can16358p 10 months ago

Apple has their standards high (though I agree they sometimes can't meet it themselves).

They wouldn't want their brand to be associated with some half baked feature that either runs very slow, or draws too much power/heats up, or unreliable.

So even if another version is technically capable of that feature, if it runs slowly/inefficient, they'd not enable it to protect their brand value which makes sense: as a user if Apple announces a feature, I know it's more "done" compared to the competition like say Samsung/Android etc. and I trust that it's not half baked (which sometimes fails to meet the expectations, but still MUCH better than the competition)

The business reasons are just a plus _on top of_ these reasons.

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nerdjon 10 months ago

If it was purely a business one, they would not have put it on the Apple Watch 9 which is no longer available. Putting it on the 9 doesn't do anything for sales.

There must have been some hardware difference.

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ezfe 10 months ago

The Series 9 has a better low-power background accelerometer than the Series 8, which is likely the reason.

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  • Weryj 10 months ago

    But, both devices have breathing rate detection during sleep. So it's active in both devices over-night.

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    • ezfe 10 months ago

      Right, but I assume the "breathing rate" system kicks on much less frequently and precisely than what is needed to be clinically accurate.

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      • MBCook 10 months ago

        Or perhaps the system in the 9 is more accurate/detailed in preparation for this feature.

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MBCook 10 months ago

What makes you so sure it’s not technical?

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  • yumraj 10 months ago

    There are no new sensors in 9 than in 8.

    Different processor, battery life, etc sure..

    Business reason is clear: they lost the oxygen sensor, so people hesitant to upgrade.

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    • dangus 10 months ago

      Different processor seems like a possible reason if they’re using new instructions.

      Of course I’m not saying it doesn’t line up nicely with a business reason to incentivize upgrades.

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    • MichaelZuo 10 months ago

      Someone else claims the 9 has a better accelerometer… what’s your source that ‘there are no new sensors’?

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    • MBCook 10 months ago

      > Different processor, battery life, etc sure..

      So there’s no way a better processor would be needed to get acceptable all night battery life and that could be the reason?

      Sounds like you may have nailed exactly why they did it.

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brandonb 10 months ago

The Apple Watch 9 and Ultra 2 have a neural engine (GPU), which may be helpful if the sleep apnea detection algorithm uses a neural network. Those models also come with a third-generation heart rate sensor, although that part may not be required if the algorithm truly only relies on accelerometer data.

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asadm 10 months ago

atleast due to processing/battery reasons.

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