Apple Watch Series 6 Rumors: Blood Oxygen Tracking, Performance Improvements, Faster WiFi and More

[jz0309]

if this is it for new features - my S4 will be with me for another year ...

 

[frumpywumpy]

Again, it doesn’t tell you anything significant

By the time you have a significantly changed A-a gradient or VQ mismatch from a viral related exacerbation, you’ll already be in the hospital with O2 monitors

The lungs work a little differently with pathology than the heart does especially with serious illnesses. With the heart there is a lot more “silent” pathophysiolgy. With the lungs, not so much.

You can bet Apple’s advertising will let people think they need it though especially during a pandemic lol. Non medical people don’t quite understand how oxygen saturation tells pathology and how, more or less, useless it is outside of a hospital.

Out of curiosity, have you read https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-testing-pneumonia.html which seems to indicate

that Covid pneumonia initially causes a form of oxygen deprivation we call “silent hypoxia”

and

when Covid pneumonia first strikes, patients don’t feel short of breath, even as their oxygen levels fall

Granted, the piece is an Opinion, and not peer reviewed, and Dr. Levitan expresses how surprising this was to him and his colleagues, so your point is still valid.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Jon P. said next week though.

In about 216 hours, (+-) we will find out if Jon was right.

 

[repoman016]

Again, it doesn’t tell you anything significant

By the time you have a significantly changed A-a gradient or VQ mismatch from a viral related exacerbation, you’ll already be in the hospital with O2 monitors

The lungs work a little differently with pathology than the heart does especially with serious illnesses. With the heart there is a lot more “silent” pathophysiolgy. With the lungs, not so much.

You can bet Apple’s advertising will let people think they need it though especially during a pandemic lol. Non medical people don’t quite understand how oxygen saturation tells pathology and how, more or less, useless it is outside of a hospital.

While I agree with you, I want to mention my comment came from when I went to the dr. for bronchitis and the oxygen saturation was one of the results they went over with me. I wasnt short of breath but I went in bc i knew something wasnt right. An app that would tell me that could help make the decision for people to go in. I know it would be too early to trust it, but might be better than nothing?

Otherwise, I dont know what the point of it would be? How would they sell the pro's of something if it actually doesnt mean anything?

 

[jmgregory1]

Really torn on whether or not to upgrade from S5 to S6 this year. Apple watch is still very much an early device and each gen seems to add more features similar to early versions of the iPhone. Of course, after time, the innovations slow down.

Really missing better battery life from the S5. If they improve the battery, maybe I'll update but considering pictures of the S6 battery leaked and showed little difference over S5 battery, I'll probably be disappointed this year.

I’ve got a S5 and if you really want to get more usable hours out of the battery, turn off Always-On. It’s a big improvement. I’m guessing Apple will improve battery life using the new SOC, which will be just that much more efficient, even with Always-On...on. For me, I’ll not likely upgrade to S6, unless there is something really compelling.

 

[nordique]

An absolutely game changing feature would be non invasive glucose monitoring

Relatively speaking, oxygen monitoring is a useless feature. It’s like a nice add on, but nothing integral

I’d say the hand washing and breathing features have more practical and functional use than the oxygen sat.
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Are you a med student, RN, MD, or PA?

MD.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

In about 216 hours, (+-) we will find out if Jon was right.

If he's to be prove wrong AGAIN? I know Apple will release an iPhone in the month of September.

 

[nordique]

While I agree with you, I want to mention my comment came from when I went to the dr. for bronchitis and the oxygen saturation was one of the results they went over with me. I wasnt short of breath but I went in bc i knew something wasnt right. An app that would tell me that could help make the decision for people to go in. I know it would be too early to trust it, but might be better than nothing?

Otherwise, I dont know what the point of it would be? How would they sell the pro's of something if it actually doesnt mean anything?

You don’t need oxygen sats to diagnose acute bronchitis

Keeping up with chronic bronchitis sure it can have use. But that’s a very small percentage of the population - like I mentioned earlier for a chronic copd pt on oxygen therapy this would be a very useful tool actually. Or say you have had chronic empyemas and you have known fibrotic lungs. Or perhaps you’re in immunosuppressive therapy. These are all good reasons to have an O2 monitor. It could also have some role with sleep apnea as well, that is a practical feature too. These are small population cases though.

