Apple’s been researching non-invasive ways of measuring blood sugar levels for years. So far, nothing’s shipped—an Apple Watch with a blood-sugar sensor is reportedly still in the works.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
- A non-invasive Apple Watch blood sugar sensor is years away.
- It’s been in the works since the original watch launched.
- Samsung is said to be working on a similar sensor.
An Apple Watch with non-invasive blood sugar monitoring
Reporters Mark Gurman and Debby Wu write in their Bloomberg piece that an Apple Watch featuring a non-invasive blood sugar sensor is still several years away from being shipped.
The blood-sugar sensor, which would help diabetics monitor their glucose levels, is unlikely to be ready for commercial launch for several more years.
A wristwatch from Apple that would measure your blood sugar levels is a long-standing rumor.
Actually, it predates the original Apple Watch model that debuted in 2015. In 2017, The New York Times alleged that Apple’s glucose reader was a few years away.
The reason it’s taking so long—Apple has a truly breakthrough non-invasive solution in the works, one that’s believed to be capable of analyzing blood sugar levels through the skin.
Blood sugar monitoring has been long in the works at Apple and would be a feature thus far unrivaled by competitors.
Current solutions include specialized apps for manually inputting glucose readings from medical devices. Also, health companies like Dexcom sell invasive blood glucose accessories designed to share their blood level readings data with the Apple Watch and the Health app.
However, competition isn’t standing still.
Will Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 get glucose monitoring?
Apple rival Samsung is also believed to have been working on a blood sugar sensor for its upcoming Galaxy Watch 4 that would not require people to prick their finger like they currently need to do in order to draw blood for an accurate glucose test.
It’s unclear how far along that route the Galaxy maker might be.
For instance, EETimes recently claimed that the next Galaxy Watch might sport non-invasive blood glucose monitoring. However, other sources like Money Today say this technology is going to take longer to ship than anticipated even though both Apple and Samsung hav e been working on non-invasive blood sugar monitoring for some time now.