A new leak seems to confirm that Apple will introduce sleep tracking on its next Apple Watch.
According to a reputable Apple insider, the wearable could be set to rival FitBit with a sleep tracking feature for the first time – something that has been rumored for more than a year.
Nikias Molina took to Twitter to share an insight into the Apple Watch Series 6, suggesting that the next-generation device will come with better battery life and a new ‘Mental Health Abnormalities Detection’, designed to coach users into focusing on their mental wellbeing.
The new smartwatch could also come with a new processor to improve speeds.
EXCLUSIVE leaks about the upcoming #AppleWatch Series 6 features.
💤 Sleep Tracking
🔋 Longer Battery Life
❤️ Pulse Oximeter
⚡️ S6 Chip
🧠 Mental Health Abnormalities Detection
Stay tuned for more. pic.twitter.com/fN0j6xmOMA
— Nikias Molina ✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 (@NikiasMolina) April 30, 2020
Apple has been rumored to add sleep tracking to its Apple Watch for a number of years, and has even acquired Beddit three years ago – a sleep-tracking company – whose technology will no doubt form the backbone of the new sleep tracker on watchOS 7 and Apple Watch 6.
Although Apple could technically add sleep tracking to existing Apple Watches – there are third-party applications that already offer this functionality – many worry that the battery life on the Apple Watch just cannot cut it when worn for more than 18 hours per day, and then there’s the question of when you’d charge the wearable if you wore it for the whole night.
Apple Watches also come equipped with a heart rate sensor, which measures oxygen saturation in the blood, although this technology is yet to be formally introduced as the firm has to wait for FDA approval in the United States and indeed in other markets.
The company is expected to launch the next-generation Apple Watch alongside the iPhone 12 in September, but these plans could be scuppered if the coronavirus pandemic continues.