Apple Working on Satellite Connectivity for Apple Watch: Report

Apple is reportedly working on adding satellite connectivity to the Apple Watch, which could feature on the company's wearable later this year or in 2023. The company is said to be working on adding satellite connectivity for communication during emergencies on its iPhone 14 lineup — which was previously rumoured to feature on last year's iPhone 13 series. Meanwhile, the company is also tipped to be working on an iMac with an M3 chip, which could launch at the end of 2023.

The Cupertino company's upcoming Apple Watch models could feature satellite connectivity, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman states in his Power On newsletter. According to previous reports, Apple is working to enable LEO satellite communication to enable calls and messages without a 4G or 5G cellular connection. While this technology did not feature on the iPhone 13 series, the report states that the technology could be ready for this year's iPhone 14 lineup.

According to the report, the company could be working with Globalstar to offer the functionality, which is said to work only in emergency situations. The satellite company reportedly agreed to purchase 17 satellites for “continuous satellite services” in February, for a “potential” unnamed client, who paid “hundreds of millions of dollars”, Gurman says. Apple or Globalstar are yet to officially announce any details of a partnership to bring this functionality to upcoming Apple Watch or iPhone models.

The company launched its first generation of Apple Silicon computers in 2020 and is working on launching a successor to the M1, dubbed the Apple M2 chipset, later this year. Apple is said to be testing at least nine new Macs with four different M2-based chips — including an entry level MacBook Air, a 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro, and a Mac Pro, according to a report. In addition to the upcoming devices, the company could also be working on an updated iMac model with an M3 chipset, which could launch at the end of 2023, according to Gurman.

Later this year, Apple is expected to launch the next generation iPhone 14 series, which is tipped to drop the smallest “mini” form factor introduced with the iPhone 12 series. Instead, Apple is purportedly working on four models — iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, and a new iPhone 14 Max model, the first non-Pro model to get a 6.7-inch display. According to Gurman, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max could feature a 48-megapixel main camera and an updated A16 Bionic chip this year. The company is expected to announce the next version of its iOS, iPadOS, macOS and watchOS operating systems at its upcoming WWDC 2022 event in June.