iOS 15.1 Beta 2 Fixes Bug Preventing iPhone 13 Users From Unlocking With Apple Watch When Masked

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.

FaceID Masked Triad
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, attempting to enable the Unlock with Apple Watch feature under Settings > Face ID & Passcode would result in an error that said the ‌iPhone‌ was unable to communicate with the Apple Watch. That error message has now been addressed, and the feature can be successfully toggled on after updating to iOS 15.1 beta 2.

Apple in a support document promised that a fix for the issue would be coming in a future update, and it appears that update may be iOS 15.1. It's not clear if we'll also see an iOS 15.0.1 update that has a fix, as it could still be several weeks before iOS 15.1 sees a public release.

Related Forums: iOS 15, iPhone

Popular Stories

Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
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...
apple store down feature

Here's Why the Apple Store is Going Down

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:01 pm PST by
Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis right now, but do not get your hopes up for new products. Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
General Apps Messages Redux

Singapore Orders Changes to iMessage by December

Tuesday November 25, 2025 6:39 am PST by
Singapore has ordered Apple to block or filter messages on iMessage that impersonate government agencies, requiring the company to implement new anti-spoofing protections by December as part of efforts to curb rising online scams, the Straits Times reports. Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it had issued an Implementation Directive to Apple under the Online Criminal Harms...
streaming black friday 2025

Best Black Friday Streaming Deals - Save Big on Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:14 pm 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 Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
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...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red Green

The 30+ Best Black Friday Apple Deals on AirPods, iPads, MacBooks, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 6:46 am PST by
Black Friday is just a few hours away, and 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 you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a...

Top Rated Comments

macduke Avatar
54 months ago
They really need to push this through ASAP through a smaller update. Not sure why they wouldn't be able to pull that git branch as a patch into 15.0 and push it out there.

Love the timing of this, with my first vacation since before the pandemic starting on Saturday, I'm going to be in and out of a couple airports towing luggage and children and was going to be using this a ton. Probably not gonna travel on beta software.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
applefanboysince93 Avatar
54 months ago

And those of us who doesn’t have an Apple Watch? When is Apple going to solve the unlocking of the latest iPhones for us?
Would have been grand if they could figure out Touch ID on the power button like the iPads…
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
applefanboysince93 Avatar
54 months ago
Just when I thought I was done with betas for another year… ah F it here goes…
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
applefanboysince93 Avatar
54 months ago

Someone downvoted Touch ID?!?! That's ... wow
Right? Even though the Apple Watch unlock is pretty good it doesn’t work maybe 20% of the time for me… having Touch ID as a backup would be great
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
deeddawg Avatar
54 months ago

But seriously, I also use a password locker with a password combination that's not that insane, still long enough, and pretty much been ingrained to the point of muscle memory. It's not so hard.
So... gotta ask... :)

How do you unlock your phone to access your password locker so you can access your phone password to then unlock your phone which you'd already unlocked so you could access the password locker? :D


Joking aside - the mask/watch/phone unlock is important functionality for so many people that it's rather surprising that bug got past Apple and into the release version. Apple hopefully realizes they need to push the fix out ASAP for this reason and not lollygag around until a x.1 release.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justperry Avatar
54 months ago

Or keep the mask on, and punch in your code / password. Beats getting attention on the plane, and ending up on a no flight list, even though it's a wee bit overboard.
Yup, convenient when a (my) password is 16 alphanumeric characters long.:rolleyes:
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)