Apple is looking to add blood pressure and fertility features to the Apple Watch.
The technology giant is believed to be testing out a range of new health features to its line of smart watches, including the ability to measure your blood pressure and body temperature, as well as fertility updates for those hoping to get pregnant.
Apple are primarily working on blood pressure-tracking and a thermometer to help with fertility planning, and while these are both features that exist on some other smart watches, Apple Watches don’t currently house that technology.
But according to a report from WSJ, Apple’s blood pressure feature would attempt to show users how their blood pressure was trending without the need for baseline measurements, which is not something current smart watch sensors can do.
The WSJ says 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”.
Apple are also looking into adding a temperature sensor to the Apple Watch in time for 2022, which will help give women an idea of when they might be ovulating or detect fevers.
Other advanced health features currently in the works at Apple include sleep apnoea detection, alerts when blood oxygen levels drop, atrial fibrillation monitoring for those who have a confirmed diagnosis, and blood glucose monitoring for diabetes diagnosis and management.
Apple is set to unveil its new Apple Watch Series 7 in the near future, but it’s not thought these features will be available until at least next year.
