Sources: Apple plans to release Watch with cellular connectivity this year, with LTE modems supplied by Intel
Intel is said to supply modem that works with cell networks — Apple plans to begin selling new smartwatch by end of year — Apple Inc. is planning to release a version …
Context & Ripple Effects
This closes a loop Apple opened more than a year earlier: reporting in April 2016 had Apple working cell-network connectivity into the next-generation Watch, but by August 2016 the feature was pushed back over battery-life concerns and that year's models shipped with GPS only. The 2017 plan — an LTE Watch built around an Intel-supplied modem, targeted for year-end — signals Apple judged the power problem solvable.
The Intel win matters beyond one product: a later report has Intel positioned as the likely sole modem supplier for Apple's 2020 iPhones, so the Watch order reads as the first step in Apple shifting modem volume away from its incumbent supplier toward Intel.
First-order effects
- Apple gets a Watch that can make calls and stream data without an iPhone nearby, removing the last hard dependency between its wearable and its phone.
- Intel lands a marquee design win in a category where it previously had no presence, giving its modem business a flagship customer alongside Apple's phone business.
Second-order effects
- Carriers gain a new connected-device line to sell data plans against, extending per-line subscriptions beyond phones and tablets.
- The incumbent modem supplier faces a second front of share loss at Apple — the same dynamic the 2020 iPhone report captures — pressuring pricing across Apple's radio-chip orders.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, wearables consolidate as standalone computing endpoints rather than phone accessories, forcing every watch platform to solve radios, batteries, and carrier certification on its own.
- Apple's modem sourcing becomes a structural battleground: once Intel holds both Watch and iPhone sockets, Apple's supply decisions start shaping which chipmakers can fund next-generation radio development.
The trend: Smartwatches are decoupling from the smartphone as Apple brings cellular in-house on its own timeline, while its modem orders migrate toward Intel.