This is very big. Apple’s future AirPods could bring under their arms that great change that marks the future of an entire industry. Be those new devices that connect technology with health. And the information comes from none other than Mark Gurman: in his latest newsletter he confirmed that Apple has real intentions to “update AirPods so that they become a health tool in the next year.”
Health tool. That is, incorporate biometric and hearing health monitoring functions: measure beats per minute, body temperature, hearing ability, sweating levels and other values. And we can think of hundreds of applications and uses, from regulating the sound intensity to equalizing songs or even developing associated recommendations.
AirPods could be your next medical gadget
Can an Apple device save a life? He has, on several occasions. That of a dog trapped in the middle of a flood, thanks to the location of an AirTag. Or that of three people seriously injured after a car accident: an Apple Watch Series 8 activated its SOS system and that “It seems you’ve had an accident” immediately alerted the emergency services.
News like this has gone around the world. But beyond the spectacularity of these issues, it is important to observe the determination with which Apple works to go a step beyond routine biometrics. There are plenty of smartwatches that monitor heart rate, calorie burn, or step count, but few that turn all that data collection into useful, real health advice. Beyond that ‘It’s time to get up!’, The Health app adds dozens of articles and tips on a healthy life.
And this seems to be the trend that the AirPods of the future can follow. Tim Cook himself has already dropped it on occasion, as has VP of Product Kevin Lynch, as he stressed in his interview for TechCrunch:
A place to look for even more potential in terms of future health capabilities lies in sensor fusion. Walking stability is the result of not just the iPhone or Apple Watch acting independently, but what’s possible when the company can use them together. It’s another place where Apple’s tight software and hardware integration gives it an edge, and it’s multiplying as Apple’s ecosystem of devices, and the sensors they carry, continues to grow.
But going from being “just” headphones to a health device will require different approvals and public certifications, as is evident. In addition, we are talking about technology that we will most likely see around the usual models, some future AirPods 5 and its Pro version, not around the AirPods Max 2, more oriented to the HiFi market. However, the potential is immense and would reinforce that idea of a future Body IDthe vitaminized FaceID capable of performing a full body scan to provide medical data.
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