Apple is reportedly still working on glucose management — this time through software. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says the company tested an app for pre-diabetic people this year, helping them manage their diet and lifestyle. Apple is said to have no plans to launch the app for consumers, but it could play a role in future health products.
The company reportedly tested the app internally, with employees confirming through blood tests that they were at risk for type 2 diabetes. Subjects “actively monitored their blood sugar through various devices available on the market,” logging corresponding glucose changes. The app would then note correlations between dietary changes and blood sugar levels (for example, “don’t eat pasta”).
Gurman says Apple paused testing to focus on other health features. Bloomberg notes that the Apple Health app currently lacks meal tracking, which rival services offer. The publication also says that Apple could eventually offer deeper third-party glucose tracking integration into its products.
The study according to the report was not directly related to Apple’s 15-year-old effort to offer non-invasive blood glucose monitoring, something that gets repeated every so often in Apple Watch rumors.
The company’s current hardware prototype is reportedly an iPhone-sized wearable device that uses lasers to shoot light into the skin. Gurman claims that Apple’s first consumer-facing version – whether in an Apple Watch or some other form – would likely only notify users if they might be pre-diabetic. Providing specific glucose levels would have to come in later iterations.
It looks like the rumored ultra-thin iPhone we’ve been hearing about for the past few months will get Apple’s “Air” branding. In the Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says the iPhone 17 lineup will feature a new model that could be called the iPhone 17 Air, and it will be about 2 millimeters thinner than any other model we’ve seen so far.
“It will have a base-level A19 chip and a single-lens camera system,” Gurman said, and it will “serve as a testbed for future technologies, including technologies that allow for foldable devices.” According to Gurman, it and the upcoming new iPhone SE will use Apple’s first in-house modem.
We may also see upgrades to the entry-level iPad that will make it compatible with Apple intelligence. Gurman revealed that the next-generation iPad will get an A17 Pro chip and 8 GB of memory. According to Gurman, this news should arrive in the spring alongside the iPhone SE and new iPad Air models.