Mikey Campbell
Apple CEO Tim Cook continued his press tour in support of the upcoming iPad Pro on Monday, touting the tablet's workstation and media consumption capabilities in an interview, but also dropped a hint about potential work on a health product unrelated to Apple Watch.
Speaking with UK publication The Telegraph about the future prospects of Apple Watch, Cook said Apple is averse to subjecting the wearable to U.S. health regulations, a tedious process detrimental to fast-paced product refresh cycles. He is not, however, against putting some other product through regulated health testing.
"We don't want to put the watch through the Food and Drug Administration process. I wouldn't mind putting something adjacent to the watch through it, but not the watch, because it would hold us back from innovating too much, the cycles are too long," he said. "But you can begin to envision other things that might be adjacent to it — maybe an app, maybe something else."
In late 2013, Apple executives met with FDA officials over "mobile medical applications," and while those talks remained sealed, Apple Watch was likely the topic of discussion. As smartwatches with health-monitoring capabilities were just reaching market at the time, the wearables segment was largely a gray area for the FDA and other regulatory groups.
Months after Apple Watch debuted, the FDA said Apple's device, and products like it, are unlikely to fall under the body's purview as long as manufacturers do not proffer medical diagnoses. In its current iteration, Apple Watch tracks movement and users' heart rates via specialized onboard sensors.
Adding a bit of color to statements made earlier today, Cook said iPad Pro, with its Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil accessories, could make an ideal PC replacement for many consumers.
"Yes, the iPad Pro is a replacement for a notebook or a desktop for many, many people," Cook said. "They will start using it and conclude they no longer need to use anything else, other than their phones."
He went on to say that iPad Pro and Apple Pencil replaces the dedicated drawing pad for creatives, while powerful speakers and a gargantuan display make Apple's latest tablet the ultimate media consumption device.
Christine McKee
Stephen Silver
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40 Comments
If it is a PC replacement, then logically Tim is talking about the death of OS X and the end of the Intel years.
It's frustrating and annoying that Tim Cook is in the UK giving interviews, yet Apple UK is yet to reveal iPad Pro pricing in the UK two days before its launch here, assuming of course, it is launching this week alongside elsewhere in the world.
Sensors inside a smart "band" that connects to your Apple Watch. They can take time to get the bands approved (along with the associated App) without affecting Apple Watch product cycles.
People who need additional monitoring (like glucose) can upgrade their Watch with a specific band. People who want basic health/fitness monitoring can just use the Watch "as is".
[QUOTE]Is Apple set to launch its own content subscription streaming service? “We will see. The key question for us is: can we do something better, that acts as a catalyst? If we conclude that we can, then we would. But I wouldn’t do something just to do something.”[/QUOTE] I like this answer. I wish this would have been Apple's answer when asked about a streaming music service, because right now Apple Music doesn't seem better than everything else that's out there. We don't need a me-too skinny cable package from Apple.
[quote name="EricTheHalfBee" url="/t/190033/tim-cook-hints-at-new-health-product-touts-ipad-pro-as-pc-replacement-in-interview#post_2803614"]Sensors inside a smart "band" that connects to your Apple Watch. They can take time to get the bands approved (along with the associated App) without affecting Apple Watch product cycles. People who need additional monitoring (like glucose) can upgrade their Watch with a specific band. People who want basic health/fitness monitoring can just use the Watch "as is". [/quote] Yup, it was about 16 months ago I predicted here medical bands, for diabetics, etc, that could be subsidized by insurance. That keeps the cost out of the watch while allowing Apple to play in a lower volume market while still netting high margins.