Announcement of Touch ID Applied to the Crown of 'Apple Watch 6' Releasing This Fall
Possibility of Sleep Monitoring and Blood Oxygen Level Features Starting from watchOS 7
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] There is a forecast that Apple will apply Touch ID to the Apple Watch 6, which will be released this fall. The new watchOS is also expected to add sleep monitoring and blood oxygen level measurement functions.
On the 27th (local time), Israel's The Verifier and the YouTube channel iUpdate announced that Apple will add sleep monitoring and blood oxygen level measurement functions to watchOS 7.
Apple is expected to unveil the Apple Watch 6 at the WWDC held online in June and release it in the second half of this year. The Apple Watch 6 will have an increased battery capacity and longer charging cycle compared to its predecessor, making it easier to use the sleep measurement function.
If the Apple Watch 6 is equipped with a Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the right crown, there will be no need to enter a PIN to unlock the Apple Watch. When the iPhone linked to the Apple Watch is unlocked, the watch is also unlocked, but to unlock the Apple Watch separately, a numeric password had to be entered.
The sleep measurement function refers to monitoring sleep duration and quality. It is already installed in products such as the Galaxy Watch Active 2 and Fitbit, but it is not supported on the Apple Watch, so Apple Watch users had to download separate paid apps. Apple acquired the Finnish sleep measurement device developer 'Beddit' in 2017. Rumors about adding this function to the Apple Watch have been widespread for several months.
If blood oxygen level measurement becomes possible, the Apple Watch can alert users before oxygen saturation drops to dangerous levels. In addition, new workout apps, shareable watch faces, and kids mode may be included. Along with this, Apple’s watchOS 7 will be compatible with models from Apple Watch 2 and later, so support for versions earlier than Apple Watch 2 will be discontinued.
Apple specialist media AppleInsider explained, "The blood oxygen level measurement function was also hinted at in previously leaked code snippets of iOS 14."
MacRumors stated, "The Verifier claimed that the Apple Watch 7 display would also be equipped with a fingerprint sensor, but considering Apple's tendency to minimize hardware changes to the Apple Watch, the information related to the Apple Watch 6 should be regarded as rumors until confirmed by other sources."
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