Apple has put its focus on health on the iPhone and Apple Watch in recent years, and in the iOS 15 update it also added the ability to share health information with trusted family members and caregivers. And now, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, Apple is considering turning the new AirPods into healthy devices in the coming years too. How is that? And what can you offer?


AirPods to improve your health

The Wall Street Journal recently obtained documents showing that Apple is studying ways to bring new health features to AirPods that may be able to improve hearing, body temperature reading and monitoring, according to those leaked documents.

The newspaper notes that it is not clear if Apple plans to develop certain features of the AirPods, and Apple may decide to market potential alternatives to hearing aids. Just last week, the company rolled out a new feature called conversion boost For AirPods Pro. As the name suggests, this enhances conversation by increasing the volume of the person speaking directly in front of you, and Apple may work to improve this feature, or market it as a health feature.

The documents also reveal that Apple is already building AirPods prototypes that can measure a user's temperature from inside their ear. The company is also expected to add a temperature sensor on the Apple Watch 8, which would give Apple device owners two ways to measure their temperature.

Apple will also use motion sensors in the earbuds to detect the user’s position, so if your AirPods detects that you are in a slack position, it will alert you to improve your position, and if you wear AirPods to receive calls and listen to music all day at work, for example, this could be a very useful addition .


The Importance of Adding Health Features to AirPods

The Wall Street Journal notes that while 28 million Americans have mild hearing loss, only 5% use hearing aids. Meanwhile, only 37% of the 12 million people with moderate hearing loss use hearing aids. The audiologist explains why Apple's entry is important:

Dr. Nicholas Reed, an audiologist at Johns Hopkins, said the prospect of Apple offering AirPods as an over-the-counter hearing aid in the future would be a potential change and a major upgrade in wireless headphones. He said Apple's earbuds could break the awkwardness associated with traditional hearing devices, which often prevent people from wearing them, and would cost much less than traditional hearing aids.

Currently, Apple cannot market AirPods as hearing aids due to federal regulations, because they have specialists. Apple can also not adopt any of these features, but adding them would be a qualitative and much needed leap. We expect Apple to introduce the third generation of AirPods this fall.

Do you think that adding health features to the future AirPods will revolutionize the headphone market? Tell us in the comments.

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