How to fix a broken Apple Watch with an iPhone

by Jonny Evans · March 16, 2022

Apple confirms October 8 for Apple Watch Series 7

Starting in iOS 15.4 Apple makes it easier to Restore an Apple Watch using your iPhone, rather than being required to take it to a Genius at a store.

A brand new way to fix it

This is the fix to try if your Watch will not function and shows a red exclamation mark or asks you to bring your iPhone and Watch closer to each other. The introduction of this additional line of defence means we now have one more fix to try before contacting Apple Support for help. That’s useful given Apple sells around one Apple Watch each second.

Apple Watch has always held a data port at the bottom under the strap connector. This port can only be used by Apple techs to fix problems of this kind. I think it’s conceivable the port is also part of the manufacturing and testing process. Because the port is only usable by technical support it has until now been the only way to restore Apple Watch.

The fact you no longer need to use that port to perform this process hints that Apple plans to remove the port entirely in future Apple Watch models.

How to Restore a broken Apple Watch with an iPhone

First, you must be running iOS 15.4 on your iPhone and watchOS 8.5 on the watch. You must be connected to Wi-Fi with Bluetooth turned on.

You may see an animation asking you to bring the watch and iPhone closer together

There are two approaches reflecting the two warning screens you may see.

[Also read: The essential guide to Heart Rate Variability on Apple Watch]

Fix 1: If an animation asking you to bring the watch and iPhone closer together appears

- Place the problem Watch on a charger.
- With the Watch in place press the side button twice.
- A pop-up should appear on your iPhone explaining that it has discovered an Apple Watch that needs to be updated or restored.
- Press Continue to begin the process and follow the steps the iPhone will guide you through.