Abstract:
Apple’s latest release of Apple Watch Ultra 4 has made a less noticeable but technically significant adjustment in the satellite navigation function. According to product technical specifications, Apple has canceled support for the Russian GLONASS global satellite navigation system, making it the first Ultra series product to abandon the navigation system in recent years.
The new generation Apple Watch Ultra 4 currently supports GPS, the European Galileo positioning system, the Japanese QZSS satellite positioning system, and the Chinese Beidou satellite navigation system. The previous generation Apple Watch Ultra 3 also supports GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and Beidou systems. In contrast, GLONASS became the only navigation network to be removed.
Although Apple has not publicly explained the reasons behind this decision, from a technical perspective, this change is not without basis. Currently, GPS, Galileo, Beidou and QZSS all support more advanced CDMA signal architecture and can provide multi-band positioning capabilities to achieve higher-precision position measurement. In contrast, consumer-grade equipment can usually only receive the L1 frequency band signal of the GLONASS system, and its positioning value has declined in dual-frequency positioning equipment.
In addition, GLONASS uses a different signal architecture from other mainstream systems. Since each satellite has independent hardware time offsets, the receiving equipment needs to perform additional calibration processing for different satellites, which may increase the chance of positioning errors and make the navigation algorithm more complex.
Industry insiders believe that after Apple removes GLONASS support, it may bring several potential benefits. The first is to further optimize positioning accuracy, because the system will rely more on modern, multi-band navigation networks; secondly, it can reduce part of the signal processing workload, thereby reducing power consumption; at the same time, it may also have a certain positive impact on battery life performance.
It is worth noting that this adjustment has not been extended to the entire Apple Watch product line. Apple’s newly released Apple Watch Series 12 still retains GLONASS support. Analysts believe that this may be related to the different design of the positioning systems of the two products. Since Series 12 still relies more on a single-frequency positioning architecture, the additional satellite data provided by GLONASS still has certain supplementary value. For the Ultra series that adopts more advanced dual-frequency positioning solutions, the importance of GLONASS has been significantly reduced.
In recent years, high-end smart watches have increasingly relied on multi-constellation and multi-band joint positioning technology. Now that GPS, Galileo, Beidou and QZSS have been able to provide high coverage and high-precision positioning services, some traditional satellite navigation systems have begun to gradually fade out of the support list of some consumer electronics products.
For most Apple Watch Ultra 4 users, this adjustment is not expected to bring significant changes in experience. On the contrary, in typical usage scenarios such as outdoor sports, hiking adventures, cross-country running, and navigation, Apple may hope to achieve a more stable positioning experience and better battery life through a more streamlined and modern satellite combination.
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