Apple Watch 11.1 beta 3 rolled out after reports of bricks

The occasional risk of downloading beta versions was highlighted by Apple’s decision on Wednesday to roll back the watchOS 11.1 beta 3 update following user reports that it damaged their Apple Watch. The company made the decision just hours after it was made available to developers for testing.

A MacRumors reporter noted the development in a post on X (formerly Twitter), revealing that Apple had rolled back the watchOS 11.1 beta 3 update after users on various online forums began complaining that their watches were “locking up” until they were restarted, although in some cases, even reboots have had limited success.

A comment spotted on Reddit by 9to5Mac said that after installing the beta software, their Apple Watch “completely blocked every launch.” He continued: “I hold down the side button and crown to restart it, it restarts and not even a minute later it completely freezes. The time won’t update, nothing. This happened right after someone texted me and hasn’t stopped since. It is currently closed for the seventh time and it only started 15 minutes ago.”

This isn’t the first device to have problems with Apple’s new software. The company recently pulled HomePod Software 18.1 beta 2 due to bricking concerns, and even paused access to iPadOS 18.0 (which was not a beta but a full public release) for iPad M4 Pro after similar bricking reports.

The latest development is a reminder to always be careful when downloading beta software, regardless of whether it comes from Apple. Although the Apple Watch beta is intended for developers to test, Apple often releases a public beta before the full public release, and even those will likely contain some annoying bugs.

The general advice is to avoid installing beta software on a device you use every day. Indeed, on its website, Apple reminds us that beta software often contains bugs, and that making it available for download is about getting feedback to eliminate those bugs.

“Please remember that because the beta software has not yet been released commercially by Apple, it may contain errors or inaccuracies and may not perform as well as commercially available software,” the company says, adding: “We strongly recommend installation on a secondary system or device, or on an additional partition on your Mac.”