Apple Watch Series 6 Rumors: Blood Oxygen Tracking, Performance Improvements, Faster WiFi and More

[azentropy]

I really don't care much about new features. They need to spend more time on making the features they have work better. Siri is still super frustrating for me and I'm on my 4th AW (Series 0, 1, 4 and 5). Hey Siri, start outdo... (I'm Listening). Hey Siri, start outdoor walk (nothing). Hey Siri, start outdoor walk (Sorry, can't do that right now). Hey Siri, start outdoor walk (hmmm, checking with app)...

Seriously it is like talking to a toddler and works for me maybe 60% of the time. I've tried not pausing, longer pausing, lift to speak (which was a disaster with it going off too often when I didn't want it to). Anyway - rant over for now.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I agree. And that’s something I worry about. That’s why I pointed out it’s a “relatively useless” feature, albeit a nice one to have

However, given Apple is having some sleep tracking function, I can see practical use for detecting sleep apnea that is undiagnosed. That is probably the limits of genuinely useful function though, for people who are otherwise healthy.

If you have a chronic illness with some sort of condition as I mentioned in a previous post, then the discussion changes and it will have practical benefit for you.

What if a family member has aFib and Asthmatic COPD? Would there be any genuine benefit for said person wearing an Apple Watch over checking pulse ox using the standard finger device? I have thought about getting my older mother a watch but she is tech ignorant. Not sure the medial benefit would outweigh the mental frustration.

*Understand you are giving general information and not diagnosing any person directly or otherwise, should you respond

 

[iGeneo]

I had the original (Series 0?) Then the 3 and now the 4. My 3 was SS, thought I’d cheap out and get the aluminum 4. I’ll go back to the SS. Rather not see the little screen scratches

 

[nordique]

What if a family member has aFib and Asthmatic COPD? Would there be any genuine benefit for said person wearing an Apple Watch over checking pulse ox using the standard finger device? I have thought about getting my older mother a watch but she is tech ignorant. Not sure the medial benefit would outweigh the mental frustration.

COPD is one of the few illnesses where oxygen saturation monitoring is useful, especially if they’re on oxygen therapy.

It could also be useful if there’s a serious risk of lung clots due to Afib (I.e they don’t or cannot take medications that help prevent their formation), known as pulmonary emboli, but that is something you’d experience symptoms for and be dialling 9-1-1 regardless, not checking your watch

Emboli aside, Apple Watch currently can detect arrhythmias, as something such as Afib can be particularly distasteful. I think the heart rate monitor is already useful for that

Then there’s the tech ignorance; is she interested in learning how to use the Apple Watch? If not, then there’s less practical use for her

This is in the context of my medical opinion, not legal medical advice, of course - and I would encourage her to ask her doctor if she’d see any benefit from it, if so then she may be more inclined to learn how to use the technology for her health benefit

 

[locrumo]

Let's worry about our blood oxygen too while we are eating fastfood. Cholesterol check via sensors when? lol. Apple Watch! "What a health"

 

[Apple_Robert]

COPD is one of the few illnesses where oxygen saturation monitoring is useful, especially if they’re on oxygen therapy.

It could also be useful if there’s a serious risk of lung clots due to Afib (I.e they don’t or cannot take medications that help prevent their formation), known as pulmonary emboli, but that is something you’d experience symptoms for and be dialling 9-1-1 regardless, not checking your watch

Emboli aside, Apple Watch currently can detect arrhythmias, as something such as Afib can be particularly distasteful. I think the heart rate monitor is already useful for that

Then there’s the tech ignorance; is she interested in learning how to use the Apple Watch? If not, then there’s less practical use for her

This is in the context of my medical opinion, not legal medical advice, of course - and I would encourage her to ask her doctor if she’d see any benefit from it, if so then she may be more inclined to learn how to use the technology for her health benefit

She “uses” and I use that term loosely an iPhone that she is scared of technology wise. She is on Coumadin and uses oxygen support while sleeping, along with her oral meds. An Apple Watch may be too overwhelming for her to have, now that I think about it. I will broach the subject with my dad the next time I speak with him.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

 

[maconservative]

Personally looking for some sort of solar charging capability.

