Apple wants to add more advanced health features to the Apple Watch, but we're skeptical they'll arrive this year.
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Richard Platt
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While a number of new health features are reportedly in the works at Apple on its new watch, the two big ones are blood pressure-tracking and a thermometer to help with fertility planning. Both features already exist on wrist-based wearables, albeit not in as sleek a package as the Apple Watch. Omron made the 1st FDA-cleared blood pressure smartwatch (2019), with an inflatable strap. Samsung also has a blood pressure feature for its smartwatches, though it’s not available in the U.S. for regulatory reasons, and requires you to calibrate using a more traditional blood pressure-measuring device. Ava is a fertility tracker that measures not only body temperature but also things like perfusion to help couples trying to conceive. Fitbit also added a body temperature sensor to its Sense smartwatch, and the Oura Ring has had one for ages. According to a WSJ report, Apple’s blood pressure feature would attempt to show users how their blood pressure was trending without the need for baseline systolic and diastolic measurements. (This is why Samsung needs calibration for its blood pressure feature.) Current smartwatch sensors can’t really do this, unless they can be improved. Apple is trying to approximate traditional blood pressure calibration devices by measuring the “speed of the wave a heartbeat sends through a person’s arteries.” and is reportedly exploring the ability to take readings without an inflatable cuff at all. It’s not groundbreaking that Apple is exploring these health features—everybody is doing it and has been for years. Aside from when it added FDA-cleared ECG sensors to the Series 4, Apple isn’t known for being the first to any particular health feature. Detailed sleep tracking, SpO2 sensors, and cardio fitness metrics have been around way before Apple added them to the Series 6 and watchOS 7. The point is Apple generally doesn’t tip its hand until it’s 100% sure what it’s got is good, or at least sufficient to meet its high standards. This would be a big deal if the company could pull it off in a design similar to the current Apple Watch.