WatchOS 11.1 beta retracted after reports of bricked Apple Watch devices

Some Apple Watch users claimed that they had their devices ruined by the latest beta release.

At least, that’s the word on sites like Reddit, as spotted by Neowin. After installing the third beta for watchOS 11.1, some users found that their devices would freeze up not long after being turned on with the update installed. Common fixes like restarting the devices don’t seem to work, either. Apple has since pulled the update so it’s no longer available for download.

If this happened to you, unfortunately, the only thing you can really do is send the device to Apple for repairs. As Neowin pointed out, Apple Watches don’t allow users to revert back to old software after an update.

This is obviously a bummer for anyone who suffered a bricked Apple Watch, but it’s a good reminder to be very careful about installing pre-release software onto your personal devices. Apple recently had to do something similar after an iPadOS update bricked some tablets.