- Apple confirms that three of its smartwatches support RedCap 5G
- AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon all say they will support the new Apple watches
- Analyst Avi Greengart said that T-Mobile should have a 5G SA RedCap “coverage advantage” over the other two operators
Apple has confirmed to Fierce that its new Ultra 3 5G smartwatch uses the Reduced Capability (RedCap) 5G IoT specification, which can only be run a 5G standalone (5G SA) network.
A spokesperson for Apple noted that the Ultra 3 “supports RedCap for 5G and LTE” in an email to Fierce. The spokesperson also pointed out that its Watch Series 11 and SE 3 will support the 4G and 5G standards, pointing to their technical specifications.
This means that AT&T and Verizon are finally opening their 5G SA networks to consumers. T-Mobile has had a nationwide 5G SA network since August 2020 and launched RedCap last year.
Whereas traditional 5G operates within a 100 MHz channel, RedCap reduces that channel to 20 MHz that delivers data transfer speeds of 30 Mbps to 80 Mbps, which is suitable for wearables and many IoT uses. The RedCap specification was laid down in 3GPP Release 17 and is designed to extend battery life and eventually deliver lower silicon costs.
Operators chime in on RedCap
AT&T
“AT&T will be offering the Watch Ultra 3, Series 11, and SE 3 on our nationwide 5G RedCap network,” an AT&T spokesperson in an email to Fierce.
T-mobile
“Apple Watch Ultra 3, Series 11 and SE 3 are all 5G-capable, with 5G RedCap. We are offering the watches online and in our stores and support the RedCap capabilities. We were the first to launch RedCap nationwide last year and continue to support it with our nationwide 5G Advanced network,” a spokesman from T-Mobile said.
Verizon
“The latest generation of Apple Watches marks a significant leap forward in wearable technology, as they are among the first consumer devices to adopt 5G RedCap,” said a Verizon spokeswoman in an email to Fierce. “The seamless integration of this advanced technology is made possible by Verizon's robust, nationwide 5G Standalone core, which provides the essential architecture to support this next generation of connected devices.”
An analyst view of 5G RedCap for smartwatches
Avi Greengart, founder of Techsponential, still said that 5G wasn’t really necessary for smartwatches. “5G RedCap is more of a battery-saving and future-proofing measure,” he said.
Greengart, however, noted that RedCap does make 5G suitable for wearables and such. “The use of 5G RedCap in the Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3 makes sense from a power management perspective — you don't need huge speed gains, and you do need to keep battery use down,” he said.
“It should give T-Mobile a coverage advantage, as its entire 5G network is SA, including its 600 MHz low band frequencies, where AT&T and Verizon are just building out their core SA networks and typically at higher frequency ranges,” the analyst concluded.