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JulianL

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 2, 2010
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London, UK
I'm wondering if Apple might add blood pressure monitoring in some subsequent release either of the hardware (S7?) or just possibly the software although my guess is that if it was possible they would hold it back to use as an extra s7 feature to encourage upgrades.

8 years ago (I think) I think I signed up via a Kickstarter project for a device called the "Scanadu Scout" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanadu) that wasn't that dissimilar to the health sensors in an Apple Watch S6. You held it up to your forehead and rested a finger on a button on the top of the device (resting the finger was similar to resting the finger on the AW crown for an ECG, both designed to form a single-lead ECG pathway through the body). What was interesting though was that the Scanadu not only did ECG, heart rate and I think blood-ox but it also gave a systolic/diastolic blood pressure reading all using light sensors in the part that you pressed against your forehead which makes me think that in theory the S6 might have the sensors, or if not exactly the right ones in the s6 then close enough for the S7 to evolve the sensors to a point where BP could be taken as well.

I occasionally compared the Scanadu BP reading with one taken via inflatable cuff and it seemed pretty accurate although ultimately Scanadu failed to get FDA approval (one of the main reasons for putting out the kickstarter version) so they ended up deliberately bricking all of the devices that they had sent out to kickstarter supporters and earned the nickname "Scamadu" for a while because those supporters weren't particularly happy. Maybe it ended up that I was just lucky that my readings seemed to be quite accurate and across a bigger test sample it was nowhere near accurate enough for the FDA to approve it but that was way back in 2012 so maybe the technique of reading blood pressure from a single cluster of skin contact sensors has evolved and it could find its way onto Apple's feature list at some point? The other issue would be whether the Scanadu needed to be on the forehead because of some anatomical property there such as thinner skin, veins and/or arteries closer to the surface, less sub-cut fat and/or other stuff and the wrist would not be a suitable monitoring site.

Does anyone here know anything about this technology and how it might (or might not) have evolved since the Scanadu Scout? Regular BP monitoring would be another very nice feature to have especially in these troubling times when hypertension is a major co-morbidity factor (the biggest in one quite big early multi-hospital NYC study) for C19.
 
There were rumors of a Samsung watch that could measure blood pressure so the technology is coming along, but from what I have seen - it's still too unreliable. The closest thing I know of is the Omron HeartGuide - but it's very very cumbersome to use. A similar approach is the YHE Doctor Watch - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/yhe-bp-doctor-wearable-blood-pressure-smartwatch#/

Apple would only include it if the reliability was very good (e.g., it took years of R&D for the SpO2 sensors), especially for health applications. Also, it would likely need to be fully integrated (i.e., no inflating watch strap).

My guess would be it's on the roadmap for Series 10 - Series 12, and it would likely take 2-3 years (like ECG) to get approvals around the world. There is a chance that they also consider a "Smart Connector" approach, where a 3rd party band could act as an inflatable cuff and take on the burden of health approvals. Again, a Series 10+ feature, primarily due to the battery draw and need for launch partners.

This is my expectation for the line-up next year - no new hardware health features:

Series 3: Phased Out

SE: Remains as is, with new colours (matching the iPhone 13) and straps. In addition, we will see a slight price reduction to bring it closer to where the Series 3 is now.

Series 7:
- New case design, similar to what we see on the iPad and new iPhones (less rounded corners)
- New colors, matching the iPhone Pro 13 line-up
- Larger screen size with microLED
- S7 CPU, based on the A14 chipset
- 15-25% increased battery life (mostly due to improved efficiency, only slight improvement in battery size), depending on how things go, they might talk about “All-Day Battery Life”
-
Slight chance of greater claims on being waterproof (right now it is just “water resistant”)
 
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- Slight chance of greater claims on being waterproof (right now it is just “water resistant”)

IMHO you'll never see a claim of "water proof" with the watch since that implies the impossibility of water damage.

Now would Apple increase the water resistance beyond the current 50 meters depth? I'm going to guess that they're losing relatively few sales due to that specification being insufficient. :)
 
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IMHO you'll never see a claim of "water proof" with the watch since that implies the impossibility of water damage.

Now would Apple increase the water resistance beyond the current 50 meters depth? I'm going to guess that they're losing relatively few sales due to that specification being insufficient. :)

Haha, I was speaking more generally - more likely they will go from what they say now, “Water resistant”, to something aligned with what is typical in the industry like “IP68 and 5 ATM”. Hard to say what it would be specifically... depends how other watches are marketing themselves next year.

Like most of the changes (e.g., SpO2), for the vast majority of people it won’t matter - but for a certain segment that is comparing against watches like Garmin, this can be important. For the rest of us, it gives us piece of mind :)
 
Haha, I was speaking more generally - more likely they will go from what they say now, “Water resistant”, to something aligned with what is typical in the industry like “IP68 and 5 ATM”. Hard to say what it would be specifically... depends how other watches are marketing themselves next year.

Like most of the changes (e.g., SpO2), for the vast majority of people it won’t matter - but for a certain segment that is comparing against watches like Garmin, this can be important. For the rest of us, it gives us piece of mind :)

Understood. At present the specs say:

Apple Watch Series 6 have a water resistance rating of 50 meters under ISO standard 22810:2010. This means that they may be used for shallow-water activities like swimming in a pool or ocean. However, they should not be used for scuba diving, waterskiing, or other activities involving high-velocity water or submersion below shallow depth.

They may strive to increase them. We shall see.

 
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