Rumor: Apple Watch 3 to add LTE, SIM card support

Susquehanna Financial Group semiconductor analyst Christopher Rolland says in a note to clients — as noted by Barron’s — that the next gen Apple Watch will include a SIM card and support LTE (a standard for high-speed wireless communication for mobile phones and data terminals).

“Apple may be employing VOIP and data across a CAT-M1 connection for superior battery life,” he writes. “Apple will tout interoperability with the company’s AirPods (now on back order till May) to make and receive phone calls (perhaps a small win for Maxim with amps in each ear bud).”

The Sellers Research Group (that’s me) predicts that the Apple Watch 3 will add LTE support for cellular connectivity, but there’s no way it’s going to make room for a SIM card. Instead it will use its own, small Apple SIM. It’s a proprietary subscriber information module that lets customers sign up for temporary data roaming service in a country without a contract and without needing to swap out a SIM card, all from the Settings app.

The fanciful images accompanying this article are courtesy of “Daily Star” and “SmartStockNews.”