New Apple Watch 5G Feature Missing in Multiple Countries at Launch - MacRumors
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New Apple Watch 5G Feature Missing in Multiple Countries at Launch

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The Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, and Apple Watch SE 3 all feature an upgraded 5G modem and antenna architecture, but 5G connectivity won't be available in some countries.

apple watch s11 5g phone
5G is not listed as a supported feature for the new Apple Watch models in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and several other countries in Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia.

The upgraded connectivity is available in the United States, UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, UAE, Thailand, Japan, China, Singapore, India, and more.

It is not clear why 5G connectivity isn't an option in some countries, but it could be due to a lack of regulatory approval or carriers that simply haven't added support. During yesterday's event, Apple showed a slide with carriers that are supporting 5G on the Apple Watch at launch. These were the carriers depicted:

  • Verizon (US)
  • AT&T (US)
  • T-Mobile (US)
  • Orange (Europe/Global)
  • EE (UK)
  • Three/3 (UK/International)
  • Sunrise (Switzerland)
  • AIS (Thailand)
  • SoftBank (Japan)
  • NTT Docomo (Japan)
  • au (Japan)
  • SmarTone (Hong Kong)
  • CSL (Hong Kong)
  • CTM (Macau)
  • Singtel (Singapore)
  • M1 (Singapore)
  • Zain (Middle East/Africa)
  • du (UAE)
  • Boost Mobile (US)
  • US Cellular (US)
  • Metro by T-Mobile (US)
  • China Unicom
  • China Mobile
  • China Telecom
  • Jio (India)

Canada's major carriers like Telus, Bell, and Rogers were not included, nor were Telstra, Vodafone, and Optus, which are the three main carriers in Australia.

You can go to the technical specifications page for the Apple Watch Series 11, ‌Apple Watch Ultra 3‌, or ‌Apple Watch SE 3‌ in your country to see if 5G will be available. In areas where 5G is not listed as a feature, the new Apple Watch models will rely on LTE.

Apple does not have separate Apple Watch models for different countries (except for China), so there is a good chance that the Apple Watches being sold in countries where 5G is currently unavailable do have the same 5G modem as Apple Watches in the U.S. and other locations where 5G is available. If that's the case, 5G connectivity could be enabled later when carriers begin offering support.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch 11, Apple Watch SE 3, Apple Watch Ultra 3
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral), Apple Watch SE (Buy Now), Apple Watch Ultra (Neutral)
Related Forum: Apple Watch

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Top Rated Comments

C
cdsapplefan
8 months ago

Is it an Apple-made modem? I’m guessing not or they would tout it, but I’m surprised because the Apple Watch is the device that would benefit from the efficiency and low-signal-performance the most
Not a Apple 🍎 Custom modem in the Apple Watch ⌚️ It’s a MediaTek 5G modem in the Watches.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bodonnell202 Avatar
bodonnell202
8 months ago

Probably because those are tiny markets? Look at the list of supported countries. They're all big markets. Canada is tiny. A single Chinese megacity exceeds the population of Australia.
iPhone at least has a pretty high market share in Canada (60+%) so Apple does tend to bring features to Canada fairly quickly after rollout to the US market. It actually likely has more to do with 5G redcap availability being absent (or limited) in those markets. 5G redcap availability is still pretty limited in Canada as only one carrier supports it and it is just starting its rollout.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bodonnell202 Avatar
bodonnell202
8 months ago

I know in Canada, Bell and Telus currently don't allow non-phones and tablets to access the 5G network. Other IoT devices and smartwatches are limited to LTE.

I don't think this applies to Rogers, though? I'm pretty confident I've seen in the past in promotions that they say smartwatches can use the 5G network if hardware allows. They also did announce at the start of June that they were beginning the rollout of 5G RedCap, but didn't specify where/how long until it's widely available.

This could be a case where the hardware can do it, but carriers need to catch up.
Yes, I think Rogers is the only carrier in Canada that supports 5G redcap currently, and they only started the rollout in June, so it is probably only in select areas so far? Perhaps the new Apple Watches would actually connect to 5G if you are a Roger's customer and are in an area that has rolled it out, but Apple likely wouldn't advertise it as available when in Canada when it is still pretty limited.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A
alancostello
8 months ago
"Apple does not have separate Apple Watch models for different countries (except for China)"

A US-purchsed Apple Watch with cellular does not work in Europe, or vice-versa, and trust me, I've tried, so this isn't true.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
Shah!n
8 months ago
Oh Canada 🇨🇦
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A
ACDeag
8 months ago

In the UK, EE throttles 5G connections down to 4G speeds. Overall, it is therefore actually worse than 4G.
They don’t as a rule. There are speed caps on some plans (10mbps/100mbps), but I am on one without a cap and can get way faster than 4G in some places where 5G Stand Alone (SA) is. 5G non-stand alone does use 4G tech in the background which means it can’t get to full speed but that is being replaced by 5GSA
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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