For the general public, not so much. By the time you have a severe respiratory illness, 1) you will know you are breathless. It’s not something you’ll check with an O2 sat to confirm. 2) you’ll be in an emergency room or hospital ward with treatment hooked up to a monitor when it has relevance. Even then we use other measurements to look at your oxygen status, the sats are a very, very minor part of it

To detect undiagnosed Sleep apnea may be a useful feature if they can implement it somehow. But that’s really the limit of practical use.

 

[nordique]

Out of curiosity, have you read https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-testing-pneumonia.html which seems to indicate


and


Granted, the piece is an Opinion, and not peer reviewed, and Dr. Levitan expresses how surprising this was to him and his colleagues, so your point is still valid.

I deal with this stuff every day with very sick patients.

I just read through it. Not too dissimilar to my own experiences

What I will say is it doesn’t change anything. Again, it’s a nice feature but it’s not potentially life saving the way the arrhythmia feature is.

Is it better than nothing? Sure. But from a medical perspective, the hand washing is a better and more practical feature

I just had to chime in because there’s some stuff that people are saying that isn’t really true and potentially misleading. It’s a gimmick more than anything.

 

[millar876]

I’d like a new one, my series 2 is losing support for the next watchOS, and that’s one of my “well I better change it I guess” categories

 

[lazyrighteye]

Can not believe that my Apple Watch version 1 is still running from the original launch of the watches. I think it is time to upgrade

I too have a series 0. I updated to the 5 over the last holiday period because the its screen was so dim and unreadable. I never took it off in pools, oceans etc. Maybe that had something to do with it? ?

 

[fokmik]

If he's to be prove wrong AGAIN? I know Apple will release an iPhone in the month of September.

From where do you know? Release or announce?

 

[Apple_Robert]

An absolutely game changing feature would be non invasive glucose monitoring

Relatively speaking, oxygen monitoring is a useless feature. It’s like a nice add on, but nothing integral

I’d say the hand washing and breathing features have more practical and functional use than the oxygen sat.
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MD.

I appreciate you taking the time to inform us on the merits (or rather lack thereof) that many of us have misconstrued. I hope you will continue to do so as time permits.

 

[nutmac]

i wonder when it will measure blood pressure...

Wrist based (or cuffless) blood pressure monitors are too inaccurate to be dependable. If Apple is working on one, it's probably at least 2 years or out.

Apple Watch 7 is rumored to be the next major update. It might bring more significant improvements such as microLED (about 50% more energy efficient than OLED and no burn in), blood glucose sensor, and solid state buttons. But some may be pushed to Apple Watch 8.

 

[bernoulli]

Are you a med student, RN, MD, or PA?

Not only that, you can feel breathless and have a perfect pulse oximetry reading

I think the general public will be mis sold pulse oximetry if it’s included amidst of the covid pandemic

 

[tridley68]

Will be upgrading my series 4.

 

[nordique]

I appreciate you taking the time to inform us on the merits (or rather lack thereof) that many of us have misconstrued. I hope you will continue to do so as time permits.

I try not to involve my professional side on these boards. I am here as an Apple fan just like the rest of you

 

[Kabeyun]

O2 saturation would come in handy to roughly gauge fitness and lung performance over extended exercising. It would be a nice, good-to-know, feature.

Not how it works. Your SaO2 won’t meaningfully change with exercise, nor meaningfully improve with fitness.

i wonder when it will measure blood pressure...

As soon as Apple (or someone) invents a watch band (or accessory) that can tighten hard enough to occlude the arteries running past it.

The oxygen sat is a big sales gimmick. Very little actual medical benefit to be gained. It’s a neat feature, might be helpful for chronic COPD patients on home O2 or something. For everyone else it’s a feature that is nice and will have significant advertising behind it, but in practical medical terms much less useful than a heart rate sensor or ecg

I think non medical people doesn’t understand how little an O2 sat monitor tells you outside of acute settings, that the advertising is really going to be a big thing here

As an MD, I tend to agree. Occult viral hypoxemia might be an exception, though.

