Since the release of the first Apple Watch in 2015, Apple has expanded the device’s health capabilities with features like the ECG app and fall detection. In a new interview with the Independent this weekend, Apple’s Jeff Williams, Sumbul Desai, and Kevin Lynch have offered more details on how health became one of the central focuses of Apple Watch.
Williams, who serves as Apple’s chief operating officer, said that Apple’s expansion into health has been “very organic.” He explained that Apple didn’t necessarily have a “major health initiative” planned, but that it was an area in which the company quickly realized it could expand:
Williams also explained that the first time Apple received a letter from a custom about the Apple Watch’s health features, people were somewhat surprised:
Meanwhile, Williams and Desai, Apple’s vice president of health, both emphasized that health is only one aspect of the Apple Watch’s features. This helps it appeal to a wider set of customers, they said:
What about the future of the Apple Watch in terms of health tracking hardware? Kevin Lynch, Apple’s vice president of technology, said that while there’s already so much the Apple Watch is capable of, we’re only really at the beginning:
Desai: That’s really important. Because I think part of the challenge with health is people don’t want to think about their health all the time but here it’s just woven into the overall experience.
Williams added that Apple doesn’t see anything in the health industry as being off limits for the company, but that the company wants to focus on where it can make the biggest impact. “We’re going to keep pulling on threads and see where this journey takes us,” he said.
The full piece is absolutely worth a read and can be found on the Independent.