 

[cmaier]

I’d say the hand washing and breathing features have more practical and functional use than the oxygen sat.
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MD.

I already know how to breath. Been doing it since birth

 

[ripsaw650]

My S4 is still going strong... I don't need to upgrade, but I'd like to go back to SS.

 

[xpxp2002]

Could we finally be getting dual-band Wi-Fi?

Apple Watch is the only device left keeping me from shutting down the 2.4 GHz band for my trusted devices SSID. I’d love to be able to shut that off and reclaim that airtime.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Could we finally be getting dual-band Wi-Fi?

Apple Watch is the only device left keeping me from shutting down the 2.4 GHz band for my trusted devices SSID. I’d love to be able to shut that off and reclaim that airtime.

5GHZ support would definitely be welcomed.

 

[nitramluap]

I think they will sell SpO2 monitoring two ways:
- help detection of sleep apnoea (with snoring detection & the new sleep app)
- for mountain climbing & high altitude sports

 

[fernelius]

To gauge performance then you would be looking at more like vo2 max which could actually be estimated using the heart rate ratio without any need of pulse oximetry;
VO2 max ~ hr max/hr rest x 15.3 mls/kg/min
There are also other ways of estimating VO2 max.

Thanks, Bernoulli, for sharing from your expertise! For anyone who hasn't noticed, Apple does try to estimate VO2 max. You can find this in the iPhone Activity App on the "Trends" tab. Scroll down toward the bottom to find it. It does require data from walking or running workouts, however.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I would be happy with temperature scan, better battery and LTE/Wifi connection, and sapphire glass on the al-you-min-ee-um model, as I would consider purchasing the lower cost watch.

 

[pelegri]

Can not believe that my Apple Watch version 1 is still running from the original launch of the watches. I think it is time to upgrade

Series 0, right? Same here, though the display is very very faint. But Apple Pay works

 

[nitramluap]

O2 saturation would come in handy to roughly gauge fitness and lung performance over extended exercising. It would be a nice, good-to-know, feature.

If you don't have any lung disease, pulse oximetry will tell you very little about 'lung performance over extended exercising'. Your SpO2 should be normal the whole time unless there is something very, very wrong with you.

It *will* be useful for sleep apnoea detection (combined with the new sleep feature & sound detection ie. snoring) as well as high altitude activities (mountain climbing, running, aviation, etc) which is how I think Apple will sell it.

But it is absolutely not going to provide anything useful for normal people (exercising or not) at sea level.

Disclosure: I'm an Anaesthesiologist

 

[jettredmont]

Again, it doesn’t tell you anything significant

By the time you have a significantly changed A-a gradient or VQ mismatch from a viral related exacerbation, you’ll already be in the hospital with O2 monitors

The lungs work a little differently with pathology than the heart does especially with serious illnesses. With the heart there is a lot more “silent” pathophysiolgy. With the lungs, not so much.

You can bet Apple’s advertising will let people think they need it though especially during a pandemic lol. Non medical people don’t quite understand how oxygen saturation tells pathology and how, more or less, useless it is outside of a hospital.

Would it help in diagnosing sleep apnea? That's the only thing I can think of where it seems like your O2 might drop without you consciously feeling it (because you're unconscious). I know the diagnostic tools for sleep apnea (overnight monitors) include a pulse-ox sensor.

 

[nitramluap]

Again, it doesn’t tell you anything significant

By the time you have a significantly changed A-a gradient or VQ mismatch from a viral related exacerbation, you’ll already be in the hospital with O2 monitors

The lungs work a little differently with pathology than the heart does especially with serious illnesses. With the heart there is a lot more “silent” pathophysiolgy. With the lungs, not so much.

You can bet Apple’s advertising will let people think they need it though especially during a pandemic lol. Non medical people don’t quite understand how oxygen saturation tells pathology and how, more or less, useless it is outside of a hospital.

