The next Apple Watch could get Touch ID and sleep tracking

But don’t bet the whole house on it just yet

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TheApple Watch 6could be with us at some point this year, assuming the coronavirus outbreak doesn’t push its launch back, and a new rumor hints at some of the features it might bring: Touch ID, sleep tracking, and blood oxygen level monitoring.

That’s according to Israeli siteThe VerifierandYouTubechanneliupdate, which aren’t among the very best sources when it comes to Apple leaks – so treat these leaks with a little bit of skepticism for now.

It’s worth noting that blood oxygen saturation monitoring hasalready been tippedfor the nextApple Watch, as has the addition ofsleep tracking– these features were spotted in early iOS 14 code and could well be on the way.

Touch ID on Apple’s wearable would be a little more unexpected, but we haveseen Apple patentsexploring this idea. It’s not clear yet whether any potential fingerprint reader would be built into the watch screen or the digital crown at the side.

Watch this space

The inside sources speaking to The Verifier and iupdate shared a few more tidbits as well: unsurprisingly, there’s going to be no change in the shape of the Apple Watch for the foreseeable future, so we won’t be seeing a circular model any time soon.

Meanwhile, the demands of watchOS 7 are likely to be too much for theApple Watch Series 2. Apple likes to support products with software updates for five years, but the rumor is that the Series 2 is going to get dropped this time around and left on watchOS 6.

The only other bit of advance information we get from this leak is that watchOS 7 is going to be a “big upgrade” – so make of that what you will. Sleep tracking, blood oxygen monitoring and Touch ID would certainly qualify as big as far as we’re concerned.

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Withhealth and fitnessfeatures such a major selling point for the Apple Watch series, it’s certain that we’ll see more and more of this type of functionality added as the years go by – it’s just a question of how much will make the cut for the Apple Watch 6.

Via9to5Mac

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

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