Surprise update for older mid-range Garmin smartwatches now official

Garmin often offers multiple software updates per month for its recent smartwatch releases. Unfortunately, regular software support does not extend beyond a few generations. For instance, while the Fenix 6 series continued to receive timely updates throughout 2022 and 2023, these have more or less dried up in recent months.

The same is true of Garmin's Forerunner series, the most recent version of which remains the Forerunner 165 (curr. $249.99 on Amazon). Surprisingly though, the company has now issued new beta updates for its Forerunner 45 series, which are now between four and five years old. Please note that the new patch is not available to the Forerunner 45 or Forerunner 45s, which are no longer on Garmin's Beta Program.

Instead, Beta Version 13.40 can only be installed on the Forerunner 245, Forerunner 745 and Forerunner 945, including Music variants. According to Garmin's changelogs, the new update contains a mere two changes, despite being the first update for the trio in over a year. Allegedly, Beta Version 13.40 addresses an issue that could occur while pairing with inReach Messenger and another that caused problems with the time shown once a Strength activity step exceeds one hour. Added to that, the new update bundles Sensor Hub 18.04; Garmin has not confirmed what improvements it has made in this regard though, nor when Beta Version 13.40 will reach stable status.