Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of watchOS 6.1 to Developers

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming watchOS 6.1 beta to developers, just under a week after seeding the third watchOS 6.1 beta and a month after releasing the watchOS 6 update with full App Store, new Apple Watch faces, and more.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update.

applewatchseries5
To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have over 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the ‌iPhone‌.

There were no major changes found in the first three watchOS 6.1 betas, so it's not entirely clear what's included in the update, but we'll update this article should new features be found in the third beta. The update may be focused on bug fixes and under-the-hood performance improvements.

watchOS 6.1 does work with the Series 1 and Series 2 Apple Watch models, which were excluded from the watchOS 6 release.

Apple said that watchOS 6 would come to the older Apple Watch models at a later date, so it's possible watchOS 6.1 will be the first version of watchOS 6 to work with the Series 1 and Series 2 Apple Watches.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 11
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
Apple Shopping Event 2025

Apple Announces 2025 Black Friday Event, Here's What You Can Get

Thursday November 20, 2025 6:28 am PST by
Apple's annual four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping event is returning on Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1 in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, and others. During the shopping event, customers can get an Apple gift card with...
hikawa phone grip stand apple%402x

Apple Launches Second Limited-Edition iPhone Accessory in a Month

Friday November 21, 2025 3:53 am PST by
Apple has begun selling the Hikawa Phone Grip and Stand, a new limited-edition iPhone accessory designed with accessibility in mind. Designed by LA-based Bailey Hikawa to celebrate the 40th anniversary of accessibility at Apple, the grip uses magnets to securely snap onto any iPhone with MagSafe. Apple says it can be removed with ease, and doubles as a stand with two different viewing...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...

Top Rated Comments

Tony_YYZ Avatar
80 months ago
And still no Siri Shortcuts fix I bet
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dizbuster Avatar
80 months ago
I would just like it if I could delete sms messages on my phone and they would automatically delete on my watch Like iMessages does. I assume Apple could do that.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tony_YYZ Avatar
80 months ago

This is the only thing I’m interested in. I can’t believe Macrumors etc haven’t had a news article on how there’s currently no Siri Shortcuts on either Apple Watch or HomePod. Insane.
Yeah it's incredibly surprising how no outlets made any noise about this. Especially since Apple themselves have released no information about it. They are just hoping people will accept and move on?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WilliamG Avatar
80 months ago

And still no Siri Shortcuts fix I bet
This is the only thing I’m interested in. I can’t believe Macrumors etc haven’t had a news article on how there’s currently no Siri Shortcuts on either Apple Watch or HomePod. Insane.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Braderunner Avatar
80 months ago

I don’t know what Thermo Watch is. But are you confirming that Siri Shortcuts created in the Shortcuts app are now working on Apple Watch with this update?
Yes. They are for me. I also just tested it with a shortcut for Dark Sky.
The Thermo Watch shortcuts were created in that app. But, they have not been working. Been getting message, "Sorry, shortcuts aren't available on Apple Watch...".
The Dark Sky shortcut was created in the Shortcuts app.
Yeaaahhh! Now, I have to get used to using them on the Watch, again. Been so long...I was starting to get used to their absence from the Watch.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sasparilla Avatar
80 months ago
Nice to see them moving forward with the next release.

Frankly, I want to keep 6 off of my Series 3 for as long as possible (seems like mostly performance downsides). I woke up to the notice (last weekend) that there wasn't enough space to install 6.xx the on the prior night and I was so thankful for that situation.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)