Future Apple Watches may be able to track your sweat and hydration levels

The latest Apple Watches – the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 – have been around for a bit now. They are packed with features, including gesture controls, Ultra-Wideband support, GPS navigation, and impact detection capabilities. In addition to this, there’s also the usual heart rate, oxygen level, as well as sleep and stress monitoring capabilities.

ALSO READ: How to enable the double-tap gesture on any Apple Watch

Well, Apple may be looking to kick things up a notch. Reports suggest that future generations of the Watch may get a perspiration sensor. Here’s all you need to know.

What is the new perspiration sensor on Apple Watches?

Patently Apple recently spotted a patent application from Apple titled “wearable devices with perspiration measurement capabilities.” The application refers to a sensor in the watch with two electrodes on the exterior, and a processor configured to calculate the amount of perspiration on a person, using data from the sensor.

The sensor is being touted to measure how much you’re sweating and accordingly, how hydrated (or dehydrated) you are. It is expected that it will enable the watch to send alerts to a user in case they’re dehydrated. In addition to this, the sensor is also expected to be able to calculate the amount of sodium a user’s body may have lost due to sweating, and alert them about possible Hyponatremia.

What’s more, the sensor may also be able to track if a user’s perspiration levels are abnormally low, using data derived from other sensors in the watch, which can lead to a lack of regulation of heat in the body. Accordingly, it could alert them to seek medical help to diagnose the reason for the same.

When could the perspiration sensor be seen on the Apple Watch?

Now. Bear in mind that not all of Apple’s patents necessarily turn into real features commercially available on its products. The perspiration sensor may well be in the works. However, whether we will see it as soon as the Apple Watch Series 10, remains a different question altogether.

ALSO READ: How a doctor saved his co-passenger’s life using an Apple Watch

Reports however, from Bloomberg, do suggest that the next-generation Apple Watch may get sleep apnea detection features as well as blood pressure monitoring capabilities.