One of the most notable features Apple has released in the past few years is backing forsatellite connectivity on iPhonesto assistance with emergency assistance and communicating . It assist the great unwashed facing the ira of Hurricane Helene a few week ago , and it now looks like Apple is stretch that feature to smartwatches .
grant toBloomberg , next yr ’s Apple Watch Ultra mannequin will be capable to latch on to artificial satellite meshing . “ The applied science will permit smartwatch substance abuser send off - the - grid text subject matter via Globalstar Inc. ’s fleet of satellites when they do n’t have a cellular or Wi - Fi connection , ” says the account .
When the system was first premise two years ago , it was trammel to contacting emergency services . Apple later expanded the setting to include wayside aid as well . With the reaching of iOS 18 , the company permit users tosend and receive text messages while connected to a orbiter electronic web .
Notably , the smartwatch will extend artificial satellite connectivity in a standalone format . That intend users wo n’t have to behave an iPhone on them if they go on a tramp trip or get stranded without their smartphone . In doing so , the next Apple Watch Ultra might also take the crown of being the first mainstream smartwatch to offer satellite link - up support .
Apple is also looking to switch aside from Intel modems to a MediaTek model for cellular connectivity on its smartwatches in the coming year . The company is also ditching Qualcomm and putting anin - theatre modem in some gadget next twelvemonth , let in the iPhone SE refresh .
Another major climb will be financial support for 5 G , or , to put it more specifically , a nerfed reading of the cellular criterion . So far , Apple Watches have only rely on 4 deoxyguanosine monophosphate LTE on the cellular models . This variation of 5 G would target 150 Mbps in downlink and 50 Mbps in uplink , much lower than your distinctive cellular 5G.
The technical school in inquiry is 5 G RedCap , short for 5 G Reduced Capability , which targets a high peak data rate compare to 4 G LTE , lower latent period , and good energy efficiency for IoT divides , as well as battery - power sensor and vesture .
“ instance of consumption cases that will be addressed by RedCap include wearables such as smartwatches , wearable aesculapian gadget , and low - end AR / VR glasses , video surveillance , industrial sensors , impertinent grids , and so on , ” explainsEricsson , the company behind the tech .
Apple continue to work on another illustrious health - sensing feature film that has already been adopted by rivals like Samsung . According to Bloomberg , mould on profligate pressure monitoring is still underway , but there is no word exactly when it will arrives .
The company is also said to be experimenting withnoninvasive blood glucose monitoring , but that lineament will take fourth dimension to come . The instauration slowdown in the wellness section for vesture is evident , but as a stopgap , Apple has dish out feature likehearing aid assistance on the AirPodsearlier this year .