The rumor: Apple is planning to add some minor new health features to Apple Watch within the next few years, according to Wall Street Journal (80% accurate, source).
- According to the report, Apple is planning a thermometer sensor for as soon as next year on the Apple Watch Series 8…but it won’t initially be for determining your temperature: rather, it will be to help with fertility planning for women
- Blood pressure monitoring is also coming later down the road…using an innovative new method where the speed of the wave of your heartbeat will be measured as it travels through your arteries: this will show you a trend of your blood pressure, but not allow you to see a medical readout of systolic and diastolic numbers
Our take: More evidence that no major new health features are coming to Apple Watch this year. And the features coming over the next few years don’t sound very useful either. A temperature sensor only helpful for fertility tracking at launch, and a blood pressure reader that doesn’t provide your actual blood pressure on-demand? These sound mediocre at best, and absolutely less impactful and meaningful than they could be.
