Apple Watch

watchOS 27 heart rate improves but AI health coach delayed at launch

Oura and Whoop are poaching Apple Watch users, and Apple's answer is smoother animations.

The Short Version

Apple delayed its AI health coach past the watchOS 27 launch, while glucose monitoring shifted to a new engineering lead and Amazon acquired Globalstar, which powers Apple Watch Ultra 3 satellite connectivity.

Apple Watch is getting better heart-rate tracking in watchOS 27, but the AI health coach, paused because Apple decided it wasn't good enough to compete with services like Oura and Whoop, won't be ready at launch. Glucose monitoring, the feature Apple has chased for years, quietly moved under Zongjian Chen, the engineer who leads modem and advanced hardware, which is the closest thing to a public signal that it's nearly ready. Meanwhile, Amazon's purchase of Globalstar, the satellite network that powers Apple Watch Ultra 3's off-grid connectivity, hands a third party control over a feature Apple built its premium watch around.

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