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Other benefits of temperature sensor?

A

ajo

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 28, 2006
682
24
Ive been without a watch since my Series 1 screen came off a few months ago. So was holding off to see what was released.

Apart from cycle tracking (which I don't need) are there any other benefits from the temperature sensor for me? I know there is also sleep tracking, but I don't wear a watch when I sleep... unless this will make me start doing it.

Thinking of a refurb Series 7 at the moment. Unless there is something I am missing?
 
Apple doesn’t seem to have indicated there’s any other functionality built into watchOS that uses the temperature sensor for smarts bar the new feature for women.

So unless there’s any unannounced features or alerts linked to it, I guess it’s just another data point that you can view and look at history for.

If it can measure a fever coming on that would be sweet, but I’d have thought that if that was the case they’d have mentioned it in the keynote.
 
They talked about two sensors, one on the bottom for skin contact and one on the top for ambient temperature. The reason was the ability for the watch to adjust readings accordingly with outside temp. The Ultra advertises water temperature with the dive features. Seems to me, the watches will at some level provide body temp and ambient temp. Once we have them in hand it will be easier to know but right now I’m not sure exactly but it’s clear they wanted to catch a specific market with that part of the talk. Maybe its an underserved area, I would not know.
 
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I can’t see much use for the temp sensor except there was pressure for Apple to add what technology allowed. We are already against the ”glass ceiling” on technology and until it moves forward, it is all we got.
 
Get the newest one you can, if only for a fresh battery. Temp sensor sounds useful. They advertised it for a specific purpose for some women but that's just a catchy "look what this thing can do" example.
 
In my almost 44 years on this planet, I’ve never developed a fever without my body giving me a heads up that it’s incoming. Usually starts with malaise a few hours prior to. Don’t think a device that measure temperature will be any better as an early warning.

That said, I really don’t need a watch to tell me I’m about to have a fever. What I usually can’t tell though is the severity of the fever. 101 and 103 feel the same to me. Hot with chills, aches and malaise. May feel a little worse with higher temperature but need something to compare it to.

What would be nice to know is what my temperature is if I’m out and about with the Watch and no other thermometer. It seems the technology for this type of accurate granular reading is not quite there yet.

At the very least, it would be nice if this could show trends in temperature changes like the Oura Ring does, so you can see what points in the day/night you had a temperature rise or it settled. Like if I had a night sweat, did my temp go up… and what about my heart and breath rate and blood oxygen during that time? Nightmare or medical issue? The totality of the circumstances if not being able to tell the exact body temperature.
 
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8- to 10-second digital thermometers work incredibly well!

Keep one on a bedside end table and you can get an accurate reading in no time. Convenient and fast.

No need for a Watch for that! 😎

Lots cheaper, too!
 
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ajo said:
Ive been without a watch since my Series 1 screen came off a few months ago. So was holding off to see what was released.

Apart from cycle tracking (which I don't need) are there any other benefits from the temperature sensor for me? I know there is also sleep tracking, but I don't wear a watch when I sleep... unless this will make me start doing it.

Thinking of a refurb Series 7 at the moment. Unless there is something I am missing?
Click to expand...
I think it depends on which model you're looking at getting. Do you want stainless steel or cellular?

FYI the Apple refurbish store only has cellular Series 7 right now. If you don't care about that feature and aren't looking at the stainless steel models then I would just get a Series 8. The price difference is generally <$80 and it'll have better resale in the future.
 
Itinj24 said:
At the very least, it would be nice if this could show trends in temperature changes like the Oura Ring does, so you can see what points in the day/night you had a temperature rise or it settled. Like if I had a night sweat, did my temp go up… and what about my heart and breath rate and blood oxygen during that time? Nightmare or medical issue? The totality of the circumstances if not being able to tell the exact body temperature.
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That's exactly what the temperature sensor in the Series 8 does. You can see it within the sleep section of the Health App on iOS 16, under "Show More Sleep Data" > "Comparisons"

IMG_1054.PNG
 
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Itinj24 said:
Outstanding! I don’t have my new watch yet and I’m just updating the OS now. I just went by what Apple announced at the Keynote which wasn’t much.
Click to expand...

Are you planning on sleeping with the Ultra? Or getting a regular S8 too?
 
Jackbequickly said:
I can’t see much use for the temp sensor except there was pressure for Apple to add what technology allowed. We are already against the ”glass ceiling” on technology and until it moves forward, it is all we got.
Click to expand...
Fertility tracking is big. Maybe not for you, but for woman. Calling it pressure why they put it, is a baseless degradation.
 
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james2538 said:
I think it depends on which model you're looking at getting. Do you want stainless steel or cellular?

FYI the Apple refurbish store only has cellular Series 7 right now. If you don't care about that feature and aren't looking at the stainless steel models then I would just get a Series 8. The price difference is generally <$80 and it'll have better resale in the future.
Click to expand...
I am in the UK so a refurbished Series 7 is £309 vs the Series 8 for £419
 
I am curious whether this will detect hot flashes. I mean, I know when I have one, so it isn't really a useful feature, but it will be interesting to see whether this sensor finds them.
 
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Shh said:
Knowing your temperature is rising before you have a heat stroke while exercising outside would be a massive benefit to this.
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I am also curious to see if this detects when I am overheating during hot weather runs. I tend to have this happen from time to time.
 
gorkt said:
I am also curious to see if this detects when I am overheating during hot weather runs. I tend to have this happen from time to time.
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The temperature sensor only functions during sleep tracking, when the watch is set to sleep focus and a sleep schedule is setup in the Health app. Won't track temperature during the day.
 
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gorkt said:
I am curious whether this will detect hot flashes. I mean, I know when I have one, so it isn't really a useful feature, but it will be interesting to see whether this sensor finds them.
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It would be neat if it could verify my wife is having a hot flash.
 
It is inevitable that new features use the temperature sensor. They just aren’t ready yet.

I just bought an S7 refurb and saved around US$130 over a new S8. 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
Abstract said:
It is inevitable that new features use the temperature sensor. They just aren’t ready yet.

I just bought an S7 refurb and saved around US$130 over a new S8. 🤷🏻‍♂️
Click to expand...
This is probably true. Any thoughts on features?
 
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