Apple Watch Series 10 Prototype With Unique Health Sensor Revealed

[MacRumors]

The account @StellaFudge today shared photos of an alleged Apple Watch Series 10 prototype with a unique health sensor design.

The health sensor on the prototype has a smaller array of LEDs compared to actual Apple Watch Series 10 models that launched last year. There is also an extra ring of lights around the sensor's perimeter, but it is unclear what it is for.

The prototype was running an internal build of watchOS 11.1 that was never released to the public, according to @StellaFudge.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1906777369546727641

The health sensor on the back of the Apple Watch is used to measure the wearer's heart rate, as well as blood oxygen on models sold outside of the United States only due to a patent dispute. It is unclear why the sensor looks different on this prototype, but the changes likely related to Apple testing future health features for the Apple Watch.

For example, Apple has reportedly been testing a feature that could alert you to signs of high blood pressure. This feature was first rumored a few years before the Apple Watch Series 10 launched, but Apple continues to face development challenges. It is unclear if the feature will be ready in time for the Apple Watch Series 11.

Article Link: Apple Watch Series 10 Prototype With Unique Health Sensor Revealed

 

[jz0309]

well, slipped through German's spy eyes

How is Apple supposed to test new sensors if not in an AW, eventually?
Whether or not this is real though, who knows?

 

[JPack]

It's for blood pressure. Gurman talked about this in 2023. He reported later Apple faced difficulty getting accurate readings from it.

"A new sensor to detect when a person’s blood pressure is elevated. The initial system won’t show a user their exact systolic and diastolic measurements, but the company is working on a follow-up version for later that could. This will be coupled with a new blood pressure journal so a user can notate what was happening when hypertension occurred."

Apple Plans Hypertension, Sleep Apnea Detection for Next Watch

Apple Inc. is planning several new health-related features for next year’s Apple Watch and a paid health service, people familiar with their development said.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[veggiespam]

What would be nice in the future, @Joe Rossignol, is if you could also mock up a side-by-side with the release model of the device. It would save me a little time trying to google the difference in images.

 

[John_Blackthorne]

It's for blood pressure. Gurman talked about this in 2023. He reported later Apple faced difficulty getting accurate readings from it.

"A new sensor to detect when a person’s blood pressure is elevated. The initial system won’t show a user their exact systolic and diastolic measurements, but the company is working on a follow-up version for later that could. This will be coupled with a new blood pressure journal so a user can notate what was happening when hypertension occurred."

Apple Plans Hypertension, Sleep Apnea Detection for Next Watch

Apple Inc. is planning several new health-related features for next year’s Apple Watch and a paid health service, people familiar with their development said.

www.bloomberg.com

I have hypertension and take medication. It is a serious enough of a medical condition and concern I would not trust Apple Watch to measure it any way, even for fun.

 

[tennisproha]

I have hypertension and take medication. It is a serious enough of a medical condition and concern I would not trust Apple Watch to measure it any way, even for fun.

You'd be surprised how inaccurate some of the equipment labeled medical-grade actually is

 

[I7guy]

I have hypertension and take medication. It is a serious enough of a medical condition and concern I would not trust Apple Watch to measure it any way, even for fun.

Same here and I would welcome Apple Watch being able to provide some insight. Not knowing anything vs an approximation —- well to each their own.

 

[coolkid93]

hmm perhaps Blood pressure or hypertension monitoring? Apple has been testing this. Possibly wasn’t ready for Series10 when it launched.

 

[seek3r]

Same here and I would welcome Apple Watch being able to provide some insight. Not knowing anything vs an approximation —- well to each their own.

Yeah, the way I’d think of it is you wont care about false negatives as long as you maintain testing with your normal gear and it may alert you to something you’d miss otherwise (and a false positive would be irritating but not really problematic)

 

[tgwaste]

I have hypertension and take medication. It is a serious enough of a medical condition and concern I would not trust Apple Watch to measure it any way, even for fun.

But it would be extremely useful for prevention.

 

[jgdeschamps]

Just my opinion if this sensor array is indeed for blood pressure readings:
I've been living with essential HBP (unclear cause for it, take daily medication) for the last 8 years, and I wouldn't trust any wearable's readings for it. Dedicated BP wrist-worn "medical-grade" monitor devices for this purpose are awful. Many times I don't even trust my automatic digital arm BP monitor for it, and reach out for my old-school stethoscope and mercury-scale baumanometer, just to confirm.
I think it would be a very hard to sell feature to people with blood pressure conditions, unless there is some sort of medical breakthrough that really sets monitoring apart from current tech.

 

[DreadedFun]

I have hypertension and take medication. It is a serious enough of a medical condition and concern I would not trust Apple Watch to measure it any way, even for fun.

And you shouldn't rely on a Apple Watch for any medical reasons.

My Apple Watch doesn't keep me alive and I don't rely on it. However, if there's a chance that it will register my bad fall and call for help, I don't complain. Should I be caught in a situation without my phone, but I have to call for help, I would not shy away from using my cellular Apple Watch to make the call. If my watch warns me about abnormal high heart rate, I would look into it. Just like if I had hypertension, I would welcome the watch to warn me, if there should be anything out of the ordinary that would warrant a check with a full blown blood pressure machine. Just like you shouldn't rely on all the safety systems in your car, but it's nice when they are there.

