Apple has long focused on health. We have seen it in the devices themselves, such as the Apple Watch, or in the software features that allow the iPhone to enter more into this area. An area in which there is still a lot to explore and in which it seems that Apple, far from feeling that it has already reached a limit, wants to enter with even more force.
Growing interest in the field of health
Tim Cook has commented on several occasions that health will be Apple’s greatest legacy. A claim that is supported by the speed at which Apple is recruiting health-related staff. According to a contraction trend analysis based on LinkedIn data, reported in MacRumors, Apple has increased its hires by 220%. An increase, most of which has been concentrated in the last few months.
Some data comes shortly after the Johnson & Johnson CEO joined Apple’s board of directors. News announced by Apple declaring that Alex Gorsky is a health visionary who will bring “an extraordinary understanding, experience and passion for technology to the cause of improving lives and building healthier communities.” Words that clearly explain the reason for this movement. Thus, two positions on the board of directors are related to health, the second being the CEO of Genentech, Arthur Levinson.
Coming back to the question of hiring, it seems that the company focuses more on research only in specific products. We have seen, for example, significant changes in the iPhone Health app and also in the app Research which, only available in certain countries, allows iPhone users to participate in medical studies with world-class healthcare organizations.
The greatest potential in healthcare lies in the union of software and hardware.
These studies are of great value because of the number of participants they manage to bring together. As a result, the conclusions are drawn much more clearly and more quickly. A resource that represents for researchers a whole new dimension in what a clinical study is capable of achieving.
Without losing sight of the Apple Watch, which is the device around which the vast majority of Apple Health projects revolve, the various hires, as well as the job offers, indicate that Apple works on both software and hardware. This same offering, for example, is focused on finding someone capable of “leading human study efforts in collecting data to support the development and validation of new health sensors and algorithms.”
It’s relatively common for us to take for granted what technology can offer us. With each generation of Apple Watch, we want to see more sensors, new ones. Looking back, however, we must recognize that such a small device can, from its sensors, take something as complex as an EKG, measure the concentration of oxygen in the blood, or realize that someone one fell, it’s really impressive. And it looks like this is just the beginning.
