swingerofbirch
macrumors 68040
It's interesting to see where his mindset is at because with the latest Apple Watch they started adding sensors of dubious quality and utility (the 02 monitor which from many account does not work well compared to a pulse oximeter) and have extended the existing sensors for questionable utility (handwashing detection).
I think they're up against the laws of human physiology and that advancements will probably require locations other than just the wrist—an area that is usually in movement and where the watch is also not firmly adhered. So far from my perspective there are two health sensors: the EKG and the LED reflectance. The first, the EKG, is not as good as Kardia's options (Apple Watch does not detect a-fib above pulse of 120 which a person with a-fib would often have). The second from most accounts seems to be good for the industry (for pulse, not really good at all for 02).
I could be wrong in that they might have some magical way to do more on the wrist. But the predictions of blood pressure monitoring have not come to pass.
If I were Apple, I'd do something like add snore detection with the microphone where it taps you to encourage you to turn on your side when you snore. There are medical devices that do that already and they could enter that space, but it might require FDA approval since it gets into the disease space of apnea.
I think they're up against the laws of human physiology and that advancements will probably require locations other than just the wrist—an area that is usually in movement and where the watch is also not firmly adhered. So far from my perspective there are two health sensors: the EKG and the LED reflectance. The first, the EKG, is not as good as Kardia's options (Apple Watch does not detect a-fib above pulse of 120 which a person with a-fib would often have). The second from most accounts seems to be good for the industry (for pulse, not really good at all for 02).
I could be wrong in that they might have some magical way to do more on the wrist. But the predictions of blood pressure monitoring have not come to pass.
If I were Apple, I'd do something like add snore detection with the microphone where it taps you to encourage you to turn on your side when you snore. There are medical devices that do that already and they could enter that space, but it might require FDA approval since it gets into the disease space of apnea.