Apple Watch Series 5 Features: Can New Smartwatch Measure Blood Pressure?

The Apple Watch Series 4 is arguably the best wearable tech in the market today, capturing more than half of the total sales of smartwatches around the world last year. This means that the Apple Watch Series 5 has big shoes to fill once it launches sometime near the end of 2019.

But as early as now Apple analysts are already excited about the possibility of what the new smartwatch can offer, especially when it comes to health functions. The Apple Watch Series 5 is expected to be a top fitness device once it arrives since the Cupertino giant is focusing its efforts on making the Apple Watch a formidable health tool.

We already know that the new smartwatch will continue the existing ECG and heart sensor functions that can detect an irregular heart rhythm. What’s exciting are other rumored services such as sleep tracking and a way to measure one’s blood sugar level. The upcoming watchOS 6, which the new watch will already run on, is also said to have female-friendly features that can help women keep track of their reproductive cycles.

Now aside from these, some are also speculating that the new smartwatch might also be able to measure the wearer’s blood pressure. Information on this life-changing function, however, is a bit hazy as it would need special inflatable straps with sensors for the watch to carry out this precise function.

However, one can’t just dismiss this possibility because Apple competitors such as the Omron HeartGuide and even Samsung seems to be exploring this area. Omron is said to be toying with the idea of an inflatable wrist cuff while Samsung has conducted studies with the University of California, San Francisco to bolster the Galaxy Watch with a heart rate monitor that can also estimate the wearer’s blood pressure.

With all these possible health functions, it can be assumed that the next Apple smartwatch could also have a more powerful battery system to be able to cope with all its rumored features. This could also confirm the possibility of a ceramic smartwatch being available as Apple would need a lighter casing to complement a heavy-duty power source.