Apple Rumored to Be Developing ‘Entirely New’ Health Tracking Hardware, Expected to Launch Next Fall

Ever since the days when Apple’s late co-founder, Steve Jobs, roamed the halls of his company’s 1 Infinite Loop campus, the Cupertino-company has placed a major emphasis on the importance of healthcare — and, most specifically, the tracking, management, and analysis thereof.

And this emphasis, as we’ve seen in more recent years, has been fueled all the more by the introduction of Apple’s new HealthKit, ResearchKit, and CareKit platforms — which are designed to help users gain more control over the various aspects of their own healthcare, as well as provide them with easy access to qualified physicians, if and when they’re needed.

Apple’s Watch, for instance, is a major utility in making this all possible — thanks to the device’s consortium of built-in health tracking sensors and vital sign monitors, which work to provide a clear analysis of one’s various health-related statistics.

However, while Apple Watch remains the big player in Apple’s health tracking empire, Silicon Valley’s hottest wearable certainly won’t be the last, according to Economic Daily News.

The publication cited just recently that Apple is currently working to develop (at least one) new health tracking hardware device; and, what’s more, this mystery device could potentially launch as early as 2017 — perhaps even alongside next year’s iPhone, or sooner.

Unfortunately, as the Economic Daily News report confirmed, we don’t know exactly what this mystery product is — or even how it will be implemented. However, the report does go on to say that it’s been in development, under the supervision of Apple’s Health and Fitness Director, Jay Blahnik, for over two years now.

What’s more, the device will be able to measure various aspects of a user’s health — including vital sings, such as heart rate, pulse, changes in blood sugar levels, and more.

Given that we don’t know anything along the lines of what this device is, or what shape and form it will surface in — while also considering how the Apple Watch currently performs the majority of these aforementioned measurements, it’s perhaps a bit more reasonable to assume that the report is merely alluding to an updated version of the Apple Watch — which we already know is to be expected very soon.

After all, what would be the objective if Apple were to launch two separate devices capable of doing essentially the same things? — and such precise things as heart monitoring, et al., at that? Then again, come to think of it, I’m pretty sure I remember hearing something about a certain ‘Apple Ring’ a few months back, which also seems to fit the bill quite snugly — so I guess you never know, right?

Of course, we’ll keep you updated on any new developments with this story, if and when they arise!

Do you track your health using Apple’s Watch? Would a secondary health monitoring apparatus be of interest to you? Let us know in the comments!

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]