- Apple Watch is getting two major upgrades in the future
- The company is tipped to add blood pressure and glucose monitoring
- It comes as Apple fights for growth and a product that can emulate the success of iPhone
Yet another report claims that Apple is working on adding two massive health upgrades to its future best Apple Watch models, as the company fights to find another product to spur growth in the wake of the iPhone's success.
We've been hearing rumblings for years that Apple plans to add blood glucose and blood pressure monitoring to its Apple Watch, however, neither has debuted in the company's popular wearable line.
Now, the world's foremost Apple insider has reiterated with certainty the company's plans to add both upgrades to future models.
Writing in his Power On newsletter this week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claims that "Apple Watches will get blood pressure and glucose monitoring."
The next big thing in Apple Watch
Gurman's latest comments follow reports that Apple has warned investors that it may never find a product as profitable as the iPhone. While the sensation around the revelation has been overblown (the reports are based on a boilerplate risk factor included in every annual report), it has prompted discussion about how Apple can grow in the future.
Gurman says "There may never be another Apple product on the level of the iPhone," and as such Apple is focused on "gradual improvements to its existing products," including the aforementioned Apple Watch upgrades.
So where are these upgrades and when might they debut? Gurman notes his own previous reports on both upgrades indicate that Apple has made "major" progress in the creation of non-invasive blood glucose tracking technology for Apple Watch back in 2023, however, he simply noted that "the company now believes it could eventually bring glucose monitoring to market." More recently, he reported that Apple was secretly testing a blood glucose app, noting that its blood glucose test was "still years away."
As for blood pressure, this development seems a lot closer. Some of the best Android smartwatches, notably the Galaxy Watch 7, offer blood pressure tracking, as does the Huawei Watch D2. In November 2023, Gurman reported the Apple Watch for 2024 would feature "A new sensor to detect when a person’s blood pressure is elevated," a feature sadly absent from the Apple Watch Series 10. According to Gurman, the tech ran into problems during testing and was delayed by Apple. As such, it seems reasonable to hope it could debut on Apple Watch next year.
The holy grail, of course, would be the blood glucose monitoring. A much more complicated technical feat to pull off with LEDs, whichever smartwatch maker can bring this to market first could dominate the sector for years to come. No doubt Apple will be hoping to be the first to the punch.
