Hello. I recently purchased a Apple Watch Series 6 for my father that is currently using an iPhone 8+. When trying to pair/setup, it’s giving me a “iOS Needs to be Updated” popup. Currently the iPhone is on 16.7.2, which is the highest it can go.
According to the Apple Support website, it should be compatible with the phone/firmware it’s currently on:
" Apple Watch Series 6 require an iPhone 6s or later with iOS 14 or later.
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages "
Phone is updated to 16.7.2 and cannot update any further.
Any advise would be appreciated! thanks in advance!
Hi, I got an used series 6 3 weeks ago and unfortunately discovered I couldn’t pair it with my iphone (SE3) unless I updated the phone to ios 17. I had the same error message you got even though the watch had watchos 9 and the phone had ios 16, both of which are compatible. I was forced to update to make it pair.
Possibly, try to contact apple support to check if there’s any workaround?
the watch has been updated beyond the phone’s capacity. that compatibility you looked up was from when the watch 6 was new. a watch that has been updated can’t pair to a phone that won’t run iOS 17.