Report: Big new health features are coming to the Apple Watch—just not this year

Enlarge / The Apple Watch Series 6. (credit: Corey Gaskin)

Analysts and reporters have published conflicting reports about what to expect from the next Apple Watch. Some, like Nikkei, claimed it will have new health sensors, but others like Bloomberg's Mark Gurman have said that this year's model will offer no major new hardware features amidst production constraints.

Topping off a week of debate on the subject, The Wall Street Journal today published a report that claims that several major new health-sensing features are coming to the watch-just not this year's model.

According to the Journal's sources, a future Apple Watch that is not this year's Series 7 model will include more advanced sleep tracking, like the ability to detect sleep apnea. To accomplish this, Apple is looking into ways to allow the Apple Watch to obtain sensor data overnight without taxing the battery, which has been a barrier for the watch in competing with sleep-tracking wearables from Fitbit and others.

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