I agree with you on most of these points (Anaesthesiologist here...) but I think Apple will sell it two ways:
1) As a way to detect sleep apnoea (combined with the sleep function and snoring detection (I reckon this will be announced too)) and this is certainly a worthy thing to detect, and
2) For high altitude activities (aviation, mountain climbing/running, skiing, etc.).

But for healthy people at normal altitudes, pulse oximetry will be normal (ie. >95%) pretty much all the time and will offer no useful information.

 

[nitramluap]

Would it help in diagnosing sleep apnea? That's the only thing I can think of where it seems like your O2 might drop without you consciously feeling it (because you're unconscious). I know the diagnostic tools for sleep apnea (overnight monitors) include a pulse-ox sensor.

Yes, I think this is 100% Apple's angle when they market it. Combined with the 'Sleep' app measuring movement and a sound detector to detect 'snoring', I think they might be onto something.

For everything else other than high altitude stuff, it's going to offer little useful information.

 

[Seanm87]

I don’t get the excitement with the Apple Watch. It feels like apples most gimmicky product with health features that are useful to 1% of the populations. I have one and it’s useful as a notification band and fitness tracker, and to play music through the AirPods etc. For that it’s great.
The rest of it though feels like they’re reaching a bit.

 

[dwhittington]

Still hoping it will get thinner eventually. But not expecting it this year.

I feel like my watch is thinking the same about me.

edited for clarity.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I agree with you on most of these points (Anaesthesiologist here...) but I think Apple will sell it two ways:
1) As a way to detect sleep apnoea (combined with the sleep function and snoring detection (I reckon this will be announced too)) and this is certainly a worthy thing to detect, and
2) For high altitude activities (aviation, mountain climbing/running, skiing, etc.).

But for healthy people at normal altitudes, pulse oximetry will be normal (ie. >95%) pretty much all the time and will offer no useful information.

Do you think the series 6 will offer a more detailed sleep app over what we have right now with the beta release?

 

[nitramluap]

I don’t get the excitement with the Apple Watch. It feels like apples most gimmicky product with health features that are useful to 1% of the populations. I have one and it’s useful as a notification band and fitness tracker, and to play music through the AirPods etc. For that it’s great. I’d rather they concentrate on making the core features great first.

That's the whole point... if you're healthy you won't be in that '1% of the population' that DOES find some benefit from their health features. I think Apple is being very sensible & cautious about how they market it all and they're doing a good job.

My money is on sleep apnoea detection as their next health angle. It has significant morbidity & mortality and often goes undiagnosed in people for many years.

 

[nitramluap]

Do you think the series 6 will offer a more detailed sleep app over what we have right now with the beta release?

I don't think so, other than better battery life & lower power consumption during sleep mode.

I think Apple is being very sensible about their sleep app to be honest. There is not a sleep app or device out there in the consumer world that truly measures quality or depth of sleep (despite all the pretty graphs & claims to the contrary) - it's just not possible to determine that without a full blown EEG on your head.

So I think Apple will stick to movement of the watch (but they will add snoring detection I think) as a crude measure of whether you're likely to be sleeping or not (ie. restless). I think that's more than enough and all you can really tell from 'movement' anyway.

I actually like their sleep app & the data presentation in the Health App on the iPhone. It's more about good sleep hygiene & routines rather than making guesses about the 'quality' of sleep.

 

[alexandr]

Wrist based (or cuffless) blood pressure monitors are too inaccurate to be dependable. If Apple is working on one, it's probably at least 2 years or out.

Apple Watch 7 is rumored to be the next major update. It might bring more significant improvements such as microLED (about 50% more energy efficient than OLED and no burn in), blood glucose sensor, and solid state buttons. But some may be pushed to Apple Watch 8.

that's too bad. i still haven't jumped on the apple watch bandwagon, but since i've been considering it since all the wfh that's happening - i've been hiking a lot more