Don't Buy Apple Watch 3

By James L, 1 December, 2020

Forum
Apple Hardware and Compatible Accessories

If you're thinking about buying Apple Watch 3, think again.
I just bought my wife Apple Watch 6 for a gift, and I started using her Apple Watch 3.
First, there is a huge difference in VoiceOver lag.
Second, Apple Watch 3 has only 8gb memory, Apple Watch 4 has 16, and I believe 5 and up including SE has 32gb.
This is particularly annoying when you want to update your WatchOS.
It still didn't have enough memory for an update even after I deleted all my apps, music, photos, podcast, and etc.
I googled around, and many people who owns Siri 3 seemed to have the same issue.
The only solution that worked for me was to reset and erase all contents, and set up as a new watch.
It would be very annoying to factory reset and set up as a new watch every time when you want to update.
Hope that this saves some people headaches.

Options

Comments

By Carlos Alonso on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 - 18:28

I have the same experience with my Apple watch 3 although I've been able to update it without erasing it by powering the watch off and back on, last time I updated it I had to power it off and on a couple of times before I was able to perform the update. But have to agree that erasing it each time would be a pain if the power off cycle wouldn't work, I'm going to hold off another year or so before upgrading but I'm looking forward to a watch without the performance issues.

By Eric Davis on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 - 18:28

I had the 3 and when the 5 came out my wife got it for me for Christmas. For me the watch didn't come in to it's capabilities till the 5. Now I find my self using the watch more than I ever did before. The 5 was an improvement over the 3 for me. Many thanks to my wife for the upgrade last year.

By DPinWI on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 - 18:28

I traded in my 3 for the 6 mostly because of the problems updating it. However, the performance and capability jump between the two devices has me getting over my initial disgruntled upgrade. It was worth it, and I find not just the new features, and speed, to be great, the battery life and speed of charging are great too.

The 3 was a good starter watch for me, and here's hoping I will be happily using the 6 for more than the 3 years of service I got out of the 3.

By KE7ZUM on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 - 18:28

I started with a 2 in 2016, now have a 3 that I bought used last year, the person bought it that year and used it once and hated it. I could not be more happier. Btw I hve no issues updating, except for once. It's fast enough, and is very lite on my wrist.

By PrivacyNinja on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 - 18:28

You won't get the same functionality from an AppleWatch3 as an AppleWatch6 or 7. By design, there are more capabilities with all newer hardware/software no matter who builds it.

If you are not getting satisfaction with your older tech, time to upgrade.