Blood pressure, glucose, and temperature measurements on Apple Watch: details on new features and watchOS 9

Apple will only launch the Apple Watch with blood pressure monitoring in 2024, according to an update from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The company has faced a number of challenges that will prevent the technology from being ready until 2024.

The main problem concerns the accuracy of measurements if the user has high blood pressure. Moreover, eventually the release of watches with such a function may be postponed to 2025. Apple reportedly wants to go its own way with blood pressure readings. The Apple Watch will not give specific systolic and diastolic readings, instead simply alerting Apple Watch wearers that they may have hypertension.

Apple also has teams working on adding non-invasive blood sugar monitoring to its wearables, but the feature is said to be “a few years away” and “a target release year has yet to be set.” In the meantime, Apple wants to improve support for third-party blood glucose meters.

Prior to the launch of the blood pressure monitoring tool, the Health app for iPhone will receive an update that will add advanced sleep tracking, medication management, and new female cycle monitoring features.

Blood pressure, glucose, and temperature measurements on Apple Watch: details on new features and watchOS 9

The body temperature sensor may appear in the Apple Watch this year. Initially, this feature can only be used to help with pregnancy planning, and can eventually determine if the user has an above-normal body temperature, but, as with blood pressure, is unlikely to show the actual value.

The atrial fibrillation detection function will also be improved, it will be able to count how often a person is in atrial fibrillation during a certain period. This feature will arrive in watchOS 9 this fall.

Also new in watchOS 9 will be a low power mode that allows smartwatches to run a limited set of apps and features while using less battery power. Many of the built-in watch faces will also be updated, with new workout types and additional running metrics added to the Workout app.

Source: ixbt

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