With how quickly electronic devices advance every year, it is easy to understand why people choose to upgrade. This is absolutely the case with Apple Watches and iPhones. However, this can get quite expensive if you plan to upgrade both your Apple Watch and your iPhone every year, so often, people choose to do either one or the other.
Luckily for those looking to upgrade their device while keeping their existing Apple watches, Apple has made it quite easy to pair your old watch with your new iPhone, whether you still have it or not.
To find out how to pair your devices, even if you can’t find your old phone, you’ve come to the right place. We have all the answers for how to pair your Apple Watch with a new device. Just keep reading.
Pairing Apple Watch to a New Device Without Your Original Device
This scenario happens more often than you realize. While some people think this means they will have a hard time linking the Apple Watch with their new phone, this is not the case. You are not able to retain all your previous information and settings, but a clean start is always good, too!
Here are the steps to take if you are lacking your old iPhone:
- Start by erasing your Apple Watch to make sure it is no longer connected to your old phone.
- Go through the normal prompts of setting up your new iPhone and then sign into your iCloud account. (You do not need to repeat this step if you have already set up your new iPhone).
- Find the Apple Watch app on your new iPhone and pair it with your Apple Watch. Apple has extremely detailed instructions if you cannot remember how to do it.
- There is a chance that you still have a backup of your old Apple Watch in iCloud. You can try to restore but keep in mind that not everything may be there. There may be some missing entries in things like your workouts, etc.
- From here, follow all prompts given to you by your devices.
- Now, you can just use your devices like normal but keep in mind that some iCloud data may take time to appear on your watch.
Switching Apple Watch to New Device with Original Device
If you still have your old iPhone, the setup is much more streamlined. Also, you should avoid the gaps in workouts and activities that were discussed in the previous step.
Follow these steps to switch your Apple Watch to a new device, when you still have your original device:
- First, you should update both your iPhone and your Apple Watch to the most recent software. The best way to do this is overnight to avoid any interruptions that may occur while you are using the phone.
- Ensure your iCloud backup is turned on and active. The biggest option is ‘Health’ to make sure your exercise and activities are maintained.
- Now, back up your iPhone to the iCloud. This process will back up the Apple Watch simultaneously.
- Set up your new iPhone and use this most recent cloud backup as the restore point.
- Make sure that your new iPhone and existing Apple Watch stay close together. Your phone may ask if you plan on using your Apple Watch, so just follow the prompts if that happens.
My Apple Watch Froze While Pairing, Now What?
Getting stuck at this point is quite common. This is especially true if you have an older Apple Watch. Chances are, you will see a black screen with the white Apple logo everyone knows and loves.
Just follow the steps below to continue with pairing even if your Apple Watch is frozen:
- Hold the crown and the side button on the watch together until the watch begins to restart. Then just let go.
- Now, you can hold down just the crown or long press on the screen of the watch.
- An on-screen prompt should come up and give you the option to ‘Reset.’
- From here, you can use the previously mentioned steps depending on whether you have your old iPhone or not.
My New iPhone Never Asked About My Apple Watch
In some cases, your new iPhone may not prompt you about your Apple Watch during setup. This happens and is not a big hurdle to overcome.
To continue pairing an Apple Watch, even if your new iPhone didn’t ask you to pair, make sure your watch is unpaired from your old iPhone. Then, you have to go through the process of pairing the watch with your new phone.
Afterwards, you may be asked to restore your Apple Watch from a saved backup, as was previously mentioned before. This is a good time to check to make sure that your products are running the most recent software. That will make sure your backup is visible to you during this process.
Conclusion
Since the rate of technology advances so quickly, it is easy to understand why someone would choose to upgrade their iPhone or Apple Watch. But neither device is cheap, which usually means it is one or the other. Luckily, Apple makes the transition quick and easy whether you have your old iPhone or not.