Apple's plan to add a body temperature sensor to the Apple Watch Series 8 is looking increasingly unlikely, based on recent comments made by well-connected Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman.
Apple is believed to have originally considered adding a body temperature sensor to last year's Apple Watch Series 7, but that didn't happen, with Bloomberg reporting in June that it would likely be introduced in the 2022 update instead. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also previously expressed optimism that body temperature sensing would be an Apple Watch Series 8 feature.
However, discussing rumored body temperature, blood pressure and blood sugar sensors for Apple Watch in his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman advises: "Don't expect any of these soon."
Body temperature was on this year's roadmap, but chatter about it has slowed down recently. Blood pressure is at least two to three years away, while I wouldn't be surprised if glucose monitoring doesn't land until later in the second half of the decade.
Whenever it does arrive, a body temperature measuring function for Apple Watch would be useful for fertility tracking and keeping track of sleep, and in the future, it could also detect when a user has a fever.
Apple is rumored to be working on a method for non-invasively monitoring blood glucose levels using optical sensors as well, potentially offering sufferers of diabetes a way to manage their condition that would be much easier, as it wouldn't require puncturing the skin.
Earlier this year, Apple was revealed to be the largest customer of the British electronics start-up Rockley Photonics, which develops non-invasive optical sensors for detecting multiple blood-related health metrics, including blood pressure, blood glucose, and blood alcohol levels.
Rockley's disclosure that its biggest client is Apple came about as the company prepared to go public in New York. Given the growth of Rockley Photonics and the scale of Apple's partnership with the company, it seems to be virtually inevitable that the company's health sensor technology will be coming to the Apple Watch at some stage, just not this year.
For everything we know so far about the upcoming Apple Watch Series 8, check out our dedicated guide.
