In this article, we will tell you how to update your Apple Watch smartwatch to the latest version of the watchOS operating system. It is not too difficult, but not as easy as with iPhone, iPad, and Mac. We will talk about both new and old models.
What You Need to Update Your Apple Watch
Here’s what you need to update your Apple Watch:
- You will need the smartwatch itself and an iPhone smartphone with the latest version of iOS;
- You need to connect both the watch and the smartphone to the charger;
- You need to connect both devices to Wi-Fi.
How to Update Apple Watch Using iPhone
- Go to Settings on your iPhone;
- Then select Bluetooth and turn it on;
- Then click on Apple Watch in the list of devices;
- The iPhone and Apple Watch should be paired;
- Make sure the devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi;
- The watch must be charged at least 50%.
After that we proceed directly to the update:
- Launch the Watch app;
- Click on “General”;
- Next, “Software Update”;
- If you have the current version, you will see a message about it;
- If not, the system will find an update and offer to update;
- Confirm, click “Download and Install” and wait for the update to download and install.
Install watchOS Update on Apple Watch Without iPhone
Starting with watchOS 6.1, an update is available without an iPhone, directly from the watch. To do this, you need to:
- Charge your Apple Watch up to 50%;
- Connect your watch to Wi-Fi;
- Go to “Settings”, then “General” and “Software Update”;
- If you have the latest version, you don’t need to update;
- If not, you will see information about the firmware with an offer to install it;
- Click “Install” and wait for the update to complete.
How to Update Apple Watch Series 3 to watchOS 8
The most important thing: the update will take a long time . The thing is that the Apple Watch Series 3 has only 8 GB of flash memory. Half of it is taken up by the operating system. Applications and cache take up another couple of GB. As a result, only 1 GB remains, and watchOS 8 requires 3 GB. What to do? Deleting applications and clearing the cache is useless, there won’t be enough space anyway.
The following steps need to be completed:
- You will need to unpair your Apple Watch and iPhone;
- To do this, go to the Watch app on your iPhone;
- Go to “All Hours”;
- Tap the i icon next to Watch Series 3;
- Now “Break the Pair”.
It will take about 60 minutes to break. Then we proceed to the following steps to set up the watch:
- First, download updates for Apple Watch Series 3;
- Place your iPhone and Apple Watch Series 3 next to each other;
- Please be patient, the download may take 5-6 hours;
- After downloading, the watch will start updating. It will take from 50 to 60 minutes;
- Now you need to restore data and settings from a backup copy;
- Unpair iPhone and Apple Watch Series 3 Again;
- Now, with the new setup, click on “Restore from backup”. Wait for about an hour.
That’s it, you’ve got an Apple Watch Series 3 with all your data and watchOS 8.