The Apple Watch Series 8 and the rumored “tough” Apple Watch will offer a new fever detection sensor when they launch this fall. The new Apple Watch SE will not have this feature.
The news comes through Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, who in April reported that Apple planned to add body temperature detection to the next generation of Apple Watch. Gurman shared more information about the new feature in his Power On newsletter over the weekend, unfortunately it looks like the capabilities may not live up to people’s expectations.
Gurman explains that detecting body temperature will not give a specific reading, as would be expected with a thermometer. Instead, it will warn you if you think you have a fever.
“The body temperature feature won’t give you a specific reading, like with a forehead or wrist thermometer, but you should be able to tell if you think you have a fever,” he wrote.
“Aside from the body temperature reader, other hardware changes are likely to be minor,” Gurman says, noting that the chip’s processing power won’t be better than that of the Apple Watch Series 7 and even the Watch Series 6. However, he notes that there may be a brighter screen.
Gurman details some of the reasons why this year’s Apple Watch won’t offer any major new features. He points out that Apple’s chip development team has focused on Mac chips at the expense of other areas, also suggesting that using the Watch processor itself will help Apple reduce costs at a time when The company is affected by rising inflation, the continuing shortage of chips and delays in manufacturing. Gurman also talks about the lack of new features coming to the second generation of AirPods Pro in the same newsletter, as discussed here: Don’t expect much from the AirPods Pro 2022 – Gurman.
Read more about the upcoming Apple Watch Series 8 in our full guide to the Apple Watch 2022. We also have this guide to the Apple Watch SE 2.