AppleInsider Staff
It appears Apple has another software issue on its hands with the release of watchOS 5.1, as a small number of Apple Watch owners are reporting the update renders their device useless.
According to a handful of reports posted to social media outlets and forums like Reddit, Apple's just released watchOS 5.1 software update "bricks" some Apple Watch hardware.
Users impacted by the apparent bug are able to download the update and begin the installation. The process seems to get stuck when Watch displays the Apple logo, which remains onscreen for hours.
The complications appear restricted to Apple Watch Series 4, though other Apple Watch models might also be affected. So far, however, reports are limited to Series 4 devices including Nike+ versions.
While some Series 4 owners have reported the bricking issue, others sailed through the watchOS 5.1 installation process with nary a hiccup.
Whether the problem is local — perhaps a non-compliant Watch configuration — or an issue with the update itself is likewise unknown. Apple has not commented on the reports and continues to host watchOS 5.1 on its servers.
With reports of bricked devices in the wild, users would be well served to hold off on updating their unit until the problem is rectified.
The watchOS 5.1 difficulties come on the heels of a separate bug that earlier this month caused Series 4 devices in Australia to enter a reboot loop when country switched over to daylight savings time.
Update: Apple has temporarily pulled watchOS 5.1 from circulation.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
41 Comments
my update was installing until I read about this on another site....
to stop update while it's installing:
General>Usage>Software Update>Delete
i was able to delete in time
I was lucky apparently. No issues here. :)
No issues here. Installed extremely quickly on my Series 4 from my iPhone X after the download.
No problem with my 4. Disappointed though that the ECG that I read today was coming with this update, apparently isn’t.