It looks like the most significant upgrade on the Apple Watch Series 8 will be the inclusion of a new body temperature sensor. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the feature will be part of the standard Apple Watch Series 8 and a new rugged edition as well. The latter as the name suggests will be aimed at those who participate in extreme sports, and will likely come with enhanced durability to ensure better survival.
Apple is not expended to bring this feature to the new SE edition of the Apple Watch, which is also expected this year. This is not surprising, given SE usually misses out on some features. The original Apple Watch SE does not have ECG or the ability to monitor blood oxygen levels, which is present on the Apple Watch Series 6 and 7.
Apple’s body-temperature feature has been reported for a while now. TFI Securities analyst Ming Chi-Kuo had also talked about this in the past. He had said that Apple was “working hard to fine-tune the algorithms in the next smartwatch that will allow users to measure body temperature.”
But, according to Gurman, it won’t work exactly like a thermometer meaning there won’t be a precise reading from the wrist. Rather it will alert or indicate if one has a fever. Other than this, the Apple Watch Series 8 is unlikely to include any major hardware upgrades. In fact, the processor is expected to be similar to the one used on Series 6. Even with the Series 7, Apple did not upgrade the processor as such.
Apple Watch Series 8 is expected to come along with the iPhone 14 series. Reports state that this year, the iPhone 14 lineup will not have a mini version. Instead, Apple will introduce the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Max, and iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. While the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro will get a 6.1-inch display, the Max and Pro Max will have a 6.7-inch display.
Both iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max will come with the older A15 chipset, while the Pro variants will get the A16 chipset, according to several reports.
Gurman has also dismissed rumours that the Apple AirPods Pro, also expected later this year, will have a heart rate sensor or body temperature. It appears Apple is still exploring the idea of introducing both of these, and while they might appear one day, 2022 is not the year for these additions. As we had noted earlier, the AirPods Pro are due for an upgrade, they were introduced in 2019. Apple is expected to improve the audio quality, noise-cancelling and bring Spatial Audio to these earbuds.
