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The latest Apple Watch boasts a plethora of health-tracking capabilities, from measuring body temperature to monitoring blood oxygen levels, tracking sleep, and even performing electrocardiograms.
Moreover, Apple’s ecosystem extends health tracking to the iPhone, allowing users to access their medical records and share vital health information.
Apple’s journey into the health domain has not only redefined personal wellness but also pushed the boundaries of mainstream health tracking with the Apple Watch. The tech giant has harnessed technology to save lives, showcasing instances where its products detected life-threatening heart conditions or automatically summoned emergency services in the event of accidents or falls. However, there might also be a catch in getting access to all your health data in real-time, which I will discuss a bit later.
The roadmap for 2024: Health tracking on the Apple Watch
Looking ahead to 2024, Apple has an ambitious roadmap that reinforces its dedication to health and well-being. Among the notable additions to the 2024 Apple Watch is the introduction of blood pressure sensors. It’s designed to detect trends in hypertension. Rather than offering precise blood pressure measurements, this technology will prompt users to consult a healthcare professional when necessary, reports Bloomberg. While more advanced versions of the system are in development, they remain a bit further down the road.
Another groundbreaking health-tracking feature slated for the 2024 Apple Watch is sleep apnea detection. This innovation will analyze sleep and breathing patterns to estimate whether the user may have sleep apnea. It will recommend you to a visit to a physician, if it considers necessary.
Additionally, Apple is working on non-invasive blood glucose monitoring. Here a silicon photonics chip shines light beneath the skin to gauge glucose concentration. At this stage, it primarily tracks blood sugar trends and alerts users to pre-diabetes. However, it doesn’t provide precise blood sugar readings. This technology is expected to take some more years before it’s integrated into a product.
While this ‘health-tracking’ might be helpful, even life-saving in some cases, caring about it too much acts negatively, sometimes. For instance, running will naturally add some numbers to your heart rate. But seeing the number going up sometimes adds up more even if it is completely normal.