Have you run into hiccups trying to activate the cellular plan for an Apple Watch with Verizon? If so, you’re not alone. Some Apple Watch owners have reported issues setting up cellular access through the carrier, a problem that seems to be affecting people who bought the watch from a different vendor.
Based on complaints from several users shared with AppleInsider, an Apple Watch sold by Verizon will activate correctly. But a watch purchased from another retailer, even Apple, fails to activate. The issue also appears to be more common than might be expected.
Also: Preorder the new Apple Watch Series 10 now, here’s how (plus ways to save)
“I am unable to connect my brand new Apple Watch 9 to Verizon cellular via the app. I contacted Verizon and they were unable to connect my Watch to the network,” said one person on an Apple discussion forum.
“I am now trying to get my BYOD Apple Watch Ultra 2 activated and have not been able to activate the watch on cellular within the Apple Watch app,” said someone on a Verizon community forum. “After logging into my Verizon account when prompted, the page loads for a minute then errors out with the text ‘Something went wrong’ followed by ‘paring of not allowed’ (yes – that is the actual grammatically incorrect error message).”
I ran into a similar hiccup trying to activate an Apple Watch through Verizon. After buying a Watch Series 10 from a local Apple Store, I took it to Verizon to get help removing it from my old iPhone 14 and setting it up with my new iPhone 16 Pro. I was assured that the transfer would be simple enough for me to do it on my own. Nope.
I tried several times to activate the watch with my new phone but kept running into vague “Something went wrong” errors. Just as I was ready to call Verizon, I gave it one more try, and this time the activation worked. I’m not sure if my issue was exactly the same as those reported by other people. But clearly something is kerflooey with Watch activations through Verizon.
Why is this happening? One comment spotted by AppleInsider may have hit upon the cause.
Also: Apple Watch Series 9 review: Why I’m not settling for the less expensive models
When Verizon receives a product like an Apple Watch from Apple, the carrier records the IMEI number. As you try to activate the device, Verizon finds its IMEI number in their system, assigns it an eSIM, and the cellular connection is made. That’s the successful scenario if you buy the watch from Verizon.
But if you buy a product like the Apple Watch from another vendor and then try to activate it through Verizon, that’s when you run into the problem.
This is because the IMEI number for your device is not in Verizon’s system. No matching IMEI number means no eSIM and no cellular activation. In this case, even Verizon support won’t necessarily be able to resolve the glitch, according to the comment, because only Verizon Engineering support can manually add an IMEI number to Verizon’s system.
Also: How to check in with friends or family from your Apple Watch
If all that is true, then Verizon support should be aware of these activation issues and know how to handle them. But based on the conversation threads seen by AppleInsider, the support folks at the carrier seem to be in the dark about all of this.
I reached out to Verizon and a spokesperson said: “We are aware that a limited number of customers who have purchased Apple Watch may experience issues when attempting to activate cellular service. We have made the changes necessary to enable those activations and encourage customers to attempt again. Our customer service teams can assist if customers experience any further issues. “
If you do run into activation issues with a cellular Apple Watch on Verizon, your best bet is to call Verizon support and explain the details of the problem to the representative. You can also try to escalate your call directly to Verizon Engineering support. As another option, send a message to the Verizon Support account on X, where it should be forwarded to a rep who can help.
