Malcolm Owen
Apple's next major sensor addition to the Apple Watch may not happen anytime soon, with rumored features such as glucose monitoring and blood pressure tracking potentially years away from launch.
The Apple Watch has steadily added new features and updated its design with each successive update. However, while there are rumors about some major inclusions on the way, a report claims the features may take a while to surface in a finished product.
Rumors over the years has put forward the idea of Apple introducing some form of glucose monitoring to the Apple Watch, with the company repeatedly said to be working on the idea. According to Sunday's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman expects glucose monitoring to be far away from becoming practical.
"I wouldn't be surprised if glucose monitoring doesn't land until later in the second half of the decade," writes Gurman.
Another feature that may have a long wait time is blood pressure monitoring. Though there has been research and patents on the concept, Gurman believes the feature "is at least two to three years away."
The most imminent feature of three discussed by Gurman is body temperature reading. Research on the feature has occurred since 2019 at the least, and it has been forecast by analysts to be included in the "Apple Watch Series 8."
According to Sunday's newsletter, Gurman pours water on hope that it will arrive in 2022. "Body temperature was on this year's roadmap, but chatter about it has slowed down recently," he writes.
The 2022 releases are thought to consist of three models, with the Series 8 accompanied by a ruggedized model, as well as an update to the Apple Watch SE.
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I read it somewhere that the error margin is too wide on glucose reading. Not ready for prime time yet.
Apple ought to buy, license or develop cgm sensor technology as used by Dexcom or Abbot, and then sell the sensor at cost to users. The sensor should work directly with an AW, but iPhone or Mac required for stats, analytics and reports. By bringing the point of entry down to cost it would be so cheap every T1 or T2 diabetic, or pre-diabetic, as well as any health conscious person could afford it, and all they would need is an AW and/or an iPhone. In fact thousands if not millions of people would probably get an AW and iPhone on their insurance. It would be a ton cheaper than the current cost of sensors for the insurers.
Blood pressure monitoring has been available on Samsung Galaxy Watches for at least a year. BP readings are calibrated monthly against an upper arm BP monitor. It works well.
I would definitely be a big fan of a body temperature sensor. But, in my opinion, that feature would probably be better suited in the AirPods Pro. While Apple irons out the issues with Glucose and Blood Pressure monitoring, I’d like to see them add a sensor for bioelectrical impedance analysis. This would allow the Apple Watch to determine hydration levels and perform body composition analysis. The Aura Strap already does this via sensors in the bottom of the watch bands. If Apple couldn’t develop their own proprietary solution, perhaps they could license or acquire the tech from Aura. This would at least offer something to keep the upgraders happy until the big 2 are ready for prime time.