According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, despite the development problems encountered in blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring, Apple still plans to add a new body temperature monitoring function for the Apple Watch this year, in addition, there are several new features in the health app of the iPhone.
Apple has reportedly been developing an updated sensor for the Apple Watch that will be able to determine if a user has high blood pressure, but accuracy has been an issue during development and testing.
As a result, the company has been experimenting with the technology with employees, at least the Apple Watch being able to tell users if they might have high blood pressure, rather than providing specific systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings.
Apple has allegedly been working on this feature for at least four years, but it won’t be ready until 2024 at the earliest, and it may continue to be rolled over to 2025.
Apple is still working on noninvasive blood glucose monitoring, but the feature is believed to still be a few years away, and the company has yet to determine the release date. Meanwhile, Apple has talked about improving support for third-party blood glucose meters on the Apple Watch and iPhone’s health apps.
In the near term, Apple is working to bring new women’s health, sleep, fitness, and medication management capabilities to the iPhone’s health app.
The company still plans to add a temperature sensor to the Apple Watch this year, a feature originally designed to help with birth planning. Future Apple Watch models can determine if a user’s body temperature is above normal, but it is unlikely to show accurate measurements.
As part of watchOS 9, Apple is planning to improve its existing room detection features.