Apple Will Reportedly Upgrade 'Future' iPhones That Can Detect Cognitive Decline, Childhood Autism, and Depression

Future iPhones will expand their technological capability through an algorithm that can identify mental health problems, such as depression and cognitive decline, as per the people who are familiar with Apple's plans.

Apple is Now Working For Future iPhones' Health Feature

According to an updated report by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Sept.21, the Cupertino giant is now in the works to create a special technology for the upcoming batch of iPhones.

Apple aims to develop an algorithm for smartphones that can detect cognitive decline and depression. To expand its health portfolio, the tech firm will add a unique tool for such a cause.

WSJ reviewed that the report came from people who know the situation.

To give you an idea of how the future technology works, Apple will use an array of sensor data that would tackle different algorithms. The data will include health factors such as human activity, sleeping patterns, mobility, and other health-related information.

The sensor data will be useful to diagnose depression in a particular person.

Furthermore, WSJ said that Apple is still in early development for this technology. The current iPhones will not adopt the feature.

In the upcoming years, Apple can potentially introduce these health features in the future iPhones.

Future iPhones Could Also Detect Child Autism

Besides depression and cognitive decline, Apple is also planning to launch the detection feature for child autism.

According to iMore's report, the Cupertino titan has not yet disclosed its research collaboration with Duke University.

The partnership will involve the capability of future iPhones to detect childhood autism using their cameras. As per the documents, the instrument will be useful to children to know their focus level, as well as other health measures that can tell if they have a special condition.

To help more people in their health, Apple added a new set of Health updates for iPhone 13's iOS 15. When the company announced the features during the WWDC 2021, a COVID-19 feature was mentioned in the discussion.

In addition, there was also a Walking Steadiness metric for fall risk management.

Apple Watch to Get Improved Health Features in 2022

At the start of September, we reported that Apple Watch will get "big new health features" next year. Some of the features that will come in 2022 are blood glucose and temperature tracking.

The health sensors are expected to come to Apple Watch Series 7.

These smartwatches will reportedly have the same CPU similar to their predecessor. Since production problems are everywhere, the feature will not arrive this year to the current lineup.

Furthermore, the upcoming Apple Watch series will boast a sleep tracking feature that could help those people who have sleep apnea.

For those who are interested to know more about Apple Watch features, you can check this article about ECG support, fall detection, and heart rate app, and how to use them.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joseph Henry