The next-gen Apple Watch can finally add body temperature monitoring. Photo: Victoria Song/Gizmodo
One of the most nerve-wracking parts of trying to conceive or figuring out if you’re sick is tracking your temperature. The next-gen Apple Watch could help with this tedious, repetitive, and laborious task.
According to a mix of rumors and leaked industry analysts, Apple has been hard at work tweaking the algorithms for its next-generation smartwatches specifically to handle body temperature monitoring.The tip comes from trusted industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who tweeted If the algorithm meets the requirements, the feature could become standard on Apple’s next-generation wearable, the Apple Watch Series 8. This follows last year’s Bloomberg report that Apple “aims to put a body temperature sensor” on the display for the Series 7 and is more likely to appear in this year’s model.
Body temperature monitoring, in particular, has been a complication for wearable device makers to address. “The challenge of implementing accurate body temperature measurement is that skin temperature changes rapidly depending on the external environment,” Guo tweeted. That’s why Apple and its main Android rival, Samsung, still don’t have the capability built into their respective smartwatches.
It may sound like a niche feature, but temperature monitoring has long been considered one of the traditional ways to track fertility, and couples wanting children certainly want to make it easier. This is because one way to check for ovulation is to refer to incremental changes in temperature. But manually recording them while dealing with all the other work related to having a baby can add to your emotional load, not to mention giving up on consistent tracking. Why not let your smartwatch passively manage all of this in the background?
Body temperature tracking is also helpful in diagnosing diseases, and most of our readers are probably already very familiar with it over the past few years.
Other wearable companies have experimented with devices to help track fertility. But nothing beats a mainstream smartwatch, especially one that (to be fair) you can buy as part of Apple’s (walled garden) ecosystem. While other wearables can work with the iPhone—for example, the Oura Ring, which also offers body temperature monitoring—it’s a lot easier to boot up for a device that does it all.
The Apple Watch SE, which claims to be “feature-heavy” and “lightly priced,” is also considering a possible update. The Apple Watch SE 2 could join the Series 8 in a big way at Apple’s anticipated event this fall. Bloomberg reported last year that Apple was considering an Apple Watch aimed at its rugged users, sparking initial speculation. The website says the Apple Watch SE 2’s case could be tougher and more weather-resistant.
If Apple makes an announcement later this year, we’ll know what it has in stores. The good news is that it sounds like more body monitoring is coming to smartwatches soon, which means more aggregation of valuable health data. If Google finally launches its Pixel Watch, this year will be the year when wearables get interesting again.