Apple Looking to Develop its Own Custom Chips for Health Data Processing

According to a new report from CNBC, Apple is working on a dedicated chip that would help process biometric and health data for its devices.

The report sites new job postings that indicate Apple will likely go one step further with regards to health data and integrate custom chips that would solely be responsible for processing health metrics like heart rate. This would allow the company to improve performance, accuracy, and battery efficiency on devices like the Apple Watch. The job posting reads:

“We are looking for sensor ASIC architects to help develop ASICs for new sensors and sensing systems for future Apple products. We have openings for analog as well as digital ASIC architects. Apple is looking for engineers to help develop health, wellness, and fitness sensors.”

We still don’t know if this means that Apple is just looking to integrate better tracking or monitoring features into its existing chipset or if the company is actually looking to develop a custom chipset for these purposes. The timing of these job postings suggests that we will not see these efforts manifest themselves within consumer products for a few years.