gps-details

Apple Watch Series 7

Overview

The Apple Watch Series 7 supports GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, and QZSS.

There are two different versions of the S7 SiP, corresponding to the cellular and non-cellular Apple Watch Series 7. The Ultra-Wideband (UWB) chip is on the outside of the SiP in both models of the Apple Watch Series 7, cellular and non-cellular.

The GPS receiver is only on the outside of the cellular SiP for the Apple Watch Series 7. The teardown by eWisetech identifies the BCM47764 as the GPS receiver, and multiple parts websites describe it as a spare part for the Apple Watch Series 7.

Teardown

Apple Watch Series 7 (non-cellular)

It is assumed that like earlier models of the Apple Watch the GNSS chip is on the circuit board inside the SiP. Without a teardown of the non-cellular SiP the components inside the resin cannot be confirmed.

The YouTube screenshot shows little on the outside of the S7 SiP, except the Bosch accelerometer / gyroscope (red) and the USI UWB chip (blue). These two components were identified from the teardown of the cellular SiP.

series-7-gps-front

The SiP from the non-cellular Apple Watch Series 7 looks very similar to the non-cellular Apple Watch Series 8 (see below). This photo of the S8 SiP from the non-cellular Apple Watch Series 8 was published by TechInsights.

series-8-gps-front

Apple Watch Series 7 (cellular)

The teardown by eWisetech shows the inside of the S7 (cellular) which clearly shows the addition of some cellular components.

The other components are probably the same as the non-cellular S7, but the circuit board design will be different. The three main cellular components (3, 4, 9) are quite large and have displaced the Broadcom GNSS receiver to outside of the S7. The circuit board design looks somewhat similar to the S6, but they are also quite different.

series-7-cellular-back

The teardown also labels various components on the the outside of the cellular SiP.

It should be noted that the GNSS module (2) is square, corresponding to the BCM47764KUBG on parts websites.

series-7-cellular-front

Summary

The Apple Watch Series 7 added support for BeiDou which became fully operational in June 2020.

In terms of GNSS hardware the Series 7 adopted Broadcom’s BCM47764 which replaced the BCM47754.

The BCM47764 can be found on parts websites such as integrated-ic.com, chinax.com, and hkmjd.com.