Gurman: Apple still working on AirPods health features, potentially for AirPods Pro 3

In the latest edition of the Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman laid out a couple updates on Apple’s developments on health features for AirPods. We’ve heard reports on this matter in the past, but this provides a little more insight.

According to the newsletter, Apple is working on a wide variety of health features, including a heart-rate monitor, a temperature sensor, and new sensors that’ll track “a slew of physiological measures.” Apple’s primarily focused on developing the heart rate sensor at the moment.

In internal testing, Apple is noticing more accurate heart-rate info off of the Apple Watch, but Gurman reports that AirPods aren’t too far off. We don’t have details on the other health features, nor a precise timeline, though Gurman says we’ll see it roll out “over the coming years.” The features may debut in AirPods Pro 3.

Apple is also working on cameras for AirPods. This project was previously cancelled, but got revived with Apple’s sudden interest in developing products for the era of AI. Gurman notes that this is a priority project for both AI teams and AirPods teams, but it’s still a couple years away:

 In fact, it’s now seen as a priority for the teams within Apple’s AI and AirPods hardware development groups. That said, I wouldn’t expect the technology to hit the market for a couple more years — assuming it doesn’t get canceled again.

Apple released a new firmware update for AirPods Pro 2 earlier this year, enabling hearing health features and the ability to use AirPods as an FDA-certified hearing aid. With the release of these features, it’s obvious that Apple is moving in a more health-oriented direction, so introducing AirPods health features for users without an Apple Watch is a probable move.

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