While the Apple Watch 6 release date will likely be late 2020 alongside the iPhone 12, we've now heard a lot about the smartwatch's software, as Apple has unveiled watchOS 7 at WWDC 2020.

But although watchOS 7 will come to many older Apple Watches, it's clearly designed with the Apple Watch 6 in mind, so even though the upcoming hardware wasn't shown off, we have some ideas of what it will be capable of through the new software.

The Apple Watch 6 or other future Apple Watch models could have better wireless networking system, bringing the Apple Watch all that much closer to working autonomously from our iPhones.

In a patent spotted by AppleInsider, Apple pitches a wireless connection antenna built into the Apple Watch's display, levering an increased surface area compared to the current mechanism.

Although Apple does not specify how much better the wireless connection on an Apple Watch with an in-display antenna, but it seems confident that a larger receptor would offer an upgrade.

While Apple Watch models with LTE can work without an iPhone, we'd still hesitate to leave our iPhones at home.

It's hard to imagine a future where the Apple Watch replaces or is better than our iPhones, but perhaps we said the same about cell phones replacing landlines.

Don't think you can ditch your handset that fast, though — we have an iPhone 12 launch coming soon, remember? This is just a patent, meaning there's no guarantee Apple is going to use this antenna system soon or at all.

That said, the company will likely promote some small steps in that direction when it announces the Apple Watch 6 in the fall. The new smartwatch is rumored to offer better battery life, a blood oxygen monitor and more.