Amber Neely
Multiple users have found that they cannot unlock their iPhone 13 with the Apple Watch and instead receive an error — and it's not clear why.
As the initial iPhone 13 orders begin rolling out to customers on Friday, many users are excited to spend time getting to know their new device. But, unfortunately, for a specific subset of Apple Watch wearers, the new iPhone may also bring a little frustration.
A new bug has cropped up — seemingly exclusive to the iPhone 13 line — where users can no longer unlock their iPhone by using Apple's "Unlock with Apple Watch" feature. Instead, when attempting to set up the feature, the iPhone 13 will display an error.
User Monzilla88 on Reddit first reported the issue to the subreddit r/AppleWatch on Friday. They state that both their iPhone 13 Pro and Apple Watch SE are up to date with the newest iOS and watchOS updates.
"Whenever I try to enable unlock with Apple Watch on my phone I get an error saying "Unable to communicate with Apple Watch," they posted.
Monzilla88 claimed that they had tried unpairing and repairing, hard resetting both devices, turning on and off passcodes, but not no avail. Another user reported that they had attempted to reset passwords, reset network settings, and setting up their Apple Watch as a new watch.
More than 20 other users self-reported the same problem, with others noting that the feature works fine on iOS 15 on older models of iPhone, including the iPhone 11 Pro Max and the iPhone X. The conversations about it are starting to erupt on the Apple Support forums as well.
According to one participant in the thread, Apple Support has been unable to fix the issue and is unsure of the cause.
Apple Watch owners are frustrated, as many users utilize the Unlock with Apple Watch feature to quickly unlock their iPhone while wearing a mask.
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
21 Comments
There has been a lag for quite some time now. What’s so difficult to get this to work reliably?!
Did they all turn on “Unlock with Apple Watch” under “Face ID & Passcode” in Settings?
I wish it weren’t necessary to have WiFi turned on as well to make this work. Isn’t Bluetooth enough?
I've decided to not even open my iPhone 13 Pro Max when it arrives today. I'm sitting this "same-day unboxing" out this time. I may even return it as I'm having 2nd thoughts that it's worth the 3 YR lock with AT&T for such minor upgrades over my iPhone 11 Pro Max (which works perfectly). I just don't have that same excitement about this "13".
I already have issues since upgrading to iOS 15 but my AW is working perfectly and want to keep it that way!
Good to know, I’m not the only one. The Apple Watch transfer to my 13 Pro was a horrible experience.