Apple today began selling a new Beddit sleep monitor on its online store after receiving FCC clearance for the product earlier this week.
The new version has a model number of 3.5 and retails for the same $149.95 price as the previous model 3.0. The new version looks similar to the previous one, but it is ever so slightly smaller and lighter. It remains 2mm thin.
This represents Apple's first update to the sleep monitor since it acquired Beddit in May 2017. It remains an ultra-thin 2mm flexible sensor strip that is designed to be placed under the sheet on top of the mattress and automatically begins tracking sleep-related data when you lie down for sleep.
The data collected includes sleep time and efficiency, heart rate, respiration, temperature, movement, snoring, room temperature, and room humidity. The data can be viewed in the new Beddit 3.5 app or Health app on an iPhone or iPad. The old Beddit app is now designated for model 3.0.
The new version is also listed on Beddit's website. It is compatible with the iPhone 5s or later with iOS 12 or later and all Apple Watch models with watchOS 4.3 or later.
(Thanks, Jordan!)
Top Rated Comments
New research might suggest sleep is important for clearing out brain waste products, including beta amyloid, which is one of the pathologies in Alzheimer's disease (Jessen, N. A., Munk, A. S. F., Lundgaard, I., & Nedergaard, M. (2015). The glymphatic system: a beginner’s guide. Neurochemical research, 40(12), 2583-2599.).
All of this means that better tracking of sleep (e.g., with products like this - I'm not affiliated with the company or have any financial interest with the company other than owning two Apple shares) could catch sleep disorders and help people get the clinical care they need. Sleep disorders are treatable (but not necessarily curable).
Products like this are a large part of the future of healthcare and a potentially huge revenue stream. Apple is not a computer company anymore and haven't been since 2007.
Do you think maybe it's possible that only the dozen or so now-Apple employees working in Finland are involved in the beddit product, and that if they weren't, their skills and qualifications don't align with those necessary to engineer Macs and iPhones?