If you follow Apple news, you have probably already seen several times that the Apple Watch has saved a lot of people: from problems heart disease, car accidents or even falls. In reports, Apple’s connected watch is often presented as a “guardian angel” who watches over your health every day as long as you have it on your wrist. Apple is aware that health features are a real asset for Apple Watch sales. This is mainly why the company is organizing major communication around these features.
Jeff William speaks out in an interview
The Apple Watch has established itself as an essential device in the field of health and well-being. At the heart of this evolution, Jeff Williams, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, shared in a recent interview with The Independent the major innovations that have shaped Apple’s connected watch, particularly with the introduction of new health features, including the most recent: sleep apnea detection.
The conversation led by David Phelan also featured Dr. Sumbul Desai, vice president of health technology at Apple, and Jay Blahnik, head of fitness at Apple. The exchange allowed us to return to the growing importance of Health features in the development of the Apple Watch. Williams noted that the addition of these features was heavily influenced by the testimonials of many customers, who claimed that their Apple Watch potentially saved their lives. According to him, this feedback quickly showed the company the way forward: focusing on health to give real meaning to this technology.
Detection of sleep apnea: a major advance
One of the biggest innovations this year was the introduction of sleep apnea detection with Apple Watch Series 10 and watchOS 11. This feature helps track breathing interruptions during sleep, a disorder common, but often diagnosed too late. For Jeff Williams, this progress represents an asset in the evolution of the health tools offered by Apple. He even shared his own diagnosis of sleep apnea and the notable improvement in his quality of life through the use of a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine. A personal experience which, according to him, further motivates the team to innovate in this area.
During the interview, Dr. Sumbul Desai also mentioned watchOS 11’s Vital Signs app, a new feature that monitors health data during sleep. She suggested that this app could evolve to offer all-day tracking in watchOS 12 or later, this would allow for even more accurate monitoring of users’ health.
For his part, Jay Blahnik recalled that the Apple Watch has also revolutionized the monitoring of physical activities, notably with the integration of GPS. This technology allowed users to accurately track the distances covered during their workouts, a feature that largely contributed to the popularity of the Apple Watch among athletes.
For Apple, the road is still long and promising, Jeff Williams concludes that the best is yet to come for the Apple Watch. Obviously, Williams did not mention other new Health features that will arrive soon, but we know for example that the next step for the Apple Watch could be the blood sugar sensor.
