Several iPhone 13 users have taken to online forums and social media to report that after receiving their brand new iPhones, they're experiencing a bug preventing it from communicating with their Apple Watch, making what's supposed to be a seamless experience an annoyance.
As outlined on Reddit, after receiving an iPhone 13, some customers cannot toggle on the "Unlock with Apple Watch" feature, allowing users to unlock their iPhones while wearing a mask thanks to their Apple Watch. When attempting to activate the feature, some customers are prompted with an "Unable to communicate with Apple Watch" prompt, with no clear solution.
Posts and comments on Reddit suggest that typical problem-solving solutions aren't working, such as restarting both devices and even unpairing and repairing the Apple Watch to the iPhone. Posts on Twitter and Reddit indicate that the issue is widespread amongst new iPhone 13 users, but at least so far, we aren't seeing reports of other iPhone models being impacted.
The iPhone 13 initially shipped with an outdated build of iOS 15, so customers experiencing the bug should first ensure they're running the latest iOS 15 and watchOS 8 version. Still, even then, reports suggest that does little to amend the issues.
Apple is currently testing iOS and iPadOS 15.1, but given the growing number of issues experienced by users, the company may decide to release iOS 15.0.1 before its first significant dot update for iOS and iPadOS 15. We've reached out to Apple for comment on the bug, and we'll update this if we hear back.
Poor Apple. :( They're only a small $2 trillion dollar company. They can't be expected to test that things work before releasing them! We expect too much.
Joking aside, before people start screaming at me about the complexity of software, I know. However... I also know that it would be easy enough to have a list of major features, say, one that includes unlocking with the watch or 'using Apple Music'. And to have a small team who is given the list. This team, we could call them something fancy sounding like "Quality Assurance", would then test these features to ensure that they work as expected.
Tuesday September 28, 2021 10:54 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 15.1 to developers, and the update includes a fix for an annoying bug that's been affecting iPhone 13 owners who also have an Apple Watch.
With beta 2, the Unlock with Apple Watch feature that was broken has been fixed, and an authenticated Apple Watch can once again be used to unlock an iPhone 13 model when wearing a mask. Prior to the update,...
Friday October 1, 2021 10:06 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 15.0.1, which is the first official update to the iOS 15 operating system that was released in September. iOS 15.0.1 comes two weeks after the launch of iOS 15, and it is a bug fix update.
The iOS 15.0.1 update can be downloaded for free and the software is available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the new software, go to Settings...
Thursday September 30, 2021 9:02 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
iOS 15 adoption has reached an estimated 19.3% since the software update was released September 20, according to mobile analytics company Mixpanel.
Mixpanel measures iOS adoption based on visits to websites and apps that use its mobile analytics SDKs, so the data is not official. Apple has yet to share iOS 15 adoption stats, having last reported an 85% adoption rate for iOS 14 back in June.
...
Sunday September 26, 2021 6:57 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today said an issue preventing some iPhone 13 users from using the Unlock with Apple Watch feature will be fixed in an upcoming software update.
In a support document, Apple said affected users can turn off Unlock with Apple Watch and use their passcode to unlock their iPhone 13 until the software update is released. The feature, which is designed to let you unlock your iPhone while...
Wednesday September 22, 2021 4:14 am PDT by Sami Fathi
Just two days after Apple released iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 to the public, a new wave of user reports from social media are already pointing to some widespread bugs, this time pertaining to reported storage on a device.
A flood of users has taken to Twitter over the last 24-48 hours to share their experience that after updating to iOS 15, they see an "iPhone Storage Almost Full" warning inside...
Wednesday October 13, 2021 10:14 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the fourth betas of upcoming iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 betas to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the third betas and three weeks after releasing iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 to the public.
iOS and iPadOS 15.1 can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or over the air after the proper profile has been installed on an iPhone or iPad.
SharePlay...
Wednesday October 6, 2021 10:11 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the third betas of upcoming iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 betas to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the second betas and two weeks after releasing iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 to the public.
iOS and iPadOS 15.1 can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or over the air after the proper profile has been installed on an iPhone or iPad.
SharePlay makes ...
Monday October 11, 2021 10:04 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 15.0.2, the second update to the iOS 15 operating system that was released in September. iOS 15.0.2 comes a week and a half after the launch of iOS 15.0.1, a bug fix update.
The iOS 15.0.2 update can be downloaded for free and the software is available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the new software, go to Settings > General >...
Wednesday September 29, 2021 4:00 am PDT by Sami Fathi
Some new iPhone 13 users are reporting intermittent touch issues on their new devices, a phenomenon where the iPhone does not respond to touch inputs by the user, sometimes requiring an entire device force restart to solve, or in other cases, repeated taps to trigger the system to react.
Posts on Reddit, the MacRumors Forums, Twitter, and Apple Support include reports of iPhone 13 customers...
Friday October 8, 2021 12:45 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Following the release of iOS 15.0.1 on October 1, Apple has stopped signing iOS 15.0, the previously available version of iOS that saw a public release on September 20. With iOS 15.0 no longer being signed, it is not possible to downgrade to that version if you've already updated to iOS 15.0.1.
Apple last week stopped signing iOS 14.8 as well, which means iOS 15.0.1 is the only publicly...
Updates for Safari, FaceTime, and many other apps, Universal Control to let a single mouse or trackpad control multiple devices, new Shortcuts app, machine-learning Live Text detection and Visual Lookup, and more.
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Joking aside, before people start screaming at me about the complexity of software, I know. However... I also know that it would be easy enough to have a list of major features, say, one that includes unlocking with the watch or 'using Apple Music'. And to have a small team who is given the list. This team, we could call them something fancy sounding like "Quality Assurance", would then test these features to ensure that they work as expected.
I dunno. Just a crazy thought I had.