Point is, that the Apple Watch is not as good as the best solutions, but it sits on you all the time and can do multiple checks, automatically, all day, and maybe warn about things before they get worse.

 

[DocMultimedia]

The more data the better. It might not be as accurate as other methods (on some things), but it's great for trends.

 

[sdz]

I have hypertension and take medication. It is a serious enough of a medical condition and concern I would not trust Apple Watch to measure it any way, even for fun.

Why not, if it has been approved by the FDA and is equal to the clinical gold standard?

 

[rafark]

I thought it was a skeuomorphic app icon

 

[mdriftmeyer]

If you follow patents you'll see Apple has a lot of new health patents that will re-enable and extend, plus add new features.

 

[jgdeschamps]

Why not, if it has been approved by the FDA and is equal to the clinical gold standard?

Cuz people with HBP could blow up head veins thinking they are within BP ranges using FDA digital equipment with "gold standards" that aren't really that golden.
I'm with John_Blackthorne on this issue.

 

[jgdeschamps]

And you shouldn't rely on a Apple Watch for any medical reasons.

My Apple Watch doesn't keep me alive and I don't rely on it. However, if there's a chance that it will register my bad fall and call for help, I don't complain. Should I be caught in a situation without my phone, but I have to call for help, I would not shy away from using my cellular Apple Watch to make the call. If my watch warns me about abnormal high heart rate, I would look into it. Just like if I had hypertension, I would welcome the watch to warn me, if there should be anything out of the ordinary that would warrant a check with a full blown blood pressure machine. Just like you shouldn't rely on all the safety systems in your car, but it's nice when they are there.

Point is, that the Apple Watch is not as good as the best solutions, but it sits on you all the time and can do multiple checks, automatically, all day, and maybe warn about things before they get worse.

Not to be antagonistic, but the problem with HBP is that you know the symptoms and don't need a watch to warn you about it. You know your BP is not ok, but you need to know exactly within which pressure range you are in and how fast is going up spacing the readings by around 5 minutes, so you either call your doctor and adjust medication intake, or take a sublingual pill and go to the ER to get controlled to avoid cerebrovascular accidents. No respectable doctor recommends wrist-worn BP monitors.

Wrist blood pressure monitors: Are they accurate?

Devices that measure blood pressure at the wrist may be an option for some people. Know how to position a wrist monitor properly.

www.mayoclinic.org

That's why I think Apple Watch shouldn't offer BP monitoring nor notifications until there's some sort of peer-reviewed breakthrough advancement for it.

 

[F4C4]

Since this appears to be coming out of the rear end, this sensor probably gives prostate measurements…

 

[svish]

Interesting to see this. Maybe the different type of sensors were for measuring blood pressure which the final version was missing. I love my Series 10. It is a great Apple watch.

 

[gstevie]

Would be great if they finally improved the sensor to allow use over tattoos. Seeing as putting an epoxy cover over the current sensor allows it to work, they must be able to do something natively.

 

[marsattacks]

It is unclear if the feature will be ready in time for the Apple Watch Series 11.

Precedent is a good guide - e.g. advertised Apple Intelligence features not ready and in a state of perpetual delay. Better delayed I suppose than more iOS/ Mac OS screwups - Photos/Mail.

 

[Mr_Ed]

Without a radical breakthrough that negates the need to restrict blood flow in order to measure BP consistently and accurately, I don’t see any wrist-top watch-like device being of any use for BP measurement any time soon. I think even when we start getting such devices, the sensor’s operating parameters affected by amount of pressure the device has to exert on the skin, skin moisture, or any parameter affected by how the user chooses to wear the watch (position, tightness of strap) will make them useless for some time after that for anyone with an actual meed to monitor BP. Approximations are not useful, especially if consistency across readings cannot be achieved due to some of the issues above.

I have hypertension and take medication. It is a serious enough of a medical condition and concern I would not trust Apple Watch to measure it any way, even for fun.

I am not a doctor but I’ve had the same doctor for almost 20 years and I would bet money that this is exactly what he would say to me if I asked him about any wristwatch device.

 

[John_Blackthorne]

Without a radical breakthrough that negates the need to restrict blood flow in order to measure BP consistently and accurately, I don’t see any wrist-top watch-like device being of any use for BP measurement any time soon. I think even when we start getting such devices, the sensor’s operating parameters affected by amount of pressure the device has to exert on the skin, skin moisture, or any parameter affected by how the user chooses to wear the watch (position, tightness of strap) will make them useless for some time after that for anyone with an actual meed to monitor BP. Approximations are not useful, especially if consistency across readings cannot be achieved due to some of the issues above.


I am not a doctor but I’ve had the same doctor for almost 20 years and I would bet money that this is exactly what he would say to me if I asked him about any wristwatch device.

100%. It's why my doctor makes me bring in my personal blood pressure monitor to appointments, because consistency of tools is important. I still see people checking their blood pressure in like those things in CVS stores and I sorta shake my head.

I appreciate Apple's push into health, but this is not a mass market, lowest common denominator thing.

 

[LexFradski]

Funny thing, I've seen similar watch10 on reddit two weeks ago:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/comments/1jeo8qs/series_10_with_2_different_backs