Angela Lang / CNET
The next Apple Watch (probably a Series 6) is still months away from making his big debut alongside the rumors iPhone 12, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max in the fall, but there are many rumors and some hidden clues in the WatchOS 7 latest update to unpack in the meantime. We’ve compiled a roundup of compelling and compelling new features for the Apple Watch Series 6 below.
Design: a round Apple Watch, but not this year
This year’s Apple Watch most likely looks a lot like its predecessors: a square body with rounded edges and an OLED screen that curves to the sides. As in previous years, Apple could introduce some minor updates, such as increasing the size of the screen (to show the new watch faces that come with WatchOS 7), different materials for the frame and some more watch band options, but so far there is not much evidence of a radical redesign for the Apple Watch … Yet.
Rumors of a circular. see the face on Apple Watch They’ve been around for a few years, and Apple has even issued a couple of Apple Watch patents that show what a round screen might look like. But the existence of a patent does not guarantee that Apple will use it in a product, and such a large change would require Apple to modify the watch’s hardware and software, so it could take a few more years to become a reality.
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Apple Watch Series 6: what to expect
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Pulse oximeter to measure oxygen levels in the blood.
Health has been a key growth category for Apple Watch since its inception, most recently adding native sleep tracking, mobility metrics, and hearing health in WatchOS 7, and we expect the trend to continue. The big health feature for Series 6 this year could be SpO2 tracking or the ability to control blood oxygen saturation.
According to 9to5Mac, code snippets from iOS 14 suggest that the upcoming Apple Watch will not only be able to detect blood oxygen levels, but also send an alert if it detects levels below what is considered a “healthy” threshold, similar to what the watch already does with high and low heart rate alerts. Blood oxygen levels are generally measured using a pulse oximeter at the tip of your finger, and to do this on your wrist, Apple most likely needs to add new hardware to the watch, making it unique to the 6 Series.
This would be a good time, because some doctors recommend pulse oximeter devices to monitor COVID-19 symptomsand people have started buy pulse oximeters during the coronavirus pandemic.
More robust sleep tracking
The Apple Watch (Series 3 and higher) will finally get Native sleep tracking with WatchOS update 7 in the fall, but Series 6 could further improve sleep tracking by improving battery life and blood oxygen levels at night.
Unlike Apple Watch competitors and sleep apps that offer a breakdown of quality and stages of sleep, the Apple Watch focuses primarily on time spent asleep. If Series 6 is monitoring SpO2, it can also observe estimated oxygen variations at night and help users detect sleep-related conditions such as sleep apnea.
Blood pressure without the cuff.
A recent Apple patent discovered by Apple Insider suggests that the company may also add blood pressure monitoring to future Apple Watch models. According to the patent, the Watch would use a combination of new sensors and software to measure blood pressure without relying on a traditional cuff.
The existence of a patent, while promising, does not guarantee that the feature will become a reality. Even if it does, the recent date of the presentation suggests it wouldn’t be ready to launch in Series 6 this year.
A kid-friendly Apple Watch
The leaked code in iOS 14 also reportedly references new parenting tools. Instead of giving their kids an iPhone, parents who want to stay connected to their kids could set up a second Apple Watch (completely separate from theirs) using their iPhone and Apple ID as a host. This would also give parents the last word on what type of content their children can access on the watch, such as emergency contacts and music.
With a feature called SchoolTime, parents could even determine which apps can be used at what times to limit classroom distractions.
This would also mean tailoring some of the health characteristics for younger users. According to 9to5Mac, the ring system (used to track activity) would be based on different metrics. The red motion ring, for example, would record active minutes instead of active calories as it does for adults. The Watch will also incentivize kids to keep moving by offering virtual rewards when they participate in sports or outdoor activities.
Tracking panic attacks and stress
The Apple Watch Series 6 will also reportedly come with various mental health monitoring features, including the ability to detect when the user is about to experience a panic attack (Another timely feature, if resolved, during the global pandemic). This rumor was also mentioned in the April 30 leak, referring to “Detection of mental health abnormalities.”
