- A new report claims that the next Apple Watch Ultra will get satellite connectivity
- While not a health feature, the extra connectivity could prove life-saving
- It also means that we should get a next-generation Apple Watch Ultra in 2025
While Apple didn’t have a next-generation Apple Watch Ultra to show off in 2024, that pause in ushering in a new model might be especially worth the wait. Sure, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 now comes in black – and effectively looks like Batman’s watch – but for the next generation, it might be getting a new lifesaving feature, according to a new report.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is now reporting that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 – likely arriving in September of 2025 – will gain satellite capability just like the iPhone to let “smartwatch users send off-the-grid text messages” when no other network, like Cellular or Wi-Fi, is available.
This makes perfect sense as the next evolution for the Apple Watch Ultra, which is already built tough with long battery life and excellent tracking, making it the perfect adventure watch. For instance, say you’re on a multi-day hike going through an area with no cellular coverage; if you need to call for help or simply text someone while you’re on the trail, this will provide that lifeline.
Now, dating back to the iPhone 14, Apple’s yearly launches have kept adding to the basic Satellite Connectivity feature set. Whether you have an iPhone 16, an iPhone 15, or even a 14, you can use satellite connectivity to contact emergency services through Emergency SOS via Satellite, seek help from roadside assistance companies like AAA, and even iMessage contacts via Satellite. In fact, I’ve used the iMessage via Satellite functionality when networks have gone down.
Having the ability to take one of these satellite communications right from your wrist could be lifesaving and even more useful than having it baked into an iPhone especially since you may not always have your iPhone with you. Bloomberg’s report notes that the Apple Watch Ultra gaining this would make it the first mainstream smartwatch with this feature and would lessen the need to purchase a standalone satellite communication device from the likes of Garmin.
Considering the Apple Watch Ultra currently, and since its inception, it has come as one model with Wi-Fi and Cellular connectivity. It would also beef up the “Pro” level features that come out of the box and better represent the price and its status as the best smartwatch on the market.
Apple’s satellite connectivity on the iPhone runs off of Globalstar Inc. satellites, and the report notes that Apple has continued to expand on that partnership and even invested “about $1.5 billion in GlobalStar to beef up infrastructure” in November of this year. It’s likely then that Apple would use those same satellites if it added the functionality to the Apple Watch Ultra.
In the same report, Bloomberg notes that Apple is still working on a next-generation health feature for the Apple Watch. Blood pressure functionality has been rumored for some time and could arrive as early as 2025. The feature is described as being able to “monitor whether Apple Watch users have high blood pressure,” similar to Apple’s approach to Sleep Apnea detection.
If Apple manages to ready this functionality, alongside satellite connectivity for the Apple Watch Ultra, it could usher in a larger upgrade cycle or at least better entice folks already invested in the category. This year, in 2024, the Apple Watch Series 10 thinned the overall build and stretched the display, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 was re-released in a new black color option. Still, Apple also pushed on health by rolling out Sleep Apnea Detection, but you didn’t need to get a new Apple Watch to access it.
Both satellite connectivity and a new health feature like blood pressure monitoring would help to lengthen the overall feature set for the Apple Watch, and I, for one, am excited about the potential arrival of one of the most useful iPhone’s features arriving on its prominent wearable.