Yesterday, in their usual star-studded fanfare, Apple released two new products – one of which is set to be a major disruptor in the healthcare and life sciences industry.
“It’s become an intelligent guardian for your health.” Jeff Williams, COO of Apple
Apple events seem more like a rock concert than a conference, and yesterdays brought down the house with the announcement of their latest products, the iPhone XS Max and the Apple Watch 4. The new iPhone is Apple’s largest yet and features cutting-edge AI technology thanks to a powerful A12 processor.
But, it’s the watch that has our attention, larger and easier to read it also features more advanced health monitoring than has ever been seen.
This new wearable tech can; detect a fall, consequently deliver an alert and from there, an emergency call can be initiated by way of Siri. “If the watch senses you are immobile for one minute it will start the call automatically”, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO told his fascinated audience. This means that series 4 of the Apple Watch has the potential to be a breakthrough product for our ageing population. Perhaps this was Apple’s intention.
It was the next feature introduced that induced awed gasps from the crowd. The new watch can now screen your heart rhythm in the background and send you a notification if it detects an arrhythmia that appears to be atrial fibrillation. “We’ve added electrodes, into the back sapphire crystal and the digital crown, allowing you to take an electrocardiogram,” Jeff Williams, COO of Apple announced to an eruption of applause from the audience.
This is ground-breaking because it is the first ECG product available over the counter, directly to consumers. The ECG feature received speedy FDA approval.
The Apple Watch 4 features multiple faces, one of which is wholly health and fitness-focused showing; activity levels, heart rate, workout shortcuts, and more. Another one of the watch’s faces is Apple’s “Breathe” app which helps you to relax, reduce anxiety and fundamentally breath better, tying in with our increased awareness of mental health and the benefits of mindfulness.
Apple, a pioneering as always – intended the watch to be a kind of micro-mobile when they released the first version in 2015. Somewhere that you could read snippets of news or check your messages discretely at times you were not supposed to. The real value, they have found turns out to be within the health industry. As Williams put it, “it’s become an intelligent guardian for your health.”
The new Apple Watch starts at $399 for a Series 4 model with GPS, and $499 with cellular. The new watches go on sale this Friday, 14 September, and they become available on 21 September.
