Apple Watch blood pressure monitor may not land until 2025

Apple is holding off on adding a blood pressure monitor to the Apple Watch until 2024 ‘at the earliest’ according to a well connected Apple reporter.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has word from his sources that development of the technology has ‘hit some snags’ and won’t arrive within the next couple of hardware releases.

The long predicted feature has been tipped several times in recent years, but it sounds like it’s a while away from reality yet. The report says Apple’s internal teams have found it difficult to create an accurate blood pressure monitor, and further development means it could be saved until 2025’s Apple Watch release.

When the feature does arrive, it may not give Apple Watch wearers that traditional systolic and diastolic readings, but could warn users they have hypertension instead. From that point Apple Watch owners would be advised to visit the doctor for a proper blood pressure reading and treatment plan.

The Bloomberg report also says Apple is years away from adding blood sugar monitoring to its Apple Watch, but a new health-tracking sensor may arrive within the Apple Watch 8.

The body temperature sensor, which is already a standard feature on some wearables like the Whoop Strap, may well be ready for this year’s refresh. The idea would be to help users with fertility tracking, initially, the sources say. Again, Bloomberg says, the plan may not be to show users an actual reading, but to indicate when the temperature is higher than usual.

Bloomberg also touches on some expected software updates planned for watchOS 9, which could include an expended version of the AFib detection, along with a new low-power mode, new workout types and an updated Health app for the iPhone.

“Apple is also looking to expand its atrial fibrillation detection feature on its watch to calculate what is known as “burden,” or how often a person is in a state of atrial fibrillation across a certain period. That feature could appear in watchOS 9, the next software update that will debut in June and ship with the next watches in the fall.”
Mark Gurman, Bloomberg

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