Apple Watch 2025 updates may include blood pressure monitoring & satellite texting
Mark Gurman from Bloomberg is reporting some intriguing possibilities for the next Apple Watch Ultra. The most exciting prospect? A blood pressure monitoring feature. Expected in 2025, this addition could join existing tools like ECG and atrial fibrillation detection, further embedding the device into preventive health care.
Apple Watch blood pressure tracking finally here?
Unlike traditional medical devices, this feature won’t provide exact systolic and diastolic measurements. Instead, the watch will track blood pressure trends and alert users if hypertension is detected. While this might not replace the accuracy of traditional blood pressure cuffs, it could serve as an early warning system, catching hypertension before it becomes life-threatening.
Hypertension, often called a silent killer, rarely shows symptoms until it’s advanced. If Apple succeeds in making this feature both reliable and user-friendly, it could help countless people take preventative steps, possibly extending lives. However, the usefulness of such a tool might hinge on how well Apple can integrate it into daily routines without causing alarm fatigue.
Now it’s worth noting that this is not the first time we are hearing about the blood pressure feature. Each and every year we get rumours of this kind. What gives this credibility is that they come from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Apparently, this feature is coming both to the next Apple Watch and the Apple Watch ultra.
Gurman says the company originally hoped to debut this feature in 2024 but has since pushed the timeline. In 2022, Apple was reportedly dealing with accuracy issues during testing, so hopefully by now these have been resolved.
Safety beyond cell towers
In the same report, Gurman suggests satellite connectivity is coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3. This would allow users to send texts when cellular networks and Wi-Fi are unavailable, similar to the feature first introduced in iPhone 14.
Being able to send a text when you’re completely off-grid could be a real emergency lifeline. If you don’t venture that far from civilization, it is probably not for you – but for hikers, climbers, and extreme sports lovers, it could be important. This is precisely the market for the Apple Watch Ultra.
Essential reading: Best fitness trackers and health gadgets
On a separate note, Apple also has plans to replace Intel cellular modems in future Apple Watch models with MediaTek technology. MediaTek’s modem will support 5G Recap, a tailored service for connected devices with lower speed demands. While iPhones have used 5G for years, current Apple Watch models still rely on 4G LTE.
Our takeaway
Will these additions be groundbreaking? Not really. But it’s another step in making wearable technology more useful.
As a longtime observer of health tech’s slow but steady march forward, I find these incremental updates both fascinating and inevitable. Of course, for now, these are just whispers from the rumor mill. So, if you’re eyeing that Apple Watch Ultra 2 on your wrist, keep it there—at least until the ink on these rumors dries.
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