Apple Watch Successor to Feature Cellular Connectivity: Report

An IDC report last month claimed that worldwide shipments of wearable devices are expected to reach 110 million by the end of 2016 and that Apple will remain leader of smartwatch segment with its Apple Watch through the majority of the forecast. The Cupertino-based giant is expected to add new features to its second-generation Apple Watch, which is rumoured to be showcased at the company's annual developer conference next month.

A new report claims that Apple is already working on its second-generation Apple Watch and will be adding new features such as cellular connectivity which means users won't be required to carry an iPhone alongside at all times for mobile data. Apart from the added connectivity, the Apple Watch successor is also said to pack a faster processor than the original, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

The addition of cellular connectivity to the Apple Watch would not come as a surprise as several smartwatches powered by Android Wear come with the feature.

LG last year launched its LTE-enabled Watch Urbane "luxury timepiece" while Samsung earlier this year unveiled the Gear S2 classic 3G as the first device in the market to feature an eSIM compliant with the GSMA Consumer Remote SIM Provisioning (RSP) architecture.

A recent report citing an analyst said that Apple may refresh the Apple Watch in June at its annual developer conference - WWDC. The Apple Watch successor was rumoured to sport a 20 to 40 percent thinner body than the current offering.

Ahead of WWDC, Apple recently announced that new watchOS apps submitted to the App Store from June 1 will have to be native apps. One of the biggest reasons to shift to native apps built with Apple's watchOS 2 SDK was said to eliminate performance problems such as lag.