The Series 7 landed last year with few changes other than a slightly larger screen and slightly faster charging, but it was supposed to have a breakthrough new sensor and feature on board too. A new report now says it may end up in the Series 8.
According to a tweet by Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple canceled its body temperature measurement sensor for the Apple Watch Series 7 “because the algorithm failed to qualify before entering EVT stage last year.” As Kuo explains:
The challenge in implementing precise body temperature measurement is that skin temperature quickly varies depending on outside environments. A smartwatch can’t support core temperature measurement in terms of hardware, so it needs an excellent algorithm to work together.
However, Kuo reports that body temperature readings could still make an appearance in the Apple Watch Series 8. The oft-accurate analyst says the Apple Watch Series 8 “could take body temperature if the algorithm can meet Apple’s high requirements before mass production.”
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg previously reported that the Apple Watch would likely gain a skin-temp sensor, but that it would only be used for fertility tracking. In the report, Gurman also claimed that Apple is indeed working on a way to monitor body temperature but he doesn’t expect the feature to be ready in the fall, even if the sensor is on board.
The Apple Watch Series 8 is expected to arrive in September alongside a new Apple Watch SE and a new Apple Watch Pro for extreme sports enthusiasts. The flagship watch is expected to gain a new size as well as a rugged option and possibly a low-power mode as part of watchOS 9.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.