Future Apple Watches will be able to measure both blood pressure and glucose, a latest leak suggests

by Junna Base November 11, 2024

The Apple Watch will receive two major upgrades in the future
The company is recommended to add blood pressure and glucose monitoring
Apple is struggling for growth and a product that can replicate the success of the iPhone

Another report claims that Apple is working to add two massive health improvements to its future top Apple Watch models as the company struggles to find another product to spur growth in the wake of iPhone success.

For years, we’ve heard rumors that Apple plans to add blood glucose and blood pressure monitors to its Apple Watch, but neither has been introduced in the company’s popular wearable line.

Now the world’s top Apple insider has certainly confirmed the company’s plans to incorporate both upgrades into future models.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes in his Power On newsletter this week that “Apple Watches will get blood pressure and glucose monitoring.”

The next big thing for Apple Watch

The Huawei Watch D2 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 already offer users blood pressure monitoring (Image credit: Future)

Gurman’s latest comments follow reports that Apple has warned investors that it may never find a product as profitable as the iPhone. While the excitement surrounding the revelation was overblown (the reports are based on a standard risk factor included in every annual report), it has sparked discussion about how Apple can grow in the future.

Gurman says, “There may never be an Apple product on the level of the iPhone again,” and Apple is therefore focused on “incremental improvements to its existing products,” including the aforementioned Apple Watch upgrades.

Where are these upgrades and when might they appear? Gurman points out that his own previous reports on both upgrades suggest that Apple has made “major” progress in developing non-invasive blood glucose tracking technology for the Apple Watch as early as 2023, with glucose monitoring coming to market. He recently reported that Apple was secretly testing a blood sugar app, pointing out that the blood sugar test is “still years away.”

As far as blood pressure is concerned, this development appears to be much closer. Some of the best Android smartwatches, notably the Galaxy Watch 7, offer blood pressure monitoring, as does the Huawei Watch D2. In November 2023, Gurman reported that the 2024 Apple Watch would feature “a new sensor to detect elevated blood pressure,” a feature unfortunately missing from the Apple Watch Series 10. According to Gurman, the technology encountered problems during testing and was delayed by Apple. Therefore, there is hope that it could appear on the Apple Watch next year.

The holy grail would of course be blood sugar testing. A much more complicated technical achievement can be achieved with LEDs. Whichever smartwatch manufacturer can bring this to market first could dominate the sector in the coming years. Apple is undoubtedly hoping to be the first to strike.