Apple Watch Series 8 Will Let You Know if You Have a Fever: Gurman

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman said Apple will debut a new body temperature measurement feature on at least two of the new Apple Watch models it plans to unveil this year.

Gurman has previously reported that Apple is gearing up to launch three new Apple Watch models this fall: a Series 8 to succeed last year’s Series 7, a new low-end SE model, and a rugged edition aimed at extreme sports. According to the analyst, the new feature will be able to detect if the wearer has a fever.

The body-temperature feature won’t give you a specific reading—like with a forehead or wrist thermometer—but it should be able to tell if it believes you have a fever. It could then recommend talking to your doctor or using a dedicated thermometer.

Gurman expects body temperature measurement to skip the new Apple Watch SE but be available on the two higher-end models.

Apple introducing body temperature measurement on the Apple Watch this year is subject to the feature passing internal tests, he said. After all, there has been chatter of thermometer-like functionality for the Apple Watch since last year’s Series 7.

TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in May that Apple worked on body temperature monitoring for the Series 7, but ultimately ditched the feature when it failed to qualify in internal testing. Kuo also expects the feature to show up in this year’s Series 8.

This year’s Apple Watch models will, however, be stuck with essentially the same level of performance as their predecessors. Gurman said the new wearables will be powered by a new S8 chip, which offers the same processing power as the S7 chip in last year’s Series 7. What’s more, the S7 chip was basically the same as the Series 6’s S6 microprocessor.

The new higher-end Apple Watch models getting updated displays is also a possibility, Gurman added.

In other news for health-tracking features on Apple devices, Gurman advised not to expect any on the upcoming second-generation AirPods Pro.

Apple will reportedly unveil AirPods Pro 2 sometime this year. There have been longstanding rumours of the company incorporating heart rate or body temperature monitoring into them for health tracking. However, Gurman now believes the latter that won’t be the case.

As part of his newsletter, Gurman also touched upon the fact Apple’s focus on developing and maturing Mac chips has taken resources away from the development of other products, including chips for the iPhone and Apple Watch.

That’s one possible reason why Apple is reusing chip designs for the Apple Watch. However, inflationary pressure on raw materials and logistics, along with a global slowdown in production across industries likely played a part as well.

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