Your Apple watch was designed to become your iPhone’s companion. The Apple Watch has so many functionalities that make it outperform a normal watch but most of those functions only are activated upon pairing the watch with your iPhone, otherwise, it remains just a watch.
The new iPhone 13 is such a great device that makes such a good combo with your Apple Watch, but how come it’s unable to pair with an Apple watch? Could it be a problem associated with your iPhone 13? or your watch refusing to pair. These uncertainties are uncomfortable, and if you’re looking for a fix, I assure you you’ve found one.
Why Is My iPhone Not Pairing With Watch?
This has been just the same question a lot of people who have switched to the new iPhone 13 have asked. There are a couple of known reasons your watch is refusing to pair with your iPhone. We’ll explore them in this article as well as a fix to get your iPhone 13 connected with your Apple watch again.
1. Bluetooth Is Off
I must start from the very little things that matter. Your Apple watch pairs with your iPhone 13 over a Bluetooth connection. Some users are aware of this while some don’t. The reason is that quite a lot of guides online have misled users to believe a connection between your iPhone 13 and your watch is established by a WIFI connection.
In pairing both devices, their Bluetooth needs to be enabled as well. To ensure that Bluetooth is enabled on both devices do the following;
On your Apple watch
- Press the digital crown. This displays apps on the watch
- Open the settings app by tapping on it
- Tap on the Bluetooth switch to toggle it off or on.
On your iPhone
- Swipe from up or down depending on your IOS version to open the control center
- Find the Bluetooth icon
- If you find that it bears the gray color, then it is turned off
- Tap on it to turn it on, its color will change from gray to orange.
2. Airplane Mode Is Enabled
The Airplane mode when enabled overrides all forms of connection, including cellular, WIFI as well as Bluetooth. It can be useful when using an air means of transportation as its name suggests or for other purposes. Since the Airplane mode affects Bluetooth which your iPhone utilizes to pair with your Apple Watch, then it’s a problem.
3. Watch Is Already Paired
This has been the most popular reason most iPhone 13 do not connect with an Apple watch. Well, your watch can only be paired with one device at a time and will not pair another except it is disengaged hence allowing for another connection.
Since the iPhone 13 is relatively new and most persons may have just started using it not quite long, it’s not unpopular to find that most watches are still connected to the owner’s previous iPhone. Until h previous the connection is done away with, your watch will continue to block off new pairings.
4. Proximity
How close is the distance between your iPhone 13 and your Apple watch? Both devices are independent of themselves during the pairing process but still rely on Bluetooth to pair.
Bluetooth is a short distance kind of network unlike WIFI and pairing or paired devices will need to be within 12 feet to establish a connection, otherwise, your watch may not be able to discover your iPhone’s Bluetooth network for pairing.
5. WatchOS bug
A watchOS bug can stop an Apple watch from pairing with iPhone 13. Apple watches are unique in that they run on an operating system just like your iPhone called WatchOS. The WatchOS dictates how your watch interacts with your iPhone as well as allowing your iPhone 13 to pair via Bluetooth with the watch.
Once a bug tampers with this template, then the function is nulled and may never allow your iPhone 13 to pair.
6. Outdated iOS
The same thing applies if you’re running on an outdated IOS. iPhone 13 is new and should come from the Apple factory with a native IOS 15.
However, Apple has launched beta versions of IOS version 15 since then and users are expected to upgrade their devices for the best experience. Apart from that, bugs are fixed and could just as well resolves the issue between your Apple Watch and your iPhone.
How To Fix iPhone 13 Not Pairing With Watch
In just a few easy steps, you can resolve whatever is the issue between your iPhone 13 and your watch and have them connected again. In the below guide, you’ll find step on step how to troubleshoot the issue;
1. Disable Airplane mode
This is where you’d want to start troubleshooting from otherwise if you have your Airplane mode enabled your watch will never pair with your watch. To turn off Airplane mode, do the following;
- Open the control center on your iPhone
- Find the Airplane mode icon, it looks like a typical airplane
- If it’s turned on, you’ll find it showing an orange color
- To turn it off, tap on the icon and it’ll turn gray.
- Turn on Bluetooth again and start the pairing process again
2. Unpair Watch From Old iPhone
Here’s how to know if your watch is paired with another device already, probably your old phone. When you hold up your watch over to your iPhone camera during the pairing process and the watch shows a clock face instead, then it’s most probable that your Apple Watch is already paired.
If you still have your old iPhone, then good for you, and, if you don’t theirs still no need to panic but you’ll have to reset the watch or completely erase it to pair it with your iPhone 13.
To unpair the Apple Watch from your old iPhone, here’s how to do that;
- Using your old phone, open the watch app
- Just at the bottom of the app, tap to open my watch tab
- Tap on all watches
- Find the watch in question and tap on ‘i’ just next to it and tap unpair Apple watch
- A prompt will appear asking you to confirm the action.
