In the newest edition of the Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman shared several updates regarding Apple’s health feature advancements for AirPods. While previous reports have surfaced, this information offers more detailed insights.
As stated in the newsletter, Apple is developing an array of health features, such as a heart-rate monitor, a temperature sensor, and additional sensors to track various physiological metrics. Currently, the primary focus is on refining the heart rate sensor.
During internal testing, Apple has observed improved heart-rate accuracy from the Apple Watch, and Gurman indicates that AirPods are not far behind. Details on other health features remain scarce, and while there’s no definitive timeline, Gurman suggests we can expect to see these advancements rolled out “over the coming years.”
Additionally, Apple is revisiting the idea of integrating cameras into AirPods. Although this initiative was previously shelved, it has regained traction due to Apple’s newfound interest in products suitable for the AI era. Gurman notes that this is a top priority for both AI and AirPods teams, albeit it’s still a few years from fruition:
In fact, it’s now regarded as a priority project for the teams within Apple’s AI and AirPods hardware development sectors. That said, I wouldn’t anticipate the technology to reach the market for a couple more years—provided it doesn’t face cancellation again.
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