Apple Watch: watchOS 8.3 update causes charging issues

watch0S 8.3 makes charging your Apple Watch only possible with third-party chargers.

If you’re using a third-party charger to charge your Apple Watch, you can wait before updating your smartwatch to watchOS version 8.3. Indeed, according to several reviews from Reddit users, it may seem that after installing said update, Apple Watch is having difficulty recharging through a third-party charger.

watch0S 8.3 makes it impossible to charge Apple Watch

According to a post on Reddit by ashfleeburgooben: “Last night I updated my watch to 8.3, plugged it into a third party charger, came back an hour later and it has gained about 2%. I did the same with my wife’s watch and her third party charger, same result. I connected them to the official charger and they charged in a very short time. Oh!»

only with third party chargers

The post goes on to say that after a few tests, it turns out that if the watch did charge very slowly, after just a few minutes, the charging stops completely. This bug seems to affect users who use a 3-in-1 charger, and yet their iPhone charges with the 3-in-1 charger just fine. This only applies to the Apple Watch.

At this point, it’s hard to understand what’s causing this issue with this version of watchOS and why the Apple Watch no longer supports third-party chargers. Is this a simple mistake or is it intentional? In any case, if you have an Apple Watch and are using a third-party charger, don’t install the Watch 8.3 update if you haven’t already. Otherwise, hope you keep the official charger so that its use won’t be too restrictive on an everyday basis. Waiting for a fix or at least an official announcement from Apple about this.