It’s arguably the most capable wearable on the market, but the Apple Watch is expected to pick up a host of new features in its next avatar.
Rumors floating around the Internet over the past few months point to quite a few upgrades, to which some have been ostensibly confirmed in a Twitter exchange between Jon Prosser of Frontpage Tech and Nikias Molina of AppKernel.
Meanwhile, Max Weinback of XDA-developers has also revealed hints about what to expect. So, without any further ado, here’s all that what we know about the Apple Watch Series 6 so far:
The Apple Watch Series 6 might get sleep tracking
Current Apple Watch models don’t have a sleep tracking app built-into Apple’s Health app, but can leverage third party apps that get the job done. However, with Apple’s ability to integrate features at a lower level, a new native sleep-tracking feature should provide better accuracy while conserving battery life.
A pulse oximeter should really ramp up the Apple Watch’s utility as a healthcare gadget
Pulse oximeters are used to track blood oxygenation levels and can be very useful for athletes and serious fitness nuts. There’s now a new use for these: One of the symptoms of a worsening COVID-19 infection is a fall in blood oxygen.
Although, we’d like to see Apple following suit by launching blood pressure monitoring, to which Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active2 has had a head start in Korea.
Metal Health Abnormalities Detection could warn of impending panic attacks
According to Max Weinbach and EverythingApplePro, Apple is also working on a system that will use the Apple Watch’s sensor suite to monitor anxiety levels and anticipate panic attacks.
Better battery life is always welcome
A new chip – the S6 – comes along with the new watch, and it’s pretty much expected that the use of new generation silicon would also make for better battery life.
It’ll look the same as older models
Earlier this year, a new Apple patent for a round wearable gave rise to rumours the upcoming Apple Watch could be in for a radical redesign. However, it now seems Apple’s more focused on its innards and will probably stick to the older case design.
Meanwhile, even if you can’t splurge on a new smartwatch at this time, you’ll be happy to know even the ‘older’ models are quite capable: An article in the European Heart Journal credits a Series 5 watch for saving the life on an 80-year-old woman by catching signs of heart disease that had been missed by a hospital ECG.