Apple really wants to be your doctor. Last week they announced that their ear buds can now run a hearing test on you and act as hearing aids. They also just got approval from the FDA for the Apple Watch to detect if you have sleep apnea or not.
I’d like to see how that works. I have sleep apnea. The doctor sent me home with a bunch of tubes, a mask, and an electronic box that I think I taped to my chest or something. It also cost a few hundred bucks.
Actually, the watch is supposed to analyze information based on breathing disturbances and wrist movements. It’ll do this once a month and let the wearer know if they have signs of moderate or bad sleep apnea. It’ll also analyze at 3, 6, and 12 month intervals. Which is kind of like my C-PAP. It has a memory card that tracks everything. My pulmonary doctor likes to check it in 3 month intervals. I didn’t think I had much of a problem, but Jenny said I snore a lot. So, now I have a doctor who gets mad when I don’t use my C-PAP and often lets me know that I could die a lot younger from a heart attack if I don’t use it every night.
This new apnea detector feature will be available within a month.