back to article 5.1 update sends Apple's Watch 4 bling spinning into an Infinite Loop of reboot cycles

Apple has withdrawn a faulty update that has left Apple Watch 4 owners with bricked bling. The watchOS update (5.1) to the new kit has resulted in an endless reboot cycle for some, rendering the device useless. Watch owners at MacRumours and Reddit flagged the issue as major. Users who did successfully perform the update …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Trollface

    You're...

    Updating it wrong !

  2. Semtex451

    Poor genius

    "Hand over your £500 watch, that we have bricked, so we can send it off for 'inspection'"

    You have to admire the sheer brass.

  3. Alien8n

    Wait for it...

    Everyone knows with any update, regardless of the manufacturer, never update on day one.

    1. paulf
      Meh

      Re: Wait for it...

      Not that big of a deal as its it's the usual "small number" that have had their watch bricked experience an issue: "Due to a small number of Apple Watch customers experiencing an issue..."

      Perhaps we should call this intrepid band of release day downloaders the Kamikaze Beta testers?

      1. Apprentice

        Re: Wait for it...

        I wonder what Apple classify as a 'small' number. The statement they released smacks of their usual playing down of a serious issue.

  4. Patched Out

    Another update failure from

    Microsoft. What? ....Oh, never mind.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    watchOS

    "Apple spent 25 years at its Campus on Infinite Loop – not an aspirational name."

    What to say of watchOS, then ? What a bloody scary name ...

    Wouldn't even touch anything named like this !

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My watch only needs recharging about every three years with a new battery @ £3, tells the time and never needs a firmware update while only costing a fraction of that price.

    There's a sucker born every minute.

    1. silks

      Depends what you're looking for a "watch" / wrist computer to do these days. Albeit you probably don't want a brick either way...

    2. The Specialist

      There's a sucker born every minute?

      @AC

      > My watch only needs recharging about every three years with a new battery @ £3.

      And one of my watches never needs recharging, and another needs sunshine for recharging. Does that mean your watch is cr@p and you have to buy the watch I have?

      Does your watch allow you to take phone calls / listen to music / send sms etc etc?

      Please stop rubbishing people's life style choices.

      Believe it or not some people have disposable incomes and they like new pioneering technology and it is their choice alone how they spend their hard earned money.

      I sometimes buy things because "I *want*" not "I need".

      1. SkippyBing

        Re: There's a sucker born every minute?

        'Please stop rubbishing people's life style choices.'

        Generally I agree with this statement, but some peoples' choices deserve to be rubbished or how will they learn?

        E.g.

        Vegans

        Apple Watch owners

        People who make lists

        etc.

      2. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

        Re: There's a sucker born every minute?

        "Please stop rubbishing people's life style choices."

        You're on a hiding to nothing on this site, son. Spent more than the absolute bare minimum on a device? Can't view and/or edit every line of code ever used to program it? Don't have a security certificate signed in blood by the Elders of the Internet? Prepare to be ridiculed until you break down and repent.

      3. Warm Braw

        Re: There's a sucker born every minute?

        Does your watch allow you to take phone calls

        Does your toaster make cheese?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      And it needs two hands to tell the time, just like a iWhateveritscalled

  7. SVV

    Good watch designs always run in an infinite loop

    Surely this must be a wind-up? These device bricking update stories are becoming as regular as clockwork.

    1. Lee D Silver badge

      Re: Good watch designs always run in an infinite loop

      It's time to turn back the clock and remember a time when devices were only as complex as they needed to be. The hour of the "retro" hipster is near.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Good watch designs always run in an infinite loop

        I'll just tick those off my minute list.

        I think I just invented a quartz groanometer

        1. Danny 14

          Re: Good watch designs always run in an infinite loop

          any second now it will be round again.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "It look likes you've taken a hard fall".

    "Yes, I fell over when I realised I'd just spent £2,000 on an iPad".

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's time people stop buying these things.

    1. DJV Silver badge

      Re: It's time people stop buying these things.

      How do you know that it's time to do that? Did your watch tell you?

    2. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

      It is if you work for Samsung...

  10. MooseMonkey

    iideal surely?

    I believe that the borked devices only show the apple logo, surely that's what the luvvies want?

  11. Bill Fresher

    May I be the token person who says - my Apple Watch 4 updated fine and I have had no problems.

    1. bazza Silver badge

      You mean, it's telling the correct time twice a day?!

      Software driven watches just sounds like a complete clash. Mankind spent centuries perfecting watches both mechanical and electronic, and then someone has the bright idea of shoving one of our least reliable inventions (software) inside. What did anyone really expect the result to be?

      1. Bill Fresher

        I have a lot of meetings in my job and having something that notifies me of calendar events by buzzing my wrist is genuinely useful + passing through emails/messages from my VIP list so I can discreetly see if there's something I might need to find time to respond to. Also, paying for something with watch is super easy and convenient, be it a coffee, a sandwich, a pint, or the tube ride home.

        But I completely get why many people wouldn't get much value out of one.

  12. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge

    Boot ticks

    Does it at least bootloop at a constant interval?

  13. electricmonk

    Analogue?

    But the market remains wary of switching from more reliable analogue devices.

    Weird thing to say. It's nothing to do with digital versus analogue. I don't think anyone's doubted the reliability of digital watches for over 30 years - my Timex Triathlon keeps better time, runs for longer and is more robust than any of the analogue watches I've had. It's the inflated prices and poor battery life of smart watches that's holding them back: nobody wants to have to remember to charge yet another device every night. That, and the fact that for all the marketing they're still more cumbersome and clunky-looking than a traditional watch.

    1. TheTor

      Re: Analogue?

      <snip>nobody wants to have to remember to charge yet another device every night. That, and the fact that for all the marketing they're still more cumbersome and clunky-looking than a traditional watch.</snip>

      That depends. Most people think my Fossil Q Explorist is a traditional watch until I tap the screen to wake it up. And I tend to take my watch off at night anyway, so popping it onto a dock by my bed takes no effort at all. Battery lasts 2 days, so not a problem if I forget one night. They have moved on quite a bit from the first generation watches problems, you should take another look...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Analogue?

        "Battery lasts 2 days, so not a problem if I forget one night. They have moved on quite a bit from the first generation watches problems, you should take another look..."

        Most of the time I have a solar power watch that never needs explicit charging.

        When I want bells and whistles and a short battery life I switch to a first generation Garmin Vivoactive smart watch, with a battery life of 3+ weeks....

        ... and it isn't bulky and clunky like most of the smart watches.

  14. Gra4662

    watches

    At least I never have to move the hands forward or back twice a year.

    All a Rolex watch will do is tell the time, but its a piece of jewelry, but will cost a hundred times more than a cheap watch.

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      Re: watches

      All most watches will do is tell the time - that's what they're made for and we have a curious need to know what time it is. That's why I have my A3 smartphone AlwaysOn function set to the watch - it's useful like that.

      I also have an actual watch. Funny how moving the hour hand twice a year bothers me a lot less than having yet another piece of kit that needs recharging every day.

      As to what watch you buy, that depends purely on what you have to spend and how far you're willing to go. These days, all watches are largely accurate enough, so buying a Rolex is purely a whim statement.

  15. Steve Jackson

    Every device should have a hardware reset option. AFAIU the 'reset' option is similar to other iOS based devices but it would appear the only 'reload' connection is via BT? Clearing / resetting is only possible from a working device - oh dear.

    Have they hired MS staff at Apple? Maybe the QA department can't have a series 4 Watch as it's outside operational budget....

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