Per the mucho-well-connected Mark Gurman over at Bloomberg, Apple is apparently testing out a sleep tracking feature for the Apple Watch.
The anonymous sources say that that Apple has been testing the feature for several months around the company’s Cupertino, California headquarters. If the testing goes well, Apple could add the feature to “a future version of its smartwatch” in 2020.
While it may be annoying that Apple’s competitors such as Fitbit have had sleep tracking in their products for some time, it’s thought that Apple’s take on this feature could be markedly more accurate or full-featured than other products.
It’s also thought that the delay might be due to battery life. While the Apple Watch currently runs all day in normal use, it’s debatable as to whether the battery can also last all night as well, especially after heavy outdoor tracking or music playback. In these cases, multi-day battery life might be necessary and thus require a next-gen Apple Watch battery to help make sleep tracking possible.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.