Author: Michael George
Created: 4 Feb 2025
Teardowns of several Apple watches clearly show a dedicated GNSS chip (e.g. Broadcom BCM477x4 in Series 6 and 7). However, teardowns of the earlier Apple watches (e.g. Series 3 and 4) don’t appear to show a dedicated GNSS chip. This suggests the Series 3 / 4 / 5 watches may therefore have used the RF frontend + baseband processor for GNSS capabilities, just like the iPhones. The Qualcomm MDM9635M baseband processor was used in the Series 3, but the Intel PMB9955 has been used since the Series 4.
Model | Announced | OS | GNSS | Chipset |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st Gen | Apr 2015 | watchOS 1.0 | - | - |
Series 1 | Sep 2016 | watchOS 3.0 | - | - |
Series 2 | Sep 2016 | watchOS 3.0 | GPS and GLONASS | Dedicated GNSS |
Series 3 | Sep 2017 | watchOS 4.0 | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS | Qualcomm MDM9635M 1 |
Series 4 | Sep 2018 | watchOS 5.0 | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS | Intel PMB9955 2 |
Series 5 | Sep 2019 | watchOS 6.0 | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS | Intel PMB9955 2 |
Series 6 | Sep 2020 | watchOS 7.0 | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS | Broadcom BCM47754 3 |
Series 7 | Sep 2021 | watchOS 8.0 | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou | Broadcom BCM47764 3 |
Series 8 | Sep 2022 | watchOS 9.0 | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou | Broadcom 4 |
Series 9 | Sep 2023 | watchOS 10.0 | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou | Broadcom 4 |
Series 10 | Sep 2024 | watchOS 11.0 | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou | Broadcom 4 |
Notes:
I haven’t seen any teardowns for the Apple Watch SE, but both watches have cellular options.
The cellular models of the Apple Watch SE are roughly half the price of the mid-range Apple Watch; e.g. SE (gen 2) at £219 vs Series 10 at £399. It is therefore possible that the cellular models use the GNSS capabilities of the Intel PMB9955 baseband processor. The GPS models of the Apple Watch SE could either use the Intel baseband processor, or a dedicated GNSS chip.
Test data will almost certainly provide us with some some clues…
Model | Announced | OS | GNSS | Chipset |
---|---|---|---|---|
SE (1st gen) | Sep 2020 | watchOS 7.0 | GPS and GLONASS | ? |
SE (2nd gen) | Sep 2022 | watchOS 9.0 | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS | ? |
Intel PMB9955 baseband processor does not support multi-band GNSS, so the Ultra watches must be using a dedicated GNSS chip.
Model | Announced | OS | GNSS | Chipset |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ultra | Sep 2022 | watchOS 9.0 | L1 and L5 GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou | Broadcom 1 |
Ultra 2 | Sep 2023 | watchOS 10.0 | L1 and L5 GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou | Broadcom 1 |
Notes: