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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 .
Hello everyone!

I have the same problem on my new iPhone 13 Pro. I will wait for a fix and already provided feedback to apple.
Airdrop is also not working for me (sending and receiving to/from an iPhone SE 2). I am writing this here because I think maybe this has something to do with the same problem. Does anyone of you notice Airdrop problems?
 
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 keep Cell-Plan (e-SIM) data.
- 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)
Click to expand...
Edit: no need to set up as new before restore from iPhone 13 backup (made just before wipe). Just erase and restore.
 
Did the restore method via my Mac, and can also confirm that now unlock with Apple Watch is functioning again! Worth it for 1-2 hours of effort imo
 
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Saw this elsewhere. Supposedly an update coming tomorrow. Not sure if true or not, but if so, hopefully will fix this issue.

Apple Scoop - Apple news and rumors

An independent news source for everything Apple. We cover rumors, events, leaks, commentary and more. We are a non-profit website, and we are not affiliated with Apple Inc.
applescoop.org applescoop.org
 
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Same thing here. Watch series 6 was just fine with iPhone 12 ProMax and Mac OS Big Sur 11.6. As soon as the Watch OS8 came out my watch no longer connects to my phone or my Mac. Getting the same error messages as everyone else here - phone (computer) cannot connect to the watch...
 
mommyofthreeboys said:
Same thing here. Watch series 6 was just fine with iPhone 12 ProMax and Mac OS Big Sur 11.6. As soon as the Watch OS8 came out my watch no longer connects to my phone or my Mac. Getting the same error messages as everyone else here - phone (computer) cannot connect to the watch...
Click to expand...

That sounds like a different issue than what’s being discussed here. What is happening here is that when people upgrade to an iphone 13 and restore a backup from a previous phone then their watch stops unlocking their phone.

I know for me, at least, just upgrading to watch OS8 did not cause the problem. I had been using watch OS8 with my iPhone 12 with no issues. It wasn’t until I switched to the iPhone 13 that the problems started.

You might be getting the same error message, but unless you switched phones I think your problem might be different.
 
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F308gt4 said:
Saw this elsewhere. Supposedly an update coming tomorrow. Not sure if true or not, but if so, hopefully will fix this issue.

Apple Scoop - Apple news and rumors

An independent news source for everything Apple. We cover rumors, events, leaks, commentary and more. We are a non-profit website, and we are not affiliated with Apple Inc.
applescoop.org applescoop.org
Click to expand...

Damn, should have known better…

Sorry for getting everyone’s hopes up.
 
Have the opposite problem. My phone is unlocking all the time with my watch now. Crazy how fast/quickly it does it. Most times I’m not even looking at the phone.
 
I restored from my last 12PM as a part of setting up the 13PM, but the Unlock with Apple Watch setting wasn’t active. Once I set that back active, unlocking with my Watch worked the same as with the 12P, thankfully.
 
dstyp said:
Fixed in iOS15.1DB2 according to reports. Will probably wait as I'm not too keen on spending those hours on the workaround...
Click to expand...
Why would they release a fix for a beta and not 15.0.1 for the wider user base? Surely there are more users on the official release software than a beta?
 
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Boardiesboi said:
Why would they release a fix for a beta and not 15.0.1 for the wider user base? Surely there are more users on the official release software than a beta?
Click to expand...

I think the beta update was already scheduled to be released today, so the fix got included in the scheduled release. The update for the stock OS isn’t going to be a scheduled release, but I’m sure they’re scrambling to get it out as quickly as possible. Additionally the beta is a beta, so less testing needs to be done for those updates. For the production version they need to test the update more thoroughly so they don’t introduce new bugs while trying to fix old bugs. It’s also possible that they wanted to use the beta release to test the fix before they make it available in production.
 
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