Apple has finally decided to give the newest Apple Watch an independence with new GPS capabilities.
As soon as Apple launched its watches, they were hugely popular, but they lacked one feature: independence. For Apple GPS to work, the iPhone had to be on the radar all the time. Modern watches have the case reversed.
In 2015, GPS was first released on the iPhone watch. Back then, GPS didn’t work at all without an iPhone. So when the user ran or exercised, he needed an iPhone and an Apple Watch for the GPS to work. This was an upgrade from the non-GPS phase, but it still wasn’t convenient.
Then with the Series 2, Apple’s watch claimed to have GPS that worked independently, but relied on the iPhone when it was nearby. This feature was to extend battery life by conserving the battery used by the Apple Watch when using GPS alone. This was also an upgrade, but still not enough.
Apple has finally announced that its latest three models will be completely independent of the iPhone when it comes to GPS. These models include Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch Series 8, and Apple Watch SE 2.
This change was recently spotted by “Verge” and sports tech bloggers. Apple added a document to its site last week explaining the feature. We love this feature, but we’re a little skeptical about the latest Apple Watch battery life.
To address this concern, one of the three models, the Apple Watch Ultra, has a heavier battery that lasts twice as long as its predecessor. So Ultra can support this feature. However, I have concerns about his other two models as the hardware isn’t too different from some recent models.
It was also pointed out that the latest Apple Watch, the Apple Watch Ultra, also uses dual-band GPS frequencies. This is a feature only available on the latest iPhones.
We’re happy to see Apple taking a giant leap forward with their latest devices. We hope Apple will provide more exciting features soon!
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