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Apple tried and failed to add cellular connectivity to the next Apple Watch, says report

Apple tried and failed to add cellular connectivity to the next Apple Watch, says report

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Apple believes the technology would drain too much battery life from the Watch, according to Bloomberg

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Apple won't be adding cellular connectivity to the Apple Watch this year, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The company had planned to incorporate the technology and uncouple the Apple Watch from the iPhone, but ran into issues related to battery life.

According to the report, Apple was in talks with carriers in the US and Europe about bringing the Apple Watch onto their networks, but made it clear that even if it was able to ship a cellular version of the wearable this year, it wouldn't have been released until December at the earliest. Apple's biggest concern has been the strain that cellular chips would put on the Apple Watch's battery life, and the company has reportedly begun looking into low-power cellular chips for future generations of the device.

Although it's likely we won't get an Apple Watch with cellular connectivity this year, the company is expected to release new versions of the Watch with GPS connectivity and improvements to health tracking this fall.