Apple's next AirPods may include this life-saving health feature

Apple's next AirPods may save your life
Apple AirPods (Image credit: Regan Coule/Tom's Guide)

Speculation about Apple's next generation AirPods are keeping the rumor mill aswirl. According to UberGizmo, health monitoring might be among the new features of the forthcoming AirPods release.

This tidbit of information originated from a recent DigiTimes report claiming that the next AirPods could have built-in ambient light sensors. As with all rumors, this should be taken with a proverbial grain of salt. However, the possibility of these integrated sensors for use as part of heath monitoring function is plausible. 

The Apple Watch offers heart rate monitoring and perhaps Apple could be looking to add this technology to more wearables. If they can check blood oxygen levels, detect heart conditions, and offer reports via the Health app or Siri, future AirPods would have a leg up on the Google Pixel Buds 2 and the Samsung Bud Plus successors. 

The exact release date of the next AirPods remains a mystery but likely won't see the light of day until 2021. As we reported earlier this year, Apple is expected to release over-ear noise cancelling headphones toward late summer or early fall of 2020.

Hilda Scott

Hilda Scott uses her combined passion for gadgets and bargain shopping to bring you the best prices on all things tech. She has a bachelor’s degree in film and media studies from Hunter College and 11 years of tech and entertainment journalism. Her work has been featured on Tom’s Guide, iTechPost, Examiner.com, Parlemag, Enstars, and Latin Times. When she's not scouting for the best deals, Hilda’s catching up on her favorite TV shows and pro-wrestling matches.