Future Apple Watches could get a genius way to track your health, thanks to smart straps

• The Apple Watch tracks a wide range of health metrics
• Future Apple Watch models could have health sensors in the strap
• Apple might also bring this tech to the Vision Pro’s headband

The Apple Watch is one of the best smartwatches you can buy, and part of the reason is its strength at measuring and improving your health. But Apple isn’t resting on its laurels, and it looks like the company is planning to embed medical sensors into the straps of future Apple Watch models – echoing a handy blood pressure feature we’ve seen recently in the Huawei Watch D2.

That info has come to light in a recently published patent (number 12133743, spotted by Patently Apple). The patent, titled “Fabric-based items with stretchable bands,” describes how sensors can be embedded into a stretchable fabric band, and that these sensors could measure anything from blood pressure and electrocardiogram readings to respiration rates and more. Apple already sells stretchy fabric bands for use as Apple Watch straps, suggesting that this idea could be coupled with the Apple Watch in the coming years.

And it’s not just healthcare that Apple has in mind. The patent also explains that the circuitry inside the fabric could be used to receive wireless power, potentially letting you juice up your device entirely remotely.

Or it could be used to “communicate wirelessly with external electronic equipment,” perhaps allowing the device to send and receive info when paired with an iPhone or a Mac.

Watch this space

Apple doesn’t just think that this tech might be embedded into a smartwatch. It also says that it could be deployed in almost any other clothing item, including hats, gloves, sportswear and belts.

Most interestingly of all, the patent also notes that the technology might work well in “a head band with elastic fabric.” That sounds very similar to the band used in the Vision Pro headset. Is it possible that Apple will weave health-measuring circuitry directly into the Vision Pro’s head band? It can’t be entirely ruled out.

We know that Apple is considering building healthcare features into its other devices, with rumors swirling that upcoming versions of the AirPods will be able to measure various health metrics of the user. And the Apple Watch seems to gain more medical abilities with every new version, so it doesn’t seem unusual that Apple is considering expanding these properties to other devices.

Apple is not the only company that’s working on adding health tracking to its smartwatch’s strap – as we mentioned previously, the Huawei Watch D2 can track your blood pressure directly from its band, for example.

While this latest revelation from Apple is only a patent – meaning Apple might simply be exploring ideas that never actually get implemented – it may not be long before Apple follows in Huawei’s footsteps and brings some noticeable health benefits to its users.

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Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he’s learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That’s all his brain can hold. As well as TechRadar, Alex writes for iMore, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.