I've been waiting for years for Apple to implement blood oxygen on the Apple Watch. I thought that if I had not already done so, it was for legal reasons with the Health authorities, believing that the current heartbeat sensor of the Apple Watch could also read the oxygen level.
Any pulsometer finger that we found on Amazon for 20 Euros that uses LED technology to "see" the heartbeat is also capable of analyzing the level of oxygen in the blood. There are also many cheap smartwatches and activity wristbands with this feature. I do not quite understand why we will have to wait for series 6 to do it on an Apple Watch.
DigiTimes has published today that the next Apple Watch Series 6 be able to measure the oxygen level in the blood. This report explains that Apple has signed an order to the supplier ASE Technology, to prepare the production lines for the Apple Watch Series 6.
The report explains that the watch will include a sensor of oxygen in the blood for the first time. A week ago we explained that reviews of the feature were found in the WatchOS 7 beta code.
As seen from that code, it was unclear if the feature could be unlocked for existing models. It has been speculated for years that optical heart rate sensors are also capable of measuring the amount of oxygen in the blood, but Apple had not. activated.
Apple Watch Series 6 will have a specific oximeter sensor
As Apple announced Watch 7 last month at WWDC 2020 not talking about this new feature, it seemed like it was actually waiting to have the specific sensor for it. The Digitimes report corroborates that, indicating that the next watch will feature a sensor specifically for detecting oxygen levels in the blood.
Most healthy adults have a blood oxygen level over 95%. Blood oxygen levels below a certain threshold are leading indicators of breathing problems, and can affect heart and brain function.
Like the existing low heart rate notifications on the Apple Watch or the EKG functions, the watch could inform the user if detect an abnormal blood oxygen level and suggest you visit the doctor.