LTE being conspicuously absent in last month's watchOS4 launch was surprising, but it now seems the Apple Watch WILL break it's iPhone shackles (as reported by Bloomberg, citing Strategy Analytics figures).

As long predicted, 4G will come to the Apple Watch before 2017 is out to propel the smartwatch market towards 20% cellular penetration, and beyond.  I expect mobile operators the world over will get a very nice bump from selling this device in 2018 (possibly late 2017 depending on launch countries). Carriers, Intel and Apple look to be the big winners here, provided Apple-like usability and ergonomics are maintained!

I can see using the watch for calls with a pair of EarPods, along with enabling better cloud services user experiences, being embraced by Apple end users and developers alike.