Apple Watch 6 rumors offer hope of sleep tracking, blood oxygen sensor and more

A new leak claims the Apple Watch 6 will launch with a long-awaited feature, sleep tracking, along with several other perks expanding its capability to monitor health. And, blessedly, longer battery life.

The leak comes courtesy of YouTuber Nikias Molina, who tweeted five features the Apple Watch Series 6 would get, including the aforementioned sleep tracking and longer battery life, and noted that more info would be coming.

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These predictions vary in likelihood: while the Apple Watch 6 will almost certainly get an S6 chip (all previous iterations of the wearable came with the same-numbered chipset), and sleep tracking has been rumored to be coming, Apple has been struggling to get more battery life in its iPhone smartwatch. The Apple Watch 5, for instance, manages around 18 hours before it needs recharging (although not using features like the heart-rate monitor can extend it into a second day).

The other two rumored features are a bit harder to sell. The pulse oximeter, which non-invasively measures oxygen in the bloodstream, is a promised feature in the Withings ScanWatch, so it’s plausible that Apple makes room for it in the Apple Watch 6.

But ‘mental health abnormalities detection’ sounds very difficult – if not impossible – to achieve. Perhaps there’s a lack of context here, and the Apple Watch 6 could instead alert users about circumstances in which their mental health might be impacted, like if they’ve gotten less sleep, lower-quality rest, or have extended bouts of elevated heart rate that could indicate stress.

When will we know about the Apple Watch 6 and whether or not these new features make the cut? Historically, Apple has upgraded the Apple Watch in September, but we also have seen leaks heat up between the WWDC 2020 keynote and September launch, so stay tuned for more updates.

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