What inspired the creation of the Apple Watch? It had to do with the late Steve Jobs' health.
Apple also wanted to be at the forefront of an evolution happening in today's health care system, technology consultant Tim Bajarin wrote in a Time magazine column on Monday.
Bajarin spent time with Apple executives who worked on the Apple Watch, asking them to explain their inspiration for making the wearable technology, which was released in April 2015.
Bajarin says Jobs, who died from pancreatic cancer in 2011, tasked his research and development teams with coming up with technology that would improve the relationship between patients and health care providers.
When his battle with the disease began in 2004, Jobs saw, first-hand, a lack of connection between patients, their personal information and health care providers, and he wanted to make the system more efficient by developing a mobile platform and a whole set of devices.
Bajarin was invited to Apple's health labs in Cupertino, Calif., to spend time with its seven full-time nurses as they monitored employee volunteers' exercises in controlled conditions using advanced medical equipment.
One takeaway from Bajarin's visit to Apple is that, although the company marketed the Watch for fashion-forward consumers, it is sticking to Jobs' original vision of an enhanced health-monitoring system.
The company has continued to embrace that vision by delivering a number of devices and services, including HealthKit in 2014, which allows developers to build health-monitoring software with Apple's Health app. In April 2015, Apple released ResearchKit, which lets developers create their own iPhone apps for medical research.
In April, the company came out with CareKit iOS, which lets app developers make integrated software that helps doctors and patients track and manage medical conditions more efficiently.
"They concluded that a standard fitness tracker couldn't do the types of things Jobs and current Apple executives really wanted to see. That's how the Apple Watch came about," Bajarin explained.
He also believes that Apple will continue to focus on "bridging the gap" between patients and health care providers.
"Apple is on a mission to improve the overall health of its customers as well as that of the health care system, a task Jobs gave them before he died," Bajarin wrote.
9to5Mac reported that Apple Watch 2 is expected to launch in late 2016, and will feature built-in cellular connectivity, meaning the device won't need to be used with an iPhone.
