Apple Hiring for Health Technologies Team Ahead of Apple Watch 2

Apple-Watch-Heart-Rate-SensorApple has posted at least four job listings since November seeking biomedical engineers and technicians to join the research and development arm of its Health Technologies team, reports BuzzFeed News.

Apple's current health and fitness initiatives include the Apple Watch, launched last April with a heart rate sensor and activity tracking, and ResearchKit, an open source medical research framework for clinical trials on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

The rumored Apple Watch 2 is expected to launch in March with several improvements, possibly including a FaceTime Camera and expanded Wi-Fi capabilities, but Apple's health and fitness ambitions beyond its next-generation smartwatch remain open to speculation.

Apple CEO Tim Cook stirred speculation in November when he said that while Apple does not want to subject the Apple Watch to U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, the company is not against the idea of putting adjacent products like apps or "something else" through the FDA.

Since then, Apple has made a number of hirings that suggest it may be working on a new health and fitness project.

Apple-AnneBuzzFeed News also found that over the last three or so months, Apple has snapped up employees from the medical world, according to LinkedIn. For example, Anne Shelchuk, who has a doctorate in biomedical engineering, left ultrasound software company ZONARE Medical Systems for Apple’s health technology team in November. […]

Craig Slyfield, a mechanical engineer who’s co-authored several papers related to measuring and visualizing human bones in 3D, also joined Apple as a product development engineer in November. A hire in October was system design engineer Nathan Clark, who has a doctorate in biomedical engineering and a patent for a device that separates cells.

Last March, ABC provided a closer look at Apple's top-secret health and fitness lab where it collected more than 18,000 hours of health and fitness data from over 10,000 workout sessions by Apple employees. Apple COO Jeff Williams is known to lead the Apple Watch team internally, while Director of Fitness for Health Technologies Jay Blahnik, a former Nike FuelBand consultant, also plays a key role.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch Series 9
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Top Rated Comments

RealKrS Avatar
108 months ago
I can't wait to see Ive in the promo video explaining how they were able to make it thinner than the first one and somehow they couldn't do it before.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mad Mac Maniac Avatar
108 months ago
Why does the headline even reference "ahead of Apple Watch 2"? It's not like these hires will have any sort of effect (direct or otherwise) on the AW2. It's already finalized.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NovemberWhiskey Avatar
108 months ago
Real-time blood glucose monitoring is going to be a revolutionary advancement. Especially considering the growing diabetes epidemic.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
108 months ago
"Ahead of Apple Watch 2"

Who says the Apple Watch 2 isn't pretty much finalized and in testing now, for announcement and release soon?
[doublepost=1452621492][/doublepost]
Why does the headline even reference "ahead of Apple Watch 2"? It's not like these hires will have any sort of effect (direct or otherwise) on the AW2. It's already finalized.
Exactly. Someone writing these doesn't understand product cycles. The next iPhone is close to being finalized around the time the new one is announced each year. It takes months of testing, followed by months of production, to release them on release-day. It's not something they finalize the day before they present it to the public.

Look at OS X. They show a half-baked developer preview at WWDC and then allow them more than 3 months of testing with it before releasing. And that's software. Something they can modify and push out new builds easily. The same can't be done with hardware. It takes months of real-world testing with prototypes, hardware tweaks, and then finalization. This is all done months before the announcement comes.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zirel Avatar
108 months ago
I can't wait to see Ive in the promo video explaining how they were able to make it thinner than the first one and somehow they couldn't do it before.
That's just you, and people that don't understand the meaning of "technology" in the tech business, but feel like an expert all the time.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LordQ Avatar
108 months ago
Waterproof and completely iPhone-independent, please.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Friday April 12, 2024 11:11 am PDT by
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...
iGBA Feature

Game Boy Emulator for iPhone Now Available in App Store Following Rule Change [Removed]

Sunday April 14, 2024 8:06 am PDT by
A week after Apple updated its App Review Guidelines to permit retro game console emulators, a Game Boy emulator for the iPhone called iGBA has appeared in the App Store worldwide. The emulator is already one of the top free apps on the App Store charts. It was not entirely clear if Apple would allow emulators to work with all and any games, but iGBA is able to load any Game Boy ROMs that...
top stories 13apr2024

Top Stories: M4 Mac Roadmap Leaked, New iPads in Second Week of May, and More

Saturday April 13, 2024 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's hardware roadmap was in the news this week, with things hopefully firming up for a launch of updated iPad Pro and iPad Air models next month while we look ahead to the other iPad models and a full lineup of M4-based Macs arriving starting later this year. We also heard some fresh rumors about iOS 18, due to be unveiled at WWDC in a couple of months, while we took a look at how things ...
new best buy blue

Best Buy Opens Up Sitewide Sale With Record Low Prices on M3 MacBook Air, iPad, and Much More

Saturday April 13, 2024 7:41 am PDT by
Best Buy this weekend has a big sale on Apple MacBooks and iPads, including new all-time low prices on the M3 MacBook Air, alongside the best prices we've ever seen on MacBook Pro, iPad, and more. Some of these deals require a My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total membership, which start at $49.99/year. In addition to exclusive access to select discounts, you'll get free 2-day shipping, an...
iGBA Feature

Apple Removes Game Boy Emulator iGBA From App Store Due to Spam and Copyright Violations

Sunday April 14, 2024 9:22 pm PDT by
Apple today said it removed Game Boy emulator iGBA from the App Store for violating the company's App Review Guidelines related to spam (section 4.3) and copyright (section 5.2), but it did not provide any specific details. iGBA was a copycat version of developer Riley Testut's open-source GBA4iOS app. The emulator rose to the top of the App Store charts following its release this weekend,...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

Apple's First AI Features in iOS 18 Reportedly Won't Use Cloud Servers

Sunday April 14, 2024 9:52 am PDT by
Apple's first set of new AI features planned for iOS 18 will not rely on cloud servers at all, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "As the world awaits Apple's big AI unveiling on June 10, it looks like the initial wave of features will work entirely on device," said Gurman, in the Q&A section of his Power On newsletter today. "That means there's no cloud processing component to the...