FDA meeting, iOS 8 rumors point to fitness focus for Apple’s “iWatch”

Long-rumored wearable may horn in on Nike's, Fitbit's, and Jawbone's turf.

A sixth-generation iPod Nano, embedded in a watch band.

Of all the Apple rumors to circulate during the Tim Cook era, the "iWatch" has been one of the most persistent. The rumors kicked off a year ago, when the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal both reported on Apple's internal smartwatch experimentation. Shortly afterward, Bloomberg reported that Apple had a team of as many as 100 product designers iterating on different versions of the watch and that it might run a version of iOS when finally released. (Rumors that we'd see the watch in 2013 didn't pan out as you may have noticed.)
Now the New York Times is throwing more fuel on the iWatch fire, citing a mid-December 2013 meeting between FDA officials and Apple employees about "mobile medical applications" as evidence that Apple is still pursuing a smartwatch-like device with "health-monitoring" applications. The Times cites the prominence of the people involved as a sign that this was not just a run-of-the-mill meeting. On Apple's side, the list includes SVP of Operations Jeff Williams; VP of Software Technology Bud Tribble; VP of Worldwide Government Affairs Cathy Novelli; Michael O'Reilly, who was previously Chief Medical Officer at a medical technology company called Masimo; and Government Affairs staffer Tim Powderly. The FDA participants were Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Planning, and Legislation Sally Howard; Center for Devices and Radiological Health director Jeff Shuren; Senior Policy Advisor Bakul Patel; and Policy Analyst Jeff Shiffman.
The Times article was followed shortly afterward by a report from the generally well-sourced 9to5Mac, which claims Apple is working on a built-in application called "Healthbook" for iOS 8. According to 9to5Mac's sources, Healthbook will take visual cues from the existing Passbook application, and it will be capable of monitoring and tracking "blood pressure, hydration levels, heart rate, and ... glucose levels" among other things. The app will be able to track weight loss and remind users when they need to take their prescriptions. The "iWatch" would supposedly contain the various sensors needed to collect and track much of this information, suggesting that Apple's purported smartwatch would communicate with iPhones via Bluetooth or another wireless technology much as current smartwatches tether to existing iOS and Android devices. Assuming Apple sticks to its normal release schedule, iOS 8 should be available in late summer or early fall.

Enlarge / The Nike Fuelband, Fitbit Flex, and Jawbone up, from left to right.

Casey Johnston

Assuming this information is true, the iWatch could steal the thunder of dedicated fitness gadgets like Nike's Fuelband, Fitbit's Flex, and the Jawbone Up, which feature more limited fitness tracking and phone synchronization capabilities. Apple already has some experience with sensors and tracking—the most recent iPhones and iPads all include Apple's M7, a dedicated low-power chip that can collect data from the devices' various sensors without waking up the main SoC. In a smaller, power-constrained device like a wristband or watch, the ability to collect and send this data without using the main processor will be very important, especially if the iWatch is also a general-purpose smartwatch like the Pebble Steel and not just a dedicated fitness gadget.
As ever, until we actually see an announcement from Apple, it would be best to treat these reports as rumors. Apple doubtlessly develops many products behind closed doors that the public never sees, and even if every word in these various reports is true it's all subject to change. This isn't Apple's first public FDA meeting either—both Tribble and Novelli met with the FDA back in April of 2010, though fewer Apple employees and FDA officials were involved. The pieces all seem to point to a fitness-focused, watch-like gadget, but if you're an industry watcher expecting Apple to release a smartwatch, every scrap of information begins to look like evidence pointing to a smartwatch.