According to a new report, the Apple Watch Series 9 won’t have a blood glucose monitor built in.
Despite hopes that Apple might be able to turn the feature around in time for the next best Apple Watch, cold water has now very much been poured on that idea. And what’s more, those hoping for the feature to launch any time soon might be in for some very bad news indeed.
That’s according to a paywalled version of the Power On newsletter seen by MacRumors, at least. Apple won’t have the technology ready for a little while yet. How soon? Maybe three years, we’re told. But it could also take as long as seven years as well.
No sugar-coating it
In Gurman’s newsletter, he was answering a question about whether we can expect the Apple Watch to gain blood glucose monitoring capabilities any time soon. The answer was less than heartening.
It was said that Apple “still needs to perfect the algorithms and on-board sensors” that would be required to make the feature work. On top of that, the company also has to miniaturize that technology to the point of it fitting on something like the Apple Watch.
Gurman goes on to say that it’s unlikely that will happen soon — in fact, he says that the whole process “will take another three to seven years at least.”
That’s of course disappointing for anyone who had hoped to be able to check their blood glucose using their Apple Watch rather than another method. Apple has been working on bringing blood glucose monitoring to its wearable for years, but the finished technology has so far eluded the company. Apple was reported to be working on the diabetic-friendly feature as recently as last month.
As for the Apple Watch Series 9, we still expect that to be announced in or around September, likely alongside the USB-C-laden iPhone 15 lineup.