If you’ve been hankering to have your Apple Watch Series 4 unit perform ECG or EKG tests for your heart, the future looks good.
This feature, which can be performed by putting your finger on the crown and waiting for 30 seconds, has perpetually been listed as “coming later this year,” and the year is coming to a close.
Per a MacRumors article, the ECG functionality will debut with the public release of watchOS 5.1.2, according to an internal Apple Store training document.
watchOS 5.1.2 could hit any day now, as the developer beta of the operating system was released about three weeks ago and there are no public betas of watchOS. While the beta does not contain the ECG app, Apple training documents rarely get this sort of thing wrong.
Three weeks is a pretty long beta period for a minor release, and with only a few weeks to go before the holidays begin, it’s sort of now or never. If Apple’s going to get the ECG feature rolled out this year as promised, its release window is pretty short.
The ECG feature is only going to be available to users in the U.S., as Apple has yet to secure the necessary regulatory approvals for other markets. While it’s not meant to be a substitute for a real medical-grade ECG, it could definitely come in handy.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.