According to Bloomberg, Apple would like to pivot its wireless headphones towards health, to distinguish itself from the competition. A decision that would not be surprising given the advance of the brand in this area.
In an interview with Numerama on June 22, 2023, Sumbul Desai, Apple’s health boss, explained to us that she did not want to limit Apple’s activity to a single product: “It can be about the phone, the watch and maybe other things. ” A few days later, learning that Apple would consider adding health sensors to its AirPods is therefore not really surprising.
In his weekly newsletter, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reveals on July 2 the ambitions of Apple with its future generations of AirPods. Transformation into hearing aids, integrated thermometer, USB-C… Apple would not bet only on music.
AirPods for health, an old rumor
This isn’t the first time rumors of AirPods with health features have surfaced, but Mark Gurman discusses two technological advances that are new to Apple:
- Like the Apple Watch, future AirPods Pro could feature a thermometer. Since the temperature of the ear canal would be more reliable than that of the wrist, Apple could finally tell someone if they have a fever, whereas the Watch is limited to tracking menstrual cycles. Asked about the subject by Numerama, Apple’s health boss explained: “When we validated the temperature, it was for the detection of ovulation. For other cases, we will conduct studies to ensure that we can actually give you accurate information. »
- Thanks to a relaxation of medical rules in the United States, Apple would consider revolutionizing the hearing aid market. The brand has developed a system for diagnosing the condition of its ears using sounds and would like to have systems approved that amplify surrounding sounds for the hearing impaired.
Only problem, all this would not happen for a long time. The AirPods Pro 2 arrived three years after the AirPods Pro 1, Mark Gurman expects this cycle to be repeated. We would therefore have to wait until 2025 to discover these new headphones.
Until then, Apple would focus on entry-level (with new affordable AirPods) and USB-C, changing the cases of its earphones, probably at the same time as the iPhone 15. There are no rumors about the AirPods Max 2, despite the growing expectation of fans (Apple’s headphones have been hugely successful in recent months thanks to several trends on social networks). This may cause disappointment.
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