Hello friends,
I am planning on buying an iPhone 15 Pro. I currently have an iPhone X.
I have a Watch Series 4.
Note that iPhone X doesn’t get iOS 17, and is stuck on 16. Whereas, the Watch Series 4 does get the new WatchOS 10.
Here’s my concern – if the Watch will need to be updated to WatchOS 10, to work with the iPhone 15 Pro which will obviously be on iOS 17 – then, if I were to return the iPhone 15 Pro, and go back to using my iPhone X, I would be unable to downgrade the watchOS (since you can’t do this anyways), therefore, buying the iPhone 15 Pro and updating my Watch Series 4 to WatchOS 10 would effectively lock me in, leaving me unable to return the phone and still use my watch.
I am hoping my Series 4 will pair with the iPhone 15 Pro without needing the new WatchOS, but I am not sure.
(Or, alternatively, if the Series 4 could be updated to WatchOS 10 *and still work with an iPhone that is on iOS 16).
Does anyone know if Apple has a list of what OS’s specifically support pairing with each other?
I think I may have answered my own question: Apple’s website for watchOS 9 says the following:
compatibility.
watchOS 9 requires iPhone 8 or later with iOS 16 or later and one of the following Apple Watch models:
“Or later” means that I should be able to use my Apple Watch on WatchOS 9 and simply not upgrade to WatchOS 10 even with the new iPhone. But I am not 100% sure if this is the case.
Can someone who has specifically done this (used an Apple Watch that isn’t updated to WatchOS 10, with an iPhone 15 that is on iOS 17) comment on it?
The watchOS 10 site does explicitly say you need iOS 17.
“Or later” means that I should be able to use my Apple Watch on WatchOS 9 and simply not upgrade to WatchOS 10 even with the new iPhone. But I am not 100% sure if this is the case.
This is 100% correct. I have a 13 Pro on iOS 17, not a 15 Pro, but the phone doesn’t matter. I have two Apple Watches - an Ultra on watchOS 10, and a Series 5, that I have deliberately kept on watchOS 9. The Series 5 works perfectly fine with iOS 17.
The way it works is this: each watch has a minumum iOS version it will work with - the iOS version that corresponds to the watchOS version that shipped with the watch. So, the Series 8, which shipped with watchOS 9, will work with any phone running iOS 16 or later. The Series 9 will work with any phone running iOS 17 or later.
Also, each watchOS version has a minimum iOS version it will work with. watchOS 9 requires iOS 16 or later - so it will work perfectly fine with a phone running iOS 17, but you wouldn’t be able to pair with a phone running iOS 15.
So, your Series 4, if you never updated it, would work with any phone running iOS 13 or later. But, if you updated it to watchOS 9, that means it will work with any phone running iOS 16 or later, which means that it will work with a phone running iOS 17, even if watchOS has not been updated.
(I have kept the Series 5 on watchOS 9 because I also always keep my last phone as a backup, and my last phone is an iPhone X, which is stuck on iOS 16. If for some reason my 13 Pro fails, is lost, etc., while I am waiting for a replacement I will use the iPhone X as my main phone and pair the Series 5 to it. I won’t be able to pair the Ultra, because I’ve already updated it to watchOS 10.)
Yes, once you update your watch (if you choose to do so), there is no going back to using it with the iPhone X Or any iPhone not running iOS 17.
I do believe though that you can pair a WatchOS9 watch to any iPhone running iOS 17 without having to upgrade the watch. I did this for about a month with an old Series 3 watch that I had until I sold it.