Rumor: Apple to include “Phosphorous” coprocessor for iPhone 6’s HealthKit data collection, functionality

This could be interesting.

In the mix of the latest series of leaks about the iPhone 6, a note published over on the Geek Bar’s Weibo account and noted by G for Games points to a new coprocessor, code-named “Phosphorus”, which may be incorporated into the iPhone 6 handset and could help power data collection for Apple’s rumored iOS 8 Health app.

The Health app, which was announced during this year’s WWDC, will gather and centralize health-related information from various external sources such as third party apps and wearables. The application is also accompanied by a “HealthKit” API which is included in the latest iOS SDK.

Last year’s iPhone 5S comes with an additional chip named M7 which processes data from the smartphone’s sensors (including the accelerometer, the compass and the gyroscope) and then passes it along to the A7 CPU. The iPhone 6, on the other hand, should arrive with a new A8 processor, and based on the latest leak, the said chip will be accompanied by a new coprocessor known as “Phosphorus”.

Allegedly, the Phosphorous chip will have the same responsibilities as the M7 CPU, but given the wider functionality of the new HealthKit, it will also be responsible for collecting and processing new types of health-related data, including the heart rate, the amount of calories burned, cholesterol levels, blood sugar and more. In the Health app, the aforementioned data can be added either manually, or can be automatically collected from various accessories and wearables.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.