- This unpairs the Apple watch and it’s ready to pair again with another device.
If however, you don’t have your old iPhone anymore, the unpair solution would be to reset the watch but remember that details such as the Apple ID and passcode used in pairing the watch before will be required for a new pairing. Here’s how to reset your Apple watch;
- Press the digital crown on the watch to reveal its apps
- Tap on the settings icon
- Open general and tap on reset
- Tap erase all content and confirm your action to the prompt that pops up
- Wait for the watch to unpair completely in a few seconds
- After completion, it’s ready to pair again.
3. Restart iPhone And Apple Watch
A simple restart maybe all the troubleshooting you need. This gives your iPhone 13 and Apple watch the opportunity to start afresh and rerun their software. Restarting both devices takes the same approach. Here’s how;
- Press and hold the side buttons of both devices
- Th power slider will appear
- Slide the button to power off on both devices.
- To turn them on again, press and hold the side power.
- Verify if the issue is solved by trying to pair them again.
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4. Update IOS and WatchOS
Apple has instructed that pairing your watch to a new iPhone must first be predicated by an update both for the watch and the iPhone. You probably are conversant with IOS updates but how about making a WatchOS update. You may find it simpler than you thought. Here’s how;
- First connect your watch to a WIFI
- Open the settings app
- Open general and tap on software update
- If a WatchOS update is available for your watch tap on download and install
Do the same for your iPhone. Here’s how to upgrade your IOS;
- Ensure your iPhone 13 is connected to an internet network
- Head onto settings
- Click on general
- Select and click software update
- It’ll scan for available updates
- Tap on download and install
Verify that the issue is resolved by pairing both devices again.
How Do I Pair My Watch With My iPhone 13?
The below list includes what you need for pairing your watch with your iPhone 13;
- Ensure your iPhone is running the latest IOS and your watch the latest watchOS
- Ensure you’re on a WIFI network
- Ensure Bluetooth is turned on for both devices.
Continue with pairing both devices. Here’s how;
- Place both devices close together side by side with your iPhone unlocked and watch turned on
- A pop up will appear on your iPhone, tap continue to further with the setup
- Tap on set up for me a square animation will appear on your iPhone screen
- Next, you’ll need to hold the watch behind your iPhone and use the camera to fix the watch screen to fit into the animation square.
- In only a few seconds, you’ll get a message that confirms that your Apple Watch is paired.
What Apple Watch Is Compatible With iPhone 13?
Your iPhone 13 runs on a native IOS 15 and pretty can handle the most outdated and most recent Apple watch release.
Here is the list of watches your iPhone 13 will have no problem at all pairing with;
- First-generation Apple watch.
- Apple watch series 1
- Apple watch series 2
- Apple watch series 3
- Apple watch series 4
- Apple watch series 5
- Apple watch series 6
- Apple watch SE
That’s everything Apple have got on their watch releases up to date. Some of them are not even sold by Apple anymore but can be found in most retail stores both offline and online.
What iPhones is Apple Watch Compatible With?
You need to know what Apple watch that your current iPhone supports, so that you can easily make an informed decision when you want a replacement for your Apple watch.
- First generation Apple watch
These watches were extremely beautiful and had a built-in GPS. They support iPhone 5 and higher and IOS 8.2 and above.
- Apple watch series 1
This release can’t compete at all with the aesthetic nature of the first-generation watches and had no IOS built-in. Supports iPhone 5 and above and IOS 11 and newer.
- Apple watch series 2
Its features included a GPS and the first-ever water-resistant watches. Supports iPhone 5 and higher as well as IOS 11 and higher.
- Apple watch series 3
Very advanced watches. Could make calls and send messages. Supports iPhone 6s and later plus IOS 14 and higher.
- Apple watch series 4
These came in 2018 and had cellular ability activated. Supports a minimum of iPhone 6s and IOS 12 and later
- Apple watch series 5
A retina display was incorporated for these watches. Supports iPhone 6s and higher alongside IOS 13 and higher.
- Apple watch series 6
This is a complete health pack as it can check for users’ oxygen levels and fitness. Also the most expensive, going for more than $300. Supports iPhone 6s and higher as well as IOS 14 and higher.
- Apple watch SE
These watches don’t differ much from the Series 6 and are even less expensive. Supports iPhone 6s and higher plus IOS 14 and later.
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Conclusion
As you may have noticed, iPhone compatibility with watches doesn’t emphasize so much about the iPhone model but on the IOS version which you can easily upgrade your device to. In summary, if you have a minimum of iPhone 6s and IOS 14, you can use any Apple watch that you like. And when a newly purchased watch wouldn’t pair, refer back to this article to troubleshoot the issue.
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