Apple Wants To Build Health Sensors Into Future MacBooks

Devices like the Apple Watch and iPhone come with various health-related features. For example the iPhone can count the steps you’ve taken, and paired with an app like Strava, can log your runs. The Apple Watch also comes with its own health features like a heart rate monitor, ECG monitor, sleep tracker, and more.

However, it seems that Apple’s health initiatives aren’t stopping there. A newly-discovered patent by AppleInsider has revealed that Apple could be considering building health sensors into future MacBooks. The patent describes how Apple could build sensors into the surface of the MacBook, where upon placing their wrist or palm, it can activated a sensor to measure the user’s vitals.

According to Apple, “[The] bio-sensor is positioned along a side of the keyboard and the body part is a palm of a hand of the user. [The] light source [could be] a green LED, the bio-sensor is configured to detect blood perfusion in the body part of the user and the health metric is at least one of a heart rate, a respiration rate, a blood oxygenation level, a blood volume estimate, or a blood pressure.”

We have to say that it sounds rather novel, but at the same time it might not be a bad idea, especially if the user does not have a smartwatch. It could also be used to remind users to take a break, stand up and walk, or maybe it could also be used to authenticate users so they don’t need to enter a password.

However, it’s hard to say if Apple will make this patent a reality, but we know that the company is exploring incorporating health features into its other products, so why not the MacBooks as well?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Computers, Medical
Tags: Health, Laptops, macbook air, Macbook Pro, Patent