Plans to make major changes that would connect its Watch to cellular networks and make it less dependent on the iPhone by Apple Inc. has hit roadblocks, reported the media quoting sources.  However, boasting improvements to health tracking, the company still plans to announce new watch models this fall.

GPS-based location tracking would also be possible to be integrated in the updated versions, sources said.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

iPhone sales contribute almost 60 percent of Apple’s revenue and the company hopes for a new blockbuster product amid slowing iPhone sales as it shipped its first watch in April 2015. According to IDC, the shipment from April to June was less than half as many as during the same period in 2015 even as the company shipped 1.6 million watches during that period.

A new iPhone with a faster chip and improved cameras, and a slimmer MacBOok Pro laptop is the bet for Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook who is banking on a slew of new gadgets to reignite growth in 2017 with investors expecting a revenue decline this fiscal year.

A version of the watch that can connect to data networks independent of the iPhone is being demanded by network carriers ever since Apple brought it out. Sources reportedly said that the Cupertino, California-based company had been working to untether it from the handset. At this moment,  to download most types of content and consistently track location, the watch must be synced with an iPhone.

Sources also told sections of the media that to add cellular connectivity to the watch, Apple had been in talks this year with mobile phone carriers in the U.S. and Europe.

Even while out of an iPhone’s reach, sports score alerts downloads, e-mail and mapping information would be theoretically possible by a cellular chip.

The feature may be pushed back to a later generation and the cellular models may not be ready for release this year, was the concerns that were reportedly expressed by Apple executives during the discussions. The earliest possible shipment time-frame for cellular models would have been this December, warned Apple, even on an aggressive schedule.

Sources also said that user appeal would be get limited as the current cellular chips consume too much battery life, reducing the product’s effectiveness and this is the source of the delay. For future smartwatch generations, Apple has begun studying lower-power cellular data chips.

A watch model that can more precisely determine a user’s location by way of GPS chips that communicate with satellites is still being anticipated to be shipped by Apple even without cellular connectivity. This technology would improve the accuracy of data submitted to health tracking applications and allow the device to track running and walking distances more precisely. The sources said that the GPS would also make navigation on the watch more accurate.

Health features such as watch faces with integrated activity statistics and a new app to track breathing would be added to the device’s software this fall, Apple said in June. The update adds a new swipe-up menu to access battery and audio controls, allows users to more easily move between different watch faces and launches apps more quickly.

(Adapted from Bloomberg)