t want more problems so I’ll buy an AW Ultra 3, but not until there are updates. At that point my current AW Ultra will become my sleep watch and the new AW Ultra 3 will be my day watch. I find it really convenient to have a watch on the charging stand at all times and switch watches for day and night. I never even need to check the battery level.

I’ll retire my AW 7.

/Jim

Ohhh I see so main culprit is the Apple Watch Series 7? Would you be comfortable getting the Apple Watch Ultra 3 when Apple releases a bug fix?

Bandoholic from the forums here told me that the 26.1 iOS beta build should have fixed it according to some comments on YT reviews on it, you may try it if you’re comfortable beta testing your iPhone 17 Pro!

 

[flynz4]

Ohhh I see so main culprit is the Apple Watch Series 7? Would you be comfortable getting the Apple Watch Ultra 3 when Apple releases a bug fix?

Bandoholic from the forums here told me that the 26.1 iOS beta build should have fixed it according to some comments on YT reviews on it, you may try it if you’re comfortable beta testing your iPhone 17 Pro!

Thanks for your support. I prefer to not use beta software. In the short term, I am comfortable using just my AW Ultra gen 1. It is working ok as my single (day/night) watch. I can wait till 26.1 is released.

My AW7 was set up first at the Apple Store, but evidently, when they subsequently paired my AW Ultra, the AW 7 was disconnected. I noticed it when I got home, and I have been unable to pair it ever since.

I would still would have bought an Apple Watch Ultra 3 this year irrespective of my issues. I generally like to get one about every other year. Also, my wife's night watch has died prior to my issues. We will be getting her a new AW11. She is using her AW8 and charging it twice a day... once before bedtime and usually again in the morning. At that point, she will go back to having two watches... one each for sleep and day usages.

Part of my emotional issues with these recent problems is that I have had perfect activity scores ever since AW 1 launch day in April 2015. This bug almost caused me to break my activity streak which is currently 3807 continuous days. We got our first AW series 1 on day 1, set them up that night, and have closed our move rings ever since.

/Jim

 

[goldmac2006]

Thanks for your support. I prefer to not use beta software. In the short term, I am comfortable using just my AW Ultra gen 1. It is working ok as my single (day/night) watch. I can wait till 26.1 is released.

My AW7 was set up first at the Apple Store, but evidently, when they subsequently paired my AW Ultra, the AW 7 was disconnected. I noticed it when I got home, and I have been unable to pair it ever since.

I would still would have bought an Apple Watch Ultra 3 this year irrespective of my issues. I generally like to get one about every other year. Also, my wife's night watch has died prior to my issues. We will be getting her a new AW11. She is using her AW8 and charging it twice a day... once before bedtime and usually again in the morning. At that point, she will go back to having two watches... one each for sleep and day usages.

Part of my emotional issues with these recent problems is that I have had perfect activity scores ever since AW 1 launch day in April 2015. This bug almost caused me to break my activity streak which is currently 3807 continuous days. We got our first AW series 1 on day 1, set them up that night, and have closed our move rings ever since.

/Jim



View attachment 2559045

So this data is based from the ultra, right?

I understand your concern about running beta; they also ruin battery life and many other things that function an iPhone.

 

[flynz4]

So this data is based from the ultra, right?

I understand your concern about running beta; they also ruin battery life and many other things that function an iPhone.

My perfect streak record is stored in iCloud. However, if I had not been able to pair my watch to my new iPhone, I may have ended my perfect streak of closing my activity rings daily.

/Jim

 

[goldmac2006]

My perfect streak record is stored in iCloud. However, if I had not been able to pair my watch to my new iPhone, I may have ended my perfect streak of closing my activity rings daily.

/Jim

Exactly, that’s over ten years of move rings closed! So the Apple Watch Series 7 was used to restore all of that back? Or the ultra?

My move streak was over a year. However due to Covid I broke the move streak that I had since I owned the Apple Watch Series 1.

 

[flynz4]

Exactly, that’s over ten years of move rings closed! So the Apple Watch Series 7 was used to restore all of that back? Or the ultra?

My move streak was over a year. However due to Covid I broke the move streak that I had since I owned the Apple Watch Series 1.

Once recorded, the history is stored in iCloud... so the data was already there... except for the one day I couldn't pair ether watch. That day was ultimately recorded after I finally paired my Ultra at the Apple Store.

In full disclosure... I did a bit of "ethical cheating"... Over those 10+ years for the few occasions that I was sick in bed, including having Covid... I had my wife wear my watch in addition to her own. The ethical part is that once I was back on my feet... I had to make up an 500 extra calories for each missed day in addition to meeting my daily goal.

/Jim