I agree. It also has plenty of other health related user benefits. The problem is, it is probably going to be an on demand feature like the ECG. And if that is the case, which I believe it will be, many people who could benefit the most from said feature, may often forget to take a on demand reading.

Ideally, I would like to see the SPo2 feature take automated checks at several periods throughout the day and alert the user with a visual and haptic alert if his or her oxygen level falls below 90. And if it were to fall below 80, an automatic count down would commence much like Fall Detection. And if the user does not respond, EMS is alerted and dispatched.


Edited to add: Having test done a consistent times would be beneficial to one’s doctor, in my opinion.

If AW6 has pulse oximetry, I really hope the baseline can be customized. There are plenty of folks with a baseline in the 80s who wouldn’t want to be forced to choose between being alerted all the time or turning the darned thing off.

An absolutely game changing feature would be non invasive glucose monitoring

Damn right, and then some. There are a couple of such devices in the works, and I’m just waiting for the IPO.

 

[nordique]

I think the general public will be mis sold pulse oximetry if it’s included amidst of the covid pandemic

I agree. And that’s something I worry about. That’s why I pointed out it’s a “relatively useless” feature, albeit a nice one to have

However, given Apple is having some sleep tracking function, I can see practical use for detecting sleep apnea that is undiagnosed. That is probably the limits of genuinely useful function though, for people who are otherwise healthy.

If you have a chronic illness with some sort of condition as I mentioned in a previous post, then the discussion changes and it will have practical benefit for you.

 

[macdos]

This reflects the Apple board of directors getting increasingly older, and also a very unhealthy trend of constant monitoring of biomarkers.

The American people, and to some extent people in Europe, don't need this. They need to start fasting and exercising.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

This reflects the Apple board of directors getting increasingly older, and also a very unhealthy trend of constant monitoring of biomarkers.

The American people, and to some extent people in Europe, don't need this. They need to start fasting and exercising.

What in the world are you talking about and what in the world your targeting American people for LOL WHAT???
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Let's wait and WATCH... next week or next month

No! that's the problem. we're tired of waiting.

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

Blood oxygen monitoring would be a useful feature amid the ongoing pandemic, as the virus can cause oxygen levels to drop, and people experiencing reduced oxygen intake need emergency help.

Absolutely, I was sick with the flu which had eerily similar symptoms to Covid19 and in a panic I got myself one of those cheap oximetre off Amazon. ?

It would definitely be better if it’s built into an Apple Watch, with a constant monitoring it might detect early symptoms that would otherwise go unnoticed.

 

[nordique]

As an MD, I tend to agree. Occult viral hypoxemia might be an exception, though.

If AW6 has pulse oximetry, I really hope the baseline can be customized. There are plenty of folks with a baseline in the 80s who wouldn’t want to be forced to choose between being alerted all the time or turning the darned thing off.

^ very good point regarding a customizable baseline.

Depending on how Apple integrates the sleep function, I could see it helpful for screening OSA

Although it wouldn’t functionally change that diagnosis, and patients at risk for OSA would be screened by a good primary care doc / NP as well

But I’m just trying to find some medical reason. I like the occult viral hypoxemia suggestion but perhaps we should start recommending Apple watches for any female smoker over the age of 35 on some form of estrogen therapy just in case ?

I think it’s good they’re adding it, I just caution the non medical crowd as this function has easy potential to misinform and it’s not as revolutionary as some may think haha.

 

[jonnysods]

Please not next month!!

I want that watch!!

 

[Azzin]

I agree. And that’s something I worry about. That’s why I pointed out it’s a “relatively useless” feature, albeit a nice one to have

However, given Apple is having some sleep tracking function, I can see practical use for detecting sleep apnea that is undiagnosed. That is probably the limits of genuinely useful function though, for people who are otherwise healthy.

If you have a chronic illness with some sort of condition as I mentioned in a previous post, then the discussion changes and it will have practical benefit for you.

As a (now diagnosed) sleep apnoea sufferer, I can vouch for the fact that getting it diagnosed is an absolute game changer, that literally gives night and day results (pun intended).