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Other “Unlock with Apple Watch” not working on iPhone 13 Pro Max

Is “Unlock with Apple Watch” working on your new iPhone 13 Mini/Pro/Max?

  • Yes

    Votes: 25 10.1%

  • No

    Votes: 210 84.7%

  • No when I first got the phone, but working after restoring from an iPhone 13 backup

    Votes: 13 5.2%
  • Total voters
    248
  • Poll closed .
Boardiesboi said:
Picked up my iPhone 13 Pro Max earlier this morning and I’m having issues with turning on “unlock with Apple Watch” feature under Face ID settings.

It keeps telling me “unable to communicate with Apple Watch”. My watch is paired and shows up in the Watch app.

When I set up the new phone, I chose “restore from iCloud backup” and tapped yes when it asked me if I wanted to pair my watch with the new phone

I’ve already tried the following:
- Update iOS 15 (there’s a small update ~450MB after you first set up the phone)
- Unpair and re-pair my Apple Watch
- Power down both devices and restart
- Reset Face ID
- Toggle “unlock with iPhone“ in Watch app settings on and off

I raised this in the first impressions and Australian preorder thread and it seems a few of us are having the same issue.

I’ve already provided feedback to Apple via https://www.apple.com/feedback/

Please also log similar feedback so Apple can understand the extent of the problem and fix it ASAP. This was sooooo useful when wearing a mask and trying to use the phone.
Click to expand...

And all they had todo is add TouchID xDD
 
tigercraig1 said:
I went from 12 pro max ios15 , watchos8 all working fine to iphone 13 pro max to not working
Click to expand...
I did the same, and had the same results. Spent several hours on the phone with Apple trying everything but wiping the phone. (We did do a full reset on the Watch, twice.)
 
It started working. it's buggy though.

I did exactly what I have to do with my MacBook Air to unlock with Apple Watch practically every couple of days. I shut down my iPhone 13 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 4, iPhone 12 Pro Max (SIM removed). I powered on the 13 Pro Max and Apple Watch, went into Settings>Face ID turned on unlock with Apple Watch (got the message it can't communicate). Went to home screen, then hit the power button to turn it off. Tapped the display and got a spinning wheel on my watch and then my 13 Pro Max unlocked with watch.

After 30 minutes it stopped working. Completely shut both down again I went back into settings on the 13 Pro Max turned on unlock with Apple Watch (got the same message can't communicate). The unlock with the Apple Watch button isn't turned to green and I get the can't communicate message but it's definitely unlocking with watch.
 
mtulman1 said:
Forgive me but the work around is typing in your passcode on the watch yes? I haven’t needed this feature recently as masks are not required anywhere. The watch works with the 13 yes? That isn’t an issue correct? Thx
Click to expand...

"Workaround" by definition means something isn't working as intended and expected. This did function on all suitable hardware in the final few releases of iOS 14. It worked on the FaceID iPhones in iOS 15. It isn't working on the 13 series iPhones.

I don't see any need to give someone a hard time for expecting that something that was engineered to work, and did in fact work as designed, is no longer working on new hardware. The fact that it isn't important to you is completely irrelevant to a discussion about whether iOS is operating as designed on the new iPhones.
 
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Well this is strange….. After reading this I just tried it on my current iPhone 12 Pro Max and it does not work for me either…. It cannot find the watch.

Disregard……. After I turned off then re selected both WiFi & Bluetooth on my Watch it now works again.
39259DA7-FDEF-4354-9628-559357CCAFB3.jpeg
 
Last edited:
After reading about the issue, upon opening the iPhone 13 MAX I first upgraded the iOS to 15 (it was on 15 but it did an upgrade to the revised version). After that, I transferred from my older iPhone device to device. Took about 1 hour. But it is working - Apple watch 5 unlocks phone when wearing a mask
 
Having the same problem here. I get the unable to communicate with Apple Watch error in the settings.
 
Yeah add me to the list of it not working, oh well. I restored from backup on my PC
 
mtulman1 said:
Forgive me but the work around is typing in your passcode on the watch yes? I haven’t needed this feature recently as masks are not required anywhere. The watch works with the 13 yes? That isn’t an issue correct? Thx
Click to expand...

Depends where you are. I’m the UK you still need masks in indoor places in Scotland and Wales for example. So for some this is an issue yes.
 
SOLVED

I have contacted AppleCare Support today ... Basically there are two options:

1. Wait until next update which will solve the issue. And use code / no mask in meanwhile.

2. Workaround:
- Update existing iOS 15.0 out of box with newer iOS 15.0 from Apple. (I know weird)
- Make a NEW Back-up for the iPhone13 (Pro).
- Erase phone and keep Cell-Plan (e-SIM) data. (Will be asked during process)
- Restore from backup iPhone13 NOT from original backup (iPhone11/12 etc).
- Go to 'settings' > 'Face ID & Passcode' V 'Unlock with Apple Watch' ... now the toggle switch and connection should work!

Please let me know if it works or not!

Edit: Worked fine after lengthly backup-restore process.. (Kept Dataplan settings e-SIM , but had to rebuild the rest)
Do not need to set op as new phone. Just erase and make sure to load the newest backup from moments ago.

Alkmaarder
iPhone 13 Pro Max,
iOS 15.0 (19A346) < This new iOS from update , NOT the iOS 15.0 out of the box!

Apple Watch 5, 44mm (no LTE),
WatchOS 8.0 (19R346)

Apple Watch 6, 44mm (no LTE),
WatchOS 8.0 (19R346)
 

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I was able to fix mine by restarting my watch as new and restarting my phone from a back up from last night. Also checked and by default this setting is turned off
80fe26842c531e374fcfff339398ef95.jpg
 
Alkmaarder said:
SOLVED

I have contacted AppleCare Support today ... Basically there are two options:

1. Wait until next update which will solve the issue. And use code / no mask in meanwhile.

2. Workaround:
- Make a NEW Back-up for the iPhone13 (Pro).
- Erase phone and set up as new phone.
- Restore from backup iPhone13 NOT from original backup (iPhone11/12 etc).
- Go to 'settings' > 'Face ID & Passcode' V 'Unlock with Apple Watch' ... now the toggle switch and connection should work!

Please let me know if it works or not!

Alkmaarder (iPhone 13 Pro Max)
Click to expand...
New backup in the sense. Will a backup to Mac be sufficient or should it be a iCloud backup?

I would try erasing my phone as last option but want to be sure this works.

did you unpair the watch and then took a back up of the phone?

When restoring did you restore the watch from backup or setup as new watch?
 
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I was just about to make a thread to see if anyone else had this issue and now I see that clearly lots of people do. 13 pro max set up as new. apple Watch 4 set up as new. Cannot activate the unlock with Apple Watch option. I have tried repairing the watch And it made no difference. I don’t fancy doing the proposed fix suggested just above as I’ve already set up my phone as new so I’ll wait for a software fix
 
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Yep, same problem with a 13 Pro and Watch 6 cellular. Tried a restore of the watch and also a fresh setup. Neither worked. Glad I saw it’s a wider bug. And I can’t wipe the phone and restore to a backup, as it tells me it'll wipe my esim. If I do that, I’ve got no way to get the activation code for a new esim! I’ll have to wait for the Apple patch.
 
Solved this issue by unpairing the watch, erasing the phone and setting up as new again. I did not restore from any backup.
Yesterday I set up the phone as new, too, but the unlock with watch didn‘t work.
 
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