Apple Watch Charging Bug Fixed in watchOS 8.4 Release Candidate

The watchOS 8.4 release candidate that was seeded to developers and beta testers this morning addresses an ongoing bug that could cause some Apple Watch chargers not to work properly with the Apple Watch.

apple watch series 7 aluminum colors yellowbg
Back in December, we reported on a growing number of charging issues that Apple Watch Series 7 owners were facing. Since watchOS 8.3, there have been a number of complaints about third-party chargers not functioning as expected.

For many users, third-party chargers would refuse to charge an Apple Watch Series 7 at all, and some others saw problems where the charger would appear to work normally, and then quit working after a few minutes.

Many of the reports focused on more affordable third-party chargers from Amazon, but there were also complaints about higher-end chargers from brands like Belkin. Some people even had charging issues with Apple's own Apple Watch charging pucks.

According to Apple's release notes for the watchOS 8.4 update, the software specifically fixes a bug that could cause some Apple Watch chargers not to work, suggesting the charging issues will come to an end when watchOS 8.4 sees a release.

Apple seeded the release candidate version today, and the release candidate represents the finished version of the software that will be provided to the public. We could see a watchOS 8.4 release as soon as next week.

Related Roundups: watchOS 11, watchOS 26
Related Forum: Apple Watch

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Top Rated Comments

cdrider Avatar
46 months ago
Apple have really dropped the ball on this. Anything that prohibits charging should be treated at the highest priority and an out of band patch issues ASAP. To make users wait and potentially be without their devices is unconscionable.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
46 months ago
I've experience this bug myself personally. It was annoying. Glad to see it is finally being fixed. Better late than never.

I reported this last year on December 22nd, 2021. ??

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/some-apple-watch-users-experiencing-charging-issues-after-updating-to-watchos-8-3.2328667/post-30721953
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
46 months ago

I haven’t updated to 8.3 because of this mess. Hope Apple sorts it out!
This was reported way before 8.3
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-watch-series-7-charging-issues.2322191/
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
46 months ago
I hope so, but given the reports here in the forums it also affected folks with original Apple chargers/cables so this statement might be premature until those who were impacted can confirm it is indeed fixed.
I for one never had an issue
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AgentOSX Avatar
46 months ago
As someone who has had a Red Series 7 that has been unusable since two days after I got it... I'll believe it when I charge it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
_Spinn_ Avatar
46 months ago
So this was only an issue with 3rd party chargers? Wonder what would cause this kind of issue? Glad to hear that it is fixed.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)