Apple is reportedly creating a non-Watch wearable
Set to shake up the health market
A new report claims Apple is building a new wearable that will offer more meaningful insights into users' health on a daily basis.
Economic Daily News claims that suppliers are being sought to create the new device, which has been in development within Apple for the last couple of years and would be able to check heart rate changes, blood sugar variation and other information.
The wearable will pack a screen – apparently it'll use 3D Touch as a key part of the functionality – and has been developed over the past two years as part of an internal project by Jay Blahnik, who's listed as working on 'special projects' at Apple on his LinkedIn profile.
Blahnik was previously Apple's director of fitness for health technologies, so it would make sense that he would be heading up the project to create such a wearable.
A non-watch Watch
The rumored device would make sense economically for Apple, as the fitness wearables market is rapidly expanding due to an increased curiosity in our body's data and metrics – we all know someone who's bought a Fitbit just because they want to get a bit fitter without really knowing what to do with it, such is the lure.
If Apple could create something with more of an in-depth guide to how these results can be translated into real-world use, it would instantly be added to birthday lists for parents the world over.
The original rumors around the Apple Watch said it would be able to monitor things like blood sugar, but that functionality was never baked in.
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There are also whispers of a second, low-cost, Apple Watch, which will launch alongside the Apple Watch 2 later this year, and a more health-focused option would be a possibly cheaper option that would have the likes of Fitbit rather worried.
Via BGR
Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.