Apple is ramping up its efforts to turn AirPods into a health device, according to a new report from Mark Gurman.
In a newsletter to subscribers today, Gurman predicts that AirPods will gradually gain additional health capabilities over the coming years.
The company currently has teams experimenting with a variety of enhancements, including temperature sensing, heart-rate monitoring and technology that tracks a slew of physiological measures. The main work right now is getting the AirPods to reliably measure a user's heart rate. Though the Apple Watch already does this, the feature could be a selling point for people who don't like wearing watches or just want a backup fitness tracker.
The heart rate monitoring feature could be ready for the next generation AirPods Pro. Although the accuracy is not quite as good as Apple Watch, it's apparently not that far off.
Interestingly, Apple is also working on a way to get cameras into AirPods which could help with AI services. The company started work on this a few years ago, but the project got shut down. Now, with the emergence of AI and Apple Intelligence, the project is back and seen as a priority. Assuming it doesn't get canceled again, Gurman sees the technology arriving in a couple years.
While these new features will likely require new sensors, Apple recently updated the current generation AirPods Pro 2 with hearing aid capabilities. To use these hearing aid features, you'll need to be on iOS 18.1 or higher. If you don't have AirPods Pro 2, they are on sale today for $189.99, down from $249.
Check out Apple's AirPods focused holiday ad here and please download the iClarified app or follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and RSS for more Apple updates!
In a newsletter to subscribers today, Gurman predicts that AirPods will gradually gain additional health capabilities over the coming years.
The company currently has teams experimenting with a variety of enhancements, including temperature sensing, heart-rate monitoring and technology that tracks a slew of physiological measures. The main work right now is getting the AirPods to reliably measure a user's heart rate. Though the Apple Watch already does this, the feature could be a selling point for people who don't like wearing watches or just want a backup fitness tracker.
The heart rate monitoring feature could be ready for the next generation AirPods Pro. Although the accuracy is not quite as good as Apple Watch, it's apparently not that far off.
Interestingly, Apple is also working on a way to get cameras into AirPods which could help with AI services. The company started work on this a few years ago, but the project got shut down. Now, with the emergence of AI and Apple Intelligence, the project is back and seen as a priority. Assuming it doesn't get canceled again, Gurman sees the technology arriving in a couple years.
While these new features will likely require new sensors, Apple recently updated the current generation AirPods Pro 2 with hearing aid capabilities. To use these hearing aid features, you'll need to be on iOS 18.1 or higher. If you don't have AirPods Pro 2, they are on sale today for $189.99, down from $249.
Check out Apple's AirPods focused holiday ad here and please download the iClarified app or follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and RSS for more Apple updates!