Apple Watch 8 with sensor to measure body temperature: it can still be done

There has been talk for months of the possibility that Apple Watch 8 integrates a sensor for the body temperature detection and the rumors in this regard have not always been in agreement. At the beginning of the year Mark Gurman Bloomberg defined this hypothesis as unlikely, in more recent times the analyst Ming-Chi Kuo instead stated that the Cupertino house would have been able to develop a special algorithm to measure this vital parameter, thus suggesting the debut of the function with the next line of Apple wearables.

Gurman himself returned to the subject in his usual weekly newsletter. Now the source has retraced his steps and believes instead possible the arrival of the body temperature sensor on Apple Watch 8, albeit with limits:

The body temperature feature won’t give you a specific reading, like a forehead or wrist thermometer, but it should be able to tell if it thinks you have a fever. He may then recommend that you speak to your doctor or use a dedicated thermometer.

The sensor would therefore give a rough indication of the temperature and not the exact value expressed in degrees – the latter operation is complicated if carried out with a sensor designed to be in contact with the skin, which is susceptible to rapid variations also determined by the temperature. of the environment. Apple Watch 8 could not therefore be considered a real medical device, unlike a dedicated thermometer.

The function to detect the body temperature would be a prerogative of Watch 8 and its “rugged” variant, while it would not be included in the standard equipment of Watch SE 2 (the model that will complete the hat-trick of new Apple wearables expected by the end of the year). All of the above only if Apple is satisfied with the results that emerged in internal tests ongoing. If even the generic indication of body temperature is not sufficiently reliable, Apple could decide to postpone the integration of this function to a time when it will have even more refined technologies and algorithms.