The Apple Watch Series 7 will reportedly launch with the ability to monitor blood glucose, according to a new report. It represents another example of Apple looking to push the boundaries of what's possible in the small devices.
It seems like only yesterday that Apple had furnished users with the Apple Watch Series 6: with it, an ability to measure oxygen levels of your blood, on-demand, powered by a snappy dual-core processor based on its A13 Bionic chip.
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It’s long been rumored that a glucose monitoring feature will appear in one of Apple’s devices, but the difficulties in taking these measurements without actively drawing blood have likely hampered efforts to do this sooner.
According to a new report, which largely focuses on its rival's new smartwatch – Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 – the feature could be arriving in Apple’s newest wearable. It looks to use a non-invasive optical sensor, which is being tested for reliability and stability before it launches en masse. In the meantime, Samsung's Galaxy Watch 3 is worth looking at if you're after a sleek interface that eschews complexity to deliver user-friendly lifestyle features.
It's one of several new features touted for the Apple Watch Series 7, as T3 reported last month; Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, alludes to the sheer amount of innovation that Apple wants to cram into its wearables, seeing the devices as a hub for people to holistically measure their health.
The report references the mechanism of the sensor, and mentions Apple’s patent filings: patents that have been variously registered by Apple, including a 2019 filing that analyzes body odor. It’s also registered a patent for an unspecified optical instrument for absorption spectroscopy, which examines the content of blood materials.
Apple, of course, takes health seriously: T3 reported yesterday on a study that laid bare the potential interplay of magnets in some of its devices with lifesaving medical instruments, such as pacemakers. In response, Apple quickly issued new guidance on the usability of devices around these instruments, calling for vigilance when using them. If you don't need all the bells and whistles of blood monitoring, T3 has crafted a best Apple Watch guide that simplifies the process of buying a new gadget in line with your requirements.
Blood glucose measurement – otherwise known as blood sugar – is an important metric across several medical conditions. Maintaining normal levels is imperative to the management of diabetes, weight control, general well-being, and other long-term health issues.
After integrating blood oxygen sensors in its Apple Watch Series 6, the blood glucose sensor would be a logical next step should the technology be workable. The Apple Watch Series 7 has no official launch date, but it's expected to land later in 2021. We can't wait to see what other features Apple has kept up its sleeve for its lower-sleeve gizmos.
Source: MacRumors, AppleInsider
