Apple has again doubled down on health and fitness with a slate of new features for its Apple Watch. One of those in particular has even received approval from the FDA.
The world’s most valuable tech company announced upgraded functionality for its heart rate sensor that puts Apple in an entirely new category of medical-grade devices.
The Apple Watch sensor can now read a user’s electrocardiogram (ECG) and alert users when their heart rate is too low or too high and if they’re displaying signs of atrial fibrillation. (AFib is an irregular, usually rapid heart beat.) Apple’s ECG readings, which have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and are supported by the American Heart Association, can be taken by a user simply placing their finger for 30 seconds on the watch’s crown.
On stage in Cupertino, Calif., at an Apple Special Event, American Heart Association President Ivor Benjamin said the ability to monitor a person’s heart rate in real time is “changing the way we practice medicine.” The heart rhythm readings will be stored securely in Apple’s encrypted health app and can be shared with a user’s physician.
“The ability to access health data on an on-demand ECG is game changing, especially when evaluating atrial fibrillation and irregular and often rapid heart rate that can increase a person’s risk of stroke, heart failure or other related complications,” Benjamin said.
The watch will also monitor irregularities in a user’s heart rate behind the scenes and alert them if something seems alarmingly off.
The enhanced medical features of the watch come as athletes and their coaches increasingly rely on trackers to monitor health. Heart conditions have sidelined, and in a few cases killed, professional and collegiate athletes in the past.
In March, Zeke Upshaw collapsed on court during a G League basketball season-finale. The 26-year-old player died two days later in a hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich. An autopsy later identified cardiac arrest as the cause of death, likely triggered by an abnormally large heart. According to doctors, abnormalities such as these aren’t all that uncommon among elite athletes. A March 2017 report published by the Mayo Clinic called cardiac arrest the “leading cause of death in young athletes.”
When it launches in a few weeks, the Apple Watch Series 4 will be the first ECG product offered over the counter directly to consumers.
“Apple Watch has become an intelligent guardian for your health,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Also at Apple’s event this week, the company revealed next-generation accelerometer and gyroscope sensors for the watch, which are used to track movements, as well as a new UX design for the watch face that enables people to access full-screen health and fitness data.
Apple has added a number of features in recent years to provide athletes with more granular data about their health and workouts. The watch can connect to participating cardio machines at gyms, track detailed ski and snowboard metrics, and measure swims and runs.
Apple also unveiled this week its newest iPhone, the iPhone Xs. In addition to better battery storage and enhanced camera features, the company touted new augmented reality features, which it has been building upon since its launch of ARKit in 2017. Apple showed some of its augmented reality games and services and at one point brought on stage NBA All-Star Steve Nash to demonstrate the HomeCourt app. HomeCourt is an artificial intelligence platform that uses augmented reality and computer vision to track an athlete’s basketball shots.
On the new iPhone, the HomeCourt app will be able to offer real-time player tracking, real-time post-estimation, real-time ball detection, and trajectory estimation all at the same time. This “real-time shot science” tracks six metrics for every shot a player takes that HomeCourt says would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye.
The lowest-tier iPhone Xs retails for $999. The newest edition Apple Watch will start at $399 for the basic model, while the upgraded version with cellular connectivity will retail for $499.