We don’t have much on this year’s hardware update for the Apple Watch so far. A Digitimes report today suggests that Apple has entered into a manufacturing agreement with vendor ASE Technology, while preparing production lines for the Apple Watch Series 6.
In particular, the report states that the watch will include a blood oxygen sensor for the first time. 9to5Mac previously found evidence of upcoming blood oxygen monitoring support in an early version of watchOS 7.
Based on the code’s findings, it was unclear if the feature could be unlocked for existing Watch models. It has been speculated for years that optical heart rate sensors are also capable of measuring the amount of oxygen in the blood, at least roughly.
When Apple announced watchOS 7 last month without talking about blood oxygen, it seemed like it was expecting dedicated hardware support. The Digitimes report corroborates this, indicating that the next watch will feature a sensor specifically to detect oxygen levels in the blood.
Most healthy adults will have a blood oxygen level greater than 95%. Blood oxygen levels below a certain threshold are major indicators of respiratory problems and can affect heart and brain function. Like Apple Watch’s low heart rate notifications or EKG functions, the Apple Watch Series 6 could tell the user if it detects abnormal blood oxygen and suggest seeking medical help.
Apple usually announces the new Apple Watch at the iPhone fall event. This year, Apple has announced that the iPhone 12 launch will be delayed by a few weeks. It is certainly possible that the new Watch will also launch later than normal.
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