Apple Watch Series 3 NO MORE getting updates! Good news for iPad users though

Apple Watch Series 3 is dropped from the watchOS 9 supported devices list. iPadOS 16 support list includes old models though.

Apple Watch Series 3 is no more getting the watchOS updates.  (Apple)

Apple Watch Series 3 is dead TOO! At the WWDC 2022 Keynote address, Apple released a vast array of software updates for all its ecosystem devices. Sadly, they dropped support for some old yet popular devices. iOS 16 surprisingly dropped support for iPhone 7 generation along with iPhone 6S and iPhone SE 1st Gen as well as iPod Touch. Outside the iOS ecosystem, it is the Apple Watch Series 3 that is also exempt from the latest software updates. The Watch Series 3 sold until recently as Apple's entry-level smartwatch.

On its device support list, Apple states that, “watchOS 9 will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 4 or later paired with iPhone 8 or later and iPhone SE (second generation) or later, running iOS 16." This excludes the Apple Watch Series 3 from the list. watchOS 9 is a mild update over watchOS 8, with only a few visual changes and some additional health features.

Apple Watch Series 3 dropped

Hence, the watchOS 9 update is coming only to these Apple Watch models:

Apple Watch Series 4

Apple Watch Series 5

Apple Watch SE

Apple Watch Series 6

Apple Watch Series 7

iPad users rejoice though

While the Apple Watch Series 3 is no more getting the updates, iPad users have something to rejoice. iPadOS 16 with its variety of new features is available on several older iPad models. “New software features will be available this fall as a free software update for iPad (5th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), and all iPad Pro models,” says Apple.

Hence, the iPad models that are getting the update include:

iPad Pro (All models)

iPad Air (3rd generation and later)

iPad (5th generation and later)

iPad mini (5th generation and later)

It is surprising to see the iPad 5th Gen and iPad 6th Gen are getting the updates, despite being on the very old A9 and A10 chips. The iPhone models on A9 and A10 chips have been dropped from the latest